“With superior fighting skills and a lot of luck,” Luke replied.
“So I’m doomed?” I guessed.
He grinned and patted me on the shoulder. “Not quite. Your skills as a fighter are improving.”
“So I’ll last a minute instead of a few seconds?”
“Something like that.”
“Thanks, makes me feel a lot better,” I grumbled. He nuzzled my hair, and I playfully pushed him away. “Knock that off, I’m trying to brood here.”
“I would rather we be doing something more productive,” he replied.
“You mean reproductive?” I guessed.
“Can’t you two get a room?” Zeke spoke up. He glanced down at my wet wardrobe and raised an eyebrow. “Or did my horn blowing interrupt somethin’?”
I looked down at myself and blushed. My clothes were still transparent. “Um, I’ll be right back,” I told them, and slipped out of Luke’s clutches so he could attend to his patient and I could attend to my wardrobe.
I passed Alistair returning with the necessary medical supplies. The boys had fun playing doctor while I played chef in the kitchen. It was past dinner time and after my chilling adventure I was hungry enough to eat the whole the rabbit I’d failed in catching, cute, fluffy tail and all. As some compensation I found a steak ready to cook and did my best to make it into a pile of burned ashes.
At the sound of the fire alarm Alistair came in and glanced through the faint wisps of smoke that wafted through the air. “Did you care for some help?” he asked me.
I turned to him with a smoking pan in one hand and an empty glass formerly filled with water. The water had been used to douse the flames in the pan. I sheepishly smiled at him. “I think I might need a little bit of a hand,” I admitted.
Alistair took charge of the food and I took charge of warming up one of the stools around the kitchen island. “So how’s the patient?” I wondered.
“Zeke will be fine,” he curtly replied.
I frowned. “I get the feeling you and him don’t get along. Is there a story behind that?”
“Yes.”
“And?” I persisted.
“And it’s a long story,” he assured me.
I leaned my elbows on the island, cupped my head in my hands, and smiled at him. “I think I’ve got time.”
“I’m sure it would bore you,” he insisted.
“What would bore you?” Luke interrupted my inquisition as he stepped into the room.
“Alistair’s long and sordid history with Zeke,” I told him.
Luke chuckled and sat himself down in the stool beside me. “That’s a long story.”
“So I’ve been told, but I’ve got time,” I replied.
He grinned and leaned toward me. “Even if that means waiting for food?” He pointed at Alistair who had already salvaged the dinner and had the meat on plates.
My eyes widened and I wiped the drool from my lips. “On second thought, it can wait.”
3
We scarfed down our dinner, and Luke took food to Zeke. I went upstairs to take a quick shower, and came back down to find the pair in the living room deep in conversation about our newest unwelcome guests. “Did you see any identifying marks on them?” Luke asked him.
Zeke shook his head. “Not a sign. They didn’t even have a handkerchief on ‘em,” he replied.
Luke leaned back in his chair set before the couch and frowned. “And you thought they were watching the house?”
“Or at least trespassin’, but they weren’t too interested in tellin’ me their life story,” Zeke quipped.
I sat down in another chair close beside Luke. “I’d say they were more interested in ending your life story,” I spoke up.
“And I’d say even without knowing who they were we know who they’re working for,” Luke added.
“Lance?” I guessed.
“Lance,” he agreed.
“And how are ya gonna prove that to anybody?” Zeke wondered.
“We can’t, and even if we could I don’t know who we’d turn to. His accomplice Simpling controls the High Lordship and Lance has most of the other lords in his pocket,” Luke reminded us.
“Except Baker, Stevens and you, and I don’t know if those other two would help us,” I added.
“We shouldn’t count on anyone but ourselves and those we’ve agreed to communicate with,” Luke replied.
I raised three of my fingers and counted them off. “Stacy, Protector Brier and Burnbaum. Am I right?”
Luke smiled. “Exactly right.”
“Nice little group ya got there, but this ain’t helping us now,” Zeke spoke up.
“We’re tallying our resources. If those men are still around then trouble isn’t far behind them, and we’ll need all the help we can get to stay one step ahead of them,” Luke explained to him.
Zeke scoffed. “Won’t do any good stayin’ one step ahead when they’re ahead of us with that damn lack of scent,” he grumbled.
Luke shrugged. “We don’t have much choice. We’ve heard no news from anyone about-” A knock on the door made me jump into Luke’s lap and cling to him.
“You think it’s them again?” I asked him.
He chuckled. “Only if they have manners now.” We heard Alistair’s footsteps walk out of the kitchen and to the front door. It was opened, a few words were exchanged and then the door was shut. Alistair’s footsteps moved toward us and he soon appeared in the living room doorway.
“Sir, a message from Miss Stacy,” Alistair announced. He had a paper in his hand that he handed to Luke, who opened the folded slip and read the contents.
“The mailmen work even after dark?” I guessed.
“You can send a post any time ya want if ya got the money,” Zeke told me. He glanced at Luke, who’s face had lost some of its color. “What ya got there?”
“Stacy says Baker’s under suspicion for the murder of a Protector,” Luke told us.
“What was Baker doing at Sanctuary?” I wondered.
Luke shook his head. “He wasn’t at Sanctuary. Stacy says the Protector was sent as an agent of the High Lord to watch over Baker because of suspicions of treason.”
My mouth dropped open. “Treason? Baker? I can’t blame him for doing it with Simpling and Lance in charge, but I don’t think he’d do it this soon. Farmers take a while to make up their minds,” I replied.
Luke folded the paper and frowned. “I don’t believe it either, but she says Simpling intends to send more Protectors to take him into custody.”
“Is that what the Protectors are for? I mean, they protect Sanctuary, but are they really a region police force?” I asked him.
“They’re at the bidding of the High Lord, but yes, they generally remain at Sanctuary,” Luke told me. He shook his head. “But if one of their own was murdered then like any close-knit group they’ll want revenge.”
“Maybe Brier can tell us what’s happening from the inside and get Simpling to not send his guys,” I suggested.
“Perhaps, but he has to obey the High Lord just as the other Protectors do,” Luke replied.
I threw up my arms. “So what are we going to do? Sit here and let Baker get dragged to Sanctuary where Simpling’s probably going to have him killed?”
Luke smiled and shook his head. “No, we’re going to go to Spatia and keep Baker out of their hands.”
“Spatia? Am I going to have to wear a space suit?” I wondered.
He chuckled. “No, that refers to the great expanse of farmland in Baker’s region. The founding Lords were fond of naming the seven regions after the geographical or cultural descriptions of those regions.”
“So what’s the name of this place? And Sanctuary?” I asked him.
“Sanctuary’s an exception. The area controlled by Sanctuary is so small that the region itself is called that, but the other regions are much larger and have names different from their largest towns.” He gestured out the living room windows, and I saw the thick woods beyond the lawn. “The region I rule is called Wildlands. The main town is Townsend just down the road, and of course there’s Huntington where Abby and her family live. That’s south of here.”
I groaned. “First political lessons, now a geography lesson?”
“Not fond of geography?” he wondered.
“Not really. It’s never really helped me do anything because I still get lost in closets. Even the non-walk-in kind,” I replied.
“For once Ah’m with the young lady. Yer boring the hell out of me,” Zeke spoke up. He raised himself to a seated position on the couch, winced, and clutched at his side. “Ah’m gettin’ outta here while the gettin’ is good.”
Luke stood and put his hands on Zeke’s shoulders. “You’re not going anywhere, at least not tonight. Those attackers are just waiting for a chance to get at you for ruining their spying.”
“And where in the hell am Ah supposed to stay?” Zeke asked him.
I grinned and pointed at the ceiling. “There’s a nice white room upstairs with a great view of some boards.” Luke still hadn’t fixed the place up to be a normal room rather than the prison he’d intended for me.