SS [49] The Heroic Guard

The day had finally come to a close. The guard shift left Bjorn and Anasuya without supervision for the first time since their arrival. Tanisha and Aurelius had come and gone; they were all staying in the visitors' annex. When they had been there Bjorn could tell the escorts were doing more than just guiding them around. They were being watched and conversations recorded. Everyone was cautious but they knew that leaving now would be placing themselves in the middle of a political storm they weren’t ready for.

As Bjorn lay in the middle of the field, where there was a private section for guest mounts, Smjor and Duna wandered over. The two ox panthers watched him with vague interest; they had already gotten used to him in their travels. Smjor bunted his head against Bjorn in a show of affection while Duna continued in a lazily pace away. The two only stayed nearby for a moment before finding the watering can to be more interesting.

The ox panthers were larger than Bjorn in muscle mass and not easily startled. Other than their large size and stamina they were normal magical beasts. Slower but stronger than horses, smaller but less temperamental than drakes and more affectionate than either. 

Bjorn looked around for Anasuya only to find her in the form of a child cernunnos riding on the back of Duna. The big cat looked entirely unbothered by the girl as she drank. Bjorn stood up and walked over. The girl was completely naked because the rift had taken the red bow that Laxy had created which would change into a dress if she transformed like this.

He had remembered that Joha could make clothing with his maya.

“Can you make clothing for yourself?” Bjorn asked in the hissing tongue.

Anasuya tilted her head side to side as she thought about it. 

“Maybe,” Anasuya hissed back. “I miss my bow, it made a pretty flowing thing.”

“It was a dress, Little One. Can you try to remake it with your power?” Bjorn asked.

She hopped down off of Duna and dunked her head in the watering can beside now startled ox panthers. She drank in a few large gulps before wiping her mouth. 

“Let's try!” She said with enthusiasm.

Bjorn was tired of being in an information deficit. In order to understand what was going on he would need her help. Having her able to copy forms and clothing could be very beneficial.

Anasuya exhaled a stream of red maya which flowed around her small frame. It slowly took shape becoming a wispy outline of the outfit she once wore.

“That’s it, keep trying.” Bjorn said.

The loose outline filled in until it became completely solid. She looked down at the dress, her tail wagged behind her in excitement. She touched the fabric between her fingers.

“I did it,” Anasuya cheered.

Bjorn excitedly reared up.

“You d—”

His voice died when he saw her back when she did a spin. The entire back of the dress was missing. He realized she had only recreated the parts of the dress she could see while wearing it. He then wondered if she had ever even seen the full dress.

“Good job,” Bjorn said carefully. “Why didn’t you make the back of the dress too?”

She spun around as if to chase her tail. Then gave up when she got dizzy and sat on the ground with a humph.

“I don’t know what it looks like,” Anasuya said innocently. “Everyone can see my dress if they look at me from the front.”

“Hmmm… have you ever seen Tanisha wear clothing without a back like that?” He asked.

“Auntie walked around town in a big sack and was naked!” She said with arms wide to emphasize the size of the sack. “Mr. Aurelius too.”

“That was a cloak not a sack and uh… also a special situation because she lost her clothing. Does she normally wear things that expose her like that?”

“No.” Anasuya said. “But I don’t know what the back of my red dress looked like.”

“Can you make yourself look like a dwarf?” Bjorn asked.

“Yes they are small and easy.” She said.

Anasuya breathed out more maya which surrounded her form. When it dissipated she looked like Dorrim as he had when he led them across the estate. The same black and green gambeson armor, thick red beard, the same short but wide and sturdy stature.

Bjorn was impressed because she had gotten the form nearly flawless. Nearly. She still had her tail which was dragged behind her as she moved. The other issue was of course the fact she could not speak in a tongue anyone but him could understand. It shouldn’t matter too much however.

“I need you to help me with something, Little One,” Bjorn said.

***

When the sun fully set, the manor grounds were illuminated by flare stone lampposts. Orange-tinted lights flickered with contained magical fire, casting deep shadows across the estate. It was strange. Most of Highhall used light crystals instead. Flare stones were cheaper and far less luminous. Why would the estate of a princess use inferior light? It wasn’t just that, at a glance the place looked well maintained and put together but the closer one looked the more the veneer of prestige peeled back.

Bjorn was not complaining.

The darker corners of the estate made moving through the courtyards far easier with Shadow Concealment active. The magic wrapped around him whenever he entered dim light, swallowing his outline into the darkness until even his movement became nearly impossible to detect.

He made his way toward the main estate building where he expected security to be tighter. Instead, he found fewer guards than there had been earlier that day.

“That seems a little odd,” Bjorn muttered.

He pressed himself against the far wall of the estate, settling into a stretch of deep shadow cast by the outer stonework. The concealment magic thickened around him until his massive form blended almost seamlessly into the darkness. His heads turned slowly, making certain no one had noticed him before he began climbing toward the second floor.

He balanced carefully and tried to open the window, locked. So he tried several more but none would open. He climbed higher this time onto a balcony. The shadows lessened because of the lamps near the door making him far more visible then he would like.

The sound of someone yelling cut through the night air.

“Get them back! How can they expect to have me stay here unprotected?”

As Bjorn drew closer he could tell the voice was from Yrsa.

“Milady, you are not unprotected we still have the guards from—”  

“Get Soren,” Yrsa cut off the other person. “Tell him we are moving him to the main estate until the end of his contract.”

“Right away ma’am.” 

“Those damn degenerates think they can just claim a Runecrown like a prize!? I will show them that just because I am out of the capital doesn’t mean I am not a Runecrown.”

Bjorn looked into the room; it was dark and there was no one in sight. The door to the hallway was wide open. The yelling came from just beyond the door.

“Anasuya, see if the door is open.” Bjorn hissed softly.

The girl still in the form of Dorrim slid off his back. She walked over to the balcony door and opened it without issue. 

That is odd.

Bjorn didn’t put any more thought into it. The room was an office, he had to bow his heads to fit inside. It was cramped for a creature Bjorn’s size. However he was fairly used to small spaces thanks to his time in the underground caverns of the skylands in the Chaos Lands. With the room dark he was again fully concealed and feeling much more confident of not being seen.

“Ana, make sure no one is about to enter the room.” Bjorn directed.

She nodded and padded over to the door far lighter than Dorrim’s frame should have allowed for. Bjorn turned his attention to the desk, there were papers thrown about even on the floor as if someone had furiously thrown them off in rage.

Bjorn was proficient in spoken Muaian but was far less literate with written language. Even so he could clearly see that the documents were trade agreements, treaties, guard arrangements and other miscellaneous documents. He noticed that a name kept coming up. The Potwarden house. They were mentioned in land disputes, tax exemption letters, guard acquisition and escorting contracts. 

Then he found one that was balled up and pressed it opened with his paws. He wished he had real hands sometimes. His digits were more dexterous than most creatures his size not but nowhere near enough for fine control. The letter had words he didn’t know but he saw “arranged marriage” and again “Potwarden”. 

He tried to read more of it but picked up the taste of magic in the air. His tongues flicked as the magic drew closer. He turned toward the balcony just as a dark figure stepped silently into the room.

“Ana, hide,” he hissed.

Bjorn slowly backed away from the desk, careful not to disturb anything. In the darkness, the concealment spell still hid him completely.

Anasuya was less fortunate. One of the scattered papers slid beneath her foot and she tumbled to the floor with a sharp rustle.

The intruder reacted instantly.

A knife flashed into view.

Bjorn felt the pulse of magic a split second before the assassin vanished.

Then she reappeared in midair directly above Anasuya, blade descending toward her throat.

Bjorn’s tail was faster.

The impact cracked through the office like a battering ram. The assassin flew sideways into the far wall, smashing through shelves and sending books and documents exploding across the room. 

The door opened quickly as Yrsa with a knife in hand hesitantly walked into the room. Bjorn threw himself behind the open door. Hid was perhaps too generous a word for what he accomplished. A creature his size could not truly disappear behind a single door, but it did at least reduce the chances of being noticed immediately.

“What is going on in here?” Yrsa demanded.

Anasuya had already climbed back to her feet while the assassin groaned weakly beneath shattered wood and scattered books.

“A guard? You didn’t leave with the rest of the Potwarden’s people?” Yrsa questioned.

Anasuya said nothing. Yrsa studied her for only a moment before nodding and walking calmly toward the fallen assassin.

“She is from the Nightwatch Order and you managed to incapacitate her?” Yrsa said coldly.

Without hesitation, the noble woman slit the assassin’s throat. The woman spasmed once and fell still. Yrsa cleaned the blade against the assassin’s sleeve before turning back toward Anasuya. The princess pulled out a talisman from her chest and tore it releasing some kind of magic effect though Bjorn did not recognize it.

“Well,” she said calmly, “now with that nasty business out of the way. How about we talk? I think someone of your caliber should consider switching to my employ don’t you?” 

Anasuya, still in Dorrim form, looked confused as to what she should do. So she just nodded in agreement and waited for the princess to stop talking. Yrsa seemed satisfied by that answer and motioned for her to follow. When they reached the doorway, Anasuya paused and quietly extinguished the office lights. 

Bjorn lunged silently for the balcony while Anasuya hurried after him, leaving Yrsa standing in the doorway wondering why the guard who had just protected her suddenly fled into the night.