The Mansit Blade: A Novel of Gal ... by Bob Nelson - Episode 22

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Kidnapping -- June 3277

"Where's your Lady?" called Garid, as Lorrent walked his big black gelding into the little Howalt House courtyard.

"She said there was no point in my going all the way in-town to River Tower, where she's keeping Twilight. And if she doesn't care, then I definitely agree! I don't like riding in town at all." Lorrent dismounted, handing his horse's reins to a stableboy, and murmuring a quiet thank-you to the boy.

"Yessir," said the boy, flustered at being noticed.

Lorrent and Garid hugged each other.

"Do you think we'll have enough to eat?" asked Lorrent, gesturing to the big wicker panniers riding high on Garid's Snow's rump. Snow was pure white, of course, a spectacularly beautiful animal as well as a fine runner. Snow was the Count's wedding gift to his son, a living testimony to the elder man's relief at his son's finding the "right" wife.

"We've got lunch for nine, actually," answered Garid. "My nephew and niece left a while ago, with a couple of servants. They were planning to stop at a spot the family often uses, but this morning Liana had the idea that we catch up with them, and all have a picnic together. I'm not really crazy for the idea, but she's right that the kids will love it!"

"Damned right I'm right, husband!" cried Liana, appearing from the stable door, pulling on a glove. It was still cold, this early on a bright, cloudless February morning. She and Lorrent exchanged pecks on the cheek, and he again had to explain why Wubi wasn't with him.

He had hardly finished speaking when Twilight clattered into the courtyard. Under a tan wool hip-length jacket, Wubi was wearing the Mansit Guard uniform that she found so practical when doing "not very ladylike" things like riding. She had sets of split-skirts, of course, but she told everyone that she wanted her equipment belt. They assumed that she meant the Mansit blade, but Lorrent knew that in fact she wanted the first-aid kit. She climbed down -- literally, since Twilight was so big and she was so small -- tucking the ends of Twilight's reins into her belt, and exchanged cheek-peck greetings with everyone. With Lorrent, her peck somehow missed his cheek and hit his mouth.

Garid interrupted them. "Ummm... if we want to have lunch in the country, we need to be going sometime within... oh, say... the next hour or two..."

Everyone laughed and went to mount up. Their mounts were all tall, thick-shouldered, slim-necked, long-legged animals... bred for running far and fast. The two men were tall enough and limber enough to get a toe into a stirrup and haul themselves up, but the women were too small. Liana pulled on a strap, releasing a three-rung ladder, and scrambled up, pulling the ladder up after her. Wubi reached high on the saddle, to two hand-grip-holes in the leather. She half-jumped and half-pulled herself up, got a toe in the stirrup, and swung around into the saddle.

Garid gestured, and Liana led the way out of the courtyard. Lady Mansit's Shadow, waiting just outside Howalt House's front gate, swung in behind the column, on an even bigger horse; so big that it always drew stares from people who knew horseflesh. Wubi had once asked the Baron how much Cloud had cost. "About what you'd expect to pay for an animal that is unique in the whole wide world. But your Shadow must keep up with you when you hare off on one of your adventures, so anything less would be the real waste..."

Cloud was still a colt when he was named for his mixed gray and black livery, before his size became so much more significant a trait. He had to lower his head to touch his chin to the top of a tall man's head. His character was as well suited to Stellon Kolafanialis as his size. Stolid and patient, for as long as necessary, and instantly a monster of a war-horse if need be.

Since Howalt House was at the very edge of Eastside, the horses walked only a short distance before edging up to a trot. It was always important to ease the animals' speed up gently, and more so on a chilly morning. The horses snorted and blew white vapor from their nostrils. Warm-up be damned! They wanted to run!

Liana kept the lead, accelerating her Star -- named for his blazed forehead -- to a moderate-speed "pace", not so fast as to make it impossible for the rider to shift from side to side with the animal's movements, but still a very tiring seat for the rider.

As they cleared the last residential area, and the road entered into grazing land, Liana accelerated again, to a canter and then to a full gallop, the five great beasts thundering along in a debauch of equine energy.

Liana led because she was an excellent horsewoman. She knew how to sit, of course, but more importantly, she knew how to exercise her mount without exhausting it. Wubi often said that she wished her friend were half so sensitive to the pains of the riders. Long before the horses would flag, she began slowing back down through the same stages, to a gentle "recovery" trot, that they could keep up more or less all day.

All of the riders understood that these outings were not only to be a pleasant picnic among friends, but also a serious workout for the horses. These animals were athletes, needing to run to be happy. After this first sequence, they were all soon champing at their bits, saying in their equine way, "Hey! Let's do that again!" So they did, again and again. Liana ensured that the horses never stayed at a gallop as long as they wanted to. She kept them always wanting more...

The riders warmed up along with their mounts. First their jackets were unbuttoned. Soon even that was too warm, and the jackets came off, to be buckled down behind or in front of the saddles.

It was mid-morning when they saw a woman further along the road, waving her hat, drawing their attention.

Without a word, Wubi moved to the head of the column, her Shadow just behind. The horses had been walking, but now she pushed Twilight to a trot. The distance was not great enough to justify going to a gallop, just in time to pull up to a stop.

The woman was standing over an inert form.

"Help!" she cried. "Help us! Lorn is hurt and they have the children!"

As the group drew near, the woman recognized Liana and Garid. "Oh, Baron! Please! Lorn is hurt! They took the children!"

Blood covered the left side of the downed man's head, from scalp across cheek to chin.

Wubi called, "How many were there? Which way did they go?"

The woman blinked at this odd young woman in a uniform, but responded automatically to the authority in her voice. "Five, Mistress. They went that way!" She pointed along down the road. "They took the cart!"

"Liana, you ride back for help. Have someone go for a healer, but don't wait for the healer. Get some armsmen out here to back us up... Garid, you stay with these people. Don't move the man, just get his feet up a little and be sure that he breathes alright. And get him some shade..." She nodded at Lorrent and Stellon. "You two, with me!"

Without waiting for answers from any of them, she turned Twilight and urged him immediately to a fast trot.

After a league at the same gait, Lorrent moved his Duck -- nicknamed for an oddly flattened muzzle -- up beside Wubi. "We could go faster."

"They took the cart. We're moving a lot faster than that, and we may need the horses ready to run when we catch up," she gasped back, struggling to post correctly and not destroy her own spine, as Twilight hammered down the road.

It was no more than a quarter-hour before they saw the cart in the distance, a good league away on the other side of a shallow hollow. Wubi maintained the same speed, Stellon and Lorrent riding side by side just behind her. The horses were making a racket, hooves thundering on the packed-earth road, so it was no surprise that the kidnappers noticed them while still a good half-league off.

For just a moment, they began to flee faster, but then they stopped and turned to face their pursuers.

"They've decided to fight," said Lorrent, as Wubi slowed Twilight to a walk. "They're five," he said, looking askance at her.

"I don't see any bows," she answered. "There won't be any problem closing."

Lorrent wanted to repeat that the kidnappers were 'five'... but knew there was no point.

It was hard to see beyond the five men, to the cart. They could just see the two children. They were too far away, and too well masked by their kidnappers to read their faces, but their clinging so tightly together, even bundled up in warm coats as they were, spoke of terror.

"Let's go around them," said Wubi, sending Twilight off the road, into the field on the right. Staying a good fifty rods from the cart, she led the way past the cart and the kidnappers, who moved only as needed to remain between the three and the cart.

When the three had regained the road on the far side, she said, "Now we let them come to us." She pulled the Mansit blade and its scabbard from their sheath behind her saddle, and clipped the scabbard to her equipment belt. "I think we'll be better off on foot," she added, and dismounted. "We know how to coordinate on foot, and it would be just a jumble if we meet on horseback."

Stellon pulled the spare shortsword he carried on Cloud's right shoulder, and passed it to Lorrent.

They could see the kidnappers discussing the situation, probably trying to decide if they should attack mounted or on foot. They apparently came to a similar conclusion that a crazy horseback fight might negate their numerical advantage.

"I take it you don't mean to let us ride through here," called one of the kidnappers, as they drew closer. He was an ordinary-looking man. Average height and build, brown hair, a workman's clothes, although in better condition than most workmen's. He carried a shortsword in his left hand and a large dagger in his right.

"No. Your best chance is to leave the children, and strike out overland. You'd best hurry. Reinforcements are coming."

His eyes narrowed as he realized that he was facing a woman -- a very young woman. He shook his head. "A girl playing soldier!" he laughed, waving the dagger vaguely at her uniform, "You need to learn a soldier's first quality: patience! And don't ever inform your enemy about your forces, how many and when reinforcements will arrive. All you just now accomplished was to encourage us to take you down immediately." His language was proper and precise. Not a workman.

"And you," answered Wubi, "as a former soldier yourself, should be wary of information given too freely. You might be suspicious about why I want you to attack." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Stellon, on the right; Lorrent, in the middle. I will take the left. You stay strictly on defense, and you stay coherent with me, retreating and pivoting as I shift left. I will do the attacking."

This close to the city, the road was easily wide enough for two carriages to pass, so the five could spread well out as they came on.

"Colonel's pips!" exclaimed the man, laughing. "That's very funny!" He paused, his face turning grim. "Now, little woman... you take your boyfriends somewhere else to play, or you die here." He continued to advance.

"Ready!" Wubi called in her best command voice, and Lorrent and Stellon drew their blades. "Position!" she called, and they took their places, at the exact spacing that they had practiced during so many hours.

The man's eyes narrowed.

"Go now, while you can, or we will kill you here!" called Wubi. "You were a soldier. You know that three good blades in military order are worth! A lot more than five riff-raff. Go now, while you can!"

"Don't spread too wide," the soldier said to his mates. "Don't let them get between us or around us. Move together."

Wubi caught and held his eyes, shaking her head. The other four thugs had no idea what he was talking about.

The soldier took the second spot from the left end of their line, facing Wubi's right hand. "Take them," he shouted.

"Step left!" cried Mansit, and she and her two companions stepped in unison, leaving her opposite the ex-soldier, the kidnappers' secondin-line. He raised his shortsword and swung it down, while the partner on the right end of the line leveled a roundhouse at the woman. She dropped, letting the horizontal stroke flash over her head and clash into the soldier's descending blade. Her own blade flashed backhanded across the soldier's wrist, and his hand was gone.

He shrieked, wide-eyed.

"Shift left!" she called, and as one, her partners stepped back and to their left, pivoting almost to a right angle with their opening position.

The thug on their right end watched with horror as his leader fell, blood gushing from the stump of his wrist. He just had the time to return his eyes to the woman, before her blade sliced through his throat.

"Shift right!" she called.

The kidnapper who had been safe at the center of their line suddenly found himself on point, facing the creature who had just taken down two of his mates in as few seconds. Frozen in terror, he watched her blade slide between his ribs into his heart and thought of nothing.

The ex-soldier with only a stump where his left hand had been was on his knees. He raised his head, glaring at the girl with the odd curved sword. He still had his dagger in his right hand. "Bitch!" he growled, staggering up to his feet. He knew he would die quickly, and he did.

The last two turned to run, but each was dropped by an identical stroke across the back of the neck from one of Wubi's companions. Like the movements when she had called "Shift!", these killing strokes were accomplished without conscious thought. Hours of practice had drilled into them a standard reaction when an enemy turns to run: a killing stroke across the neck, above any body-armor.

Silence.

The "battle" had lasted perhaps ten seconds.

"Gods," whispered Lorrent.

§      §      §

The children were not in the cart.

After an instant's heart-stopping hesitation, Lorrent scanned the land about them. Nothing moved. The children could not have gone far; there hadn't been any time. They couldn't have run before the battle was joined, and it went so fast...

He continued to turn, looking for hiding places. There! A flash of blue in the green shrubbery.

"Wubi!" he called. "The children are gone! They must have run away during the battle." With his back to the shrubs, he raised a finger to his lips. "That was very brave of them, but Garid and Liana will be very upset, don't you think?" He pointed toward the hiding place, with his hand masked by his chest.

"Oh dear!" cried Wubi, nodding. "Well... we'll have Garid and Liana and lots of Howalt armsmen in a short while. Then we'll search. The children won't be so frightened when they see people they know."

Stellon arrived in turn. He had been searching the bodies. "Nothing," he said.

"No surprise there," answered the Lady.

"I'll see to the horses," said the giant, moving away, giving his mistress a moment of intimacy with Lorrent.

Lorrent sat heavily at the back of the cart.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I killed a man," he said.

"Yes. He was stealing two children."

"Not when I killed him. He was running away. I didn't have to kill him."

"No, you could have let him get away. Then the next time, it would have been up to someone else to do what was needed..."

He looked up at her, although she was hardly any taller, standing, than he was, seated. His posture was not good.

"You aren't bothered?"

"Of course I am. I have to wonder what is wrong with me. With these three, I have now killed four men. Four! Most soldiers and Watch go through their entire careers without ever killing anyone. I'm not yet fourteen. Of course it bothers me to kill people... but in the meantime, we had no choice but to go after the children... and these sons of... attacked us." She sighed deeply.

She sat beside him at the back of the cart. After a moment, she put her hand on his. They did not speak.

The wait seemed interminable. Stellon collected all the horses, their own and those of the kidnappers. They kept an eye on the blue patch among the bushes. They waited.

Garid's Snow was in the lead, of course, when "help" finally arrived. Garid brought five armsmen, a Watch Patroller, and a healer.

"Where are the children?" he cried as he reined in the big white stallion.

"Here, Uncle! We're here!" came a high-pitched voice from the bushes. The two little forms scrambled from cover, running hand-in-hand toward the familiar face of their Uncle Garid, who went to one knee to gather them both in his outstretched arms.

The three shared a moment of murmurs and tears. It was not clear who was the most relieved.

"I told you not to wait for the healer," growled Mansit.

"I figured he'd be the most important of us..." replied Esmark, softly. "I knew you'd take them down, but I didn't think..." He was looking at the five bodies.

The Patroller -- Corporal's stripes, justice scales on his collar, tall and slim, with a wide, soft face and intense blue eyes -- went first to the woman in uniform, of course. His eyes went to the two lozenges on her collar, incongruous with such a young... person... Still, prudence is usually a good policy. He came to attention and saluted.

She also came to attention to return the salute. "Jehenn Arinnot, Colonel. From Eastside Precinct. Qualified Senior Investigator. I happened to be working a minor case, near Howalt House."

"I am Lady Mansit," she said, "Commandant of the Mansit Guard. I led the pursuit and combat against the kidnappers." She gestured toward the bodies, and went on, "We found the maid and driver where they had been attacked. I sent Lady Liana back to Howalt House for help, and set Baron Esmark to guard the attack site. I then followed the fleeing kidnappers, with Corporal Kolafanialis and Baron Brantwall. We caught up with them, swung around to a blocking position in front of them, and waited for them to come to us. They had no choice, if they wanted to keep the cart, and it would have been very difficult to move the children otherwise.

"Apparently, they came to the same conclusion. They attacked us. We killed them."

The Patroller looked at the bodies. "Have you disturbed the bodies? Or just left them where they fell?"

She nodded toward the Lady's Shadow. "Corporal Kolafaniolis, my bodyguard, searched the bodies, but told me he found nothing of interest. You must talk to him. Baron Brantwall and I will remain in the area until you say we may leave."

"Thank you, Colonel," said the Patroller, with a vague gesture of salute. He went to talk with the Lady's Shadow.

Lorrent studied her. "You're going to be part of the investigation, aren't you?"

"That's not possible. I am one of the 'persons of interest'. I can't also be one of the Investigators. Besides, I may be Colonel of the Guard, but that does not make me competent as an Investigator." She raised her eyebrows and grimaced.

"Life is complicated. If we were in Mansit, there'd be no problem with your getting involved, 'competence' be damned!"

She gestured at the rolling farmland around them. "This isn't Mansit!" They both shook their heads, agreeing.

"You're going to be part of the investigation, aren't you?" Lorrent asked again, in exactly the same tone as before.

"Of course," she answered.

He laughed.

Corporal Arinnot returned, nodding to Lorrent. "And you are...?"

"Lorrent Paldon, Baron Brantwall, heir to Paldon. Betrothed to Lady Mansit, here, which is why we are together a lot. Baron Esmark and I have been friends since childhood. Lady Esmark and Lady Mansit are also old friends, from the days when both were Students at the Duke's College in Galdiff. The result of all that is that we are a close foursome."

"Corporal Kolafanialis mentioned in passing that the three of you fought in line, and that your Lady commanded."

"That is correct." Lorrent kept his face perfectly still, despite an overwhelming urge to laugh. It would never have occurred to either him or the Shadow that the fight might happen any other way.

After letting the Patroller flounder a moment, Lorrent went on. "She is a very, very good blade. One of the best in the whole Duchy. I have often practiced with her personal security detail, as has Corporal Kolafanialis. So we slipped into our roles without ever really thinking about it."

Lorrent shook his head, gesturing at the bodies. "We hear about how 'teamwork makes a difference'... Well, Investigator... There are five men who did not believe that saying."

He swallowed hard, and the Guardsman noticed.

"First time you kill someone, Sir?"

Lorrent nodded, breathing deeply. "Yes. He was a criminal: a kidnapper and probably worse. He tried to kill me. ... But still." He shook his head slowly." Have you ever killed anyone, Corporal?"

"No, Sir. I've never even used my sword in a fight." He hesitated. "What about your Lady?"

"Not her first. She and one of her security were attacked one night in Newport, in her barony. Bad idea to attack my Lady..." He sighed again.

Liana arrived. She brought a small carriage, with driver, and a less-distraught nurse. The children were sent back to Howalt House. Corporal Arinnot took note of everyone's addresses, and said they could leave. He was waiting for a crime-scene team from River Tower.

"It's going to be a sad ride back," said Garid.

"Oh," protested Liana. "I think we should go ahead and have our picnic!"

"But..." began Garid, only to be cut off by Wubi.

"I agree," she said, looking to Lorrent, who nodded.

Liana was nodding, too.

"What?!" cried Garid plaintively. It was annoying, the way the other three so often agreed on something without talking about it, and then had to explain to him what had been so obvious to them. "What's going on?"

Liana glared at him, and he shut up.

§      §      §

Again led by Liana, the four rode back toward Eastside for just a few leagues before striking off eastward down a side road. Liana seemed to know the country here, because she soon found a stream lined with jacarandas. It was past their glorious springtime flowering, but their leaves were in so they provided good shade.

As they unloaded the panniers, Garid tried twice to ask what was going on, but Liana and Lorrent both just said, "We all have to talk about this..."

"About what!?" he complained to Lorrent. "I hate it when the three of you agree on something without including me!"

"We haven't said a word!" protested Lorrent.

"I know you haven't," growled Garid with an exaggerated scowl. "That makes it worse. It makes me feel like 'Only an idiot wouldn't understand what's going on!' "

Lorrent laughed gently. "Oh poor boy!" he mocked. "We mistreat you so very badly, don't we..." He watched his friend, from under lowered eyebrows, until Garid had no choice but to laugh along.

Within a few minutes, a blanket was laid out, and the panniers had yielded their contents. Roast fowl, cheese, fruit and wine. When everyone had a full plate, Garid crossed his arms on his chest, and said affirmatively, aggressively, "And now, my dear friends... What... is... going... on??"

The other three exchanged another of their telepathic glances, agreeing that Wubi would speak.

"We have to decide what we're going to say to the Watch. How we want to handle the kidnapping attempt, in general."

Garid looked around, at each of the others. His shoulders slumped a bit, and he sighed. "Alright..." he said through gritted teeth. "I'll say it outright: I do not understand. You're all assuming something that I do not understand. So... would you please be so kind as to enlighten my ignorance?"

"Oh, Garid!" said Liana with wifely tenderness, a smile on her lips and a smile in her voice. She shuffled over on all fours, to lean into him and plant a solid kiss on his lips. "Make better?" she asked, in a childish voice.

He grinned. "Better! ... I must play the 'poor left-out clod' more often! It's definitely worth the recompense!"

Everyone laughed, but it was an obligatory laugh, prelude to serious conversation...

"The kidnapping attempt had to be an inside job," said Wubi, in a professional tone. "We don't have bands of marauders wandering the countryside this close to Galdiff. Those five were waiting for your nephew and niece. Someone told them about the children's plans. Or worse, someone hired them."

Garid fell silent, digesting her words. The others watched his face, seeing his quick acceptance of their logic. "Yes," he said. "Much too big a coincidence." He paused, nodding. "And we have to decide what we're going to say to Corporal Arinnot."

Liana cocked her head at Wubi. "Will it be that Corporal, do you think? Won't they send an officer, for a case involving a count's family?"

Wubi nodded. "It will probably be the Corporal. I don't see any advantage for an officer to get involved. At best, he'd be annoying a great family; that's not good for an officer. And if things go bad, he might be left holding a hornet's nest. If they leave the Corporal in charge, no one will get excited. Such a person is beneath the notice of a family like Howalt, which gives him a curious sort of protection. A kind of invisibility."

Garid frowned. "Hey! That's not a very nice thing to say about my family."

" 'Beneath the notice of all Howalts'... with the obvious exception of his plebeian Lordship the Baron Esmark... of course!" amended Wubi, with a mocking nod.

"But what can a mere Corporal do if someone doesn't cooperate?" asked Garid, returning to lucid tones.

Lorrent sipped some wine, glancing at Liana. The two nodded.

"What?" cried Garid, looking from one to the other. He looked at Wubi, shaking his head slightly. "Do you think a Corporal will dare press any questions to a family like Howalt?"

"Oh, I think so. All the more because you are going to tell your father to command everyone to cooperate."

Garid shook his head, as though waking from a deep sleep. "Who? What?" He made a "me-dumb" face.

"I don't think any Watch officer is going to get involved," continued Wubi. "But there will be a flock of them back at the precinct, asking the Corporal for news. He'll be able to keep them out of the details except for official reports to his chain of command, of course, and those are confidential... but he won't be able to avoid more general questions like 'are they cooperating?' and that sort of thing.

"The last thing Howalt needs is doubts about the family's rectitude. Even the slightest impression of stonewalling, from anyone, will be a real problem for his Lordship. Whatever may happen, Galdiff gossip will be all over this kidnapping like flies on... well, you know what I mean... The Count very much does not want the Corporal saying anything like 'they seem to have things to hide'..."

Garid winced. He nodded and grimaced . "Yes. I can see that... At the same time... I cannot imagine my father giving free rein to any commoner to dissect his household."

Lorrent nodded, grinning openly at his betrothed, now. "What you need is some way of ensuring that the Corporal does his job, but no more."

Garid pursed his lips. He had his head down, looking at the chicken leg he held. When he raised his head, there they were again: all looking at him, obviously all of them holding the same idea. He breathed deeply and whined, long and high-pitched "Wha-a-a-a-t!?"

"You need to give Corporal Arinnot a chaperon, dear," said Liana. "Someone of rank, but not too close to the family. Someone of obvious authority."

Lorrent was nodding brightly and emphatically. Wubi was looking off into the distance, smiling beatifically, polishing the pips on her collar between thumb and forefinger.

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