#4330

[Text to be added later. Rewrite in progress.]

#4332  Penthesilea
     
     *After tussling with the Black Prince, Penthesilea decided that it was still too early for her to sleep -- she was still on Coast time -- so, after making sure that every last trace of her disguise was gone, she went down to the Dining Hall and made up a cold supper from the buffet that was always available since it had become standard operating procedure for sizable numbers of people to be awake at night. Then she went to her office and picked up the latest reports and returned to her study in the tower. She needed to speak to her Spy Master in private and no place was more private than her tower. While waiting for the Spy Master, Penthesilea started going over the reports she'd picked up and leaned back in disgust. There was no question. She had blown past the need for an estate manager without noticing. What she needed now was someone to take care of the details of running a country while she took care of those things only she could do. Because her little no name estate was quickly turning into a country. Besides the Castle, there was Castletown which was growing like a weed, the colony of Nightkind that she had given shelter to in the early days wanted permission to expand their settlement -- they'd outgrown the manor house she'd given them -- the gremlins were settling in nicely in the caves, the orcs were finding the wilderness areas on the edge of the original estate attractive, a group of dwarves had answered her call for craftsmen in stone and metals and several displaced families of elves had asked to establish a holding ten miles to the southwest of the Castle. And for some reason, every man, woman and child involved looked to her as the highest legal authority around. Crowhaven hadn't joined in yet but she suspected that it was only a matter of time. First time a hostile army came marching over the hill, the Lady Mayor and the City Council would be screaming for help. And she'd give it. She wouldn't have a hostile force camped that close to her walls if she could prevent it. Finally the Spy Master arrived, closed the door and the briefing began.

#4334  Penthesilea

The Training Hall

     *Penthesilea stripped off her gloves and sighed. She'd beaten the hell out of the bag when she hadn't been kicking it and all she had to show for it was a considerable sweat. She was still as keyed up as she had been when she started. Whatever was coming was bad....
She left the training hall to go clean up. And wait.*

#4336  Penthesilea
     
The Keyholder's Bedroom

     *After a long soak that perfumed her skin and settled her mind only a little, Penthesilea sought her bed. She checked on Kodiak and found that he was still unavailable. She consoled herself with the knowledge that the harder he worked, the sooner he would return to her. She slid down under the covers, hugged his pillow and, surrounded by the cats, fell into an uneasy sleep.... *

#4338  Penthesilea
     
*Penthesilea sat up in bed, chilled to her immortal soul.*

Penthesilea: (inspeaking via comlink) I know Black Lotus, and that name is familiar to me. I killed a man by that name myself once, a very long time ago. I have a theory about the origins of Black Lotus and a possibly a way to deal with it but I would need to know the location of the growing fields to make it work -- and a tremendous amount of magickal power.  I do not care to think about an entire world addicted to it although I can think of a reason why -- conquest. Black Lotus is obviously from outside of this reality -- way outside. It is from somewhere where the rules of life are different. That is why it can't be made with a transform spell. You have to know a thing to create it with a transform. No one here knows Black Lotus well enough to create it. For which we should thank all the Gods. *Penthesilea thought for a moment.* You need to be briefed on what my Spy Master has learned. I can prepare you a briefing packet or come to you. Which works best for you?

#4340  Penthesilea
     
The Keyholder's Bedroom

*Penthesilea nods even though she is alone*

Penthesilea: (inspeaking through the comlink) I'll make up a briefing packet for you and send it a.s.a.p. There have been some strange political developments. Nothing special by themselves but in light of what we know... I'd planned another gem selling trip into the Coast Cities but if I can't go, I'll send my mobile unit double into Madridoor to do the selling. It will be more difficult to get gold for the gems but it can be done on the black market. And I'll have the girls get in touch with their professors at the University. It being a multi-reality institution, they may have access to more information than we have. Otherwise, we face the unpleasant prospect of maintaining a group of BL addicts for purposes of experimentation -- and having some of them die in the process. Not something I care to have on my soul if I can help it! If there is nothing else, I'll end transmission.

#4342  Penthesilea

Close link. *Penthesilea set to work. The other shoe had finally dropped -- and on her head -- but not as hard as it could have fallen. She spent the next two hours putting the briefing packet together, everything her Spy Master had reported to her and then her own written report on what information she had been able to gather during her brief visit to Blackharbor. Tora-Akio had retired and she let the old man sleep. There would be time enough to pick his brain in the morning. The girls were still awake and working, so she got them busy contacting their professors. It might take a little while, the resources of the University were nearly infinite, but if the information was available, it would be found. Finally, Penthesilea returned to her workroom, having stopped by the turret for the talismans which were now safely stored in the workroom where Penth could get at them quickly. She tucked one of the tiny stones into the packet, activated the small mirror and dropped the bundle through. Then she snapped the portal closed. That done, she settled down to put a permanent transport spell with a single destination on the small mirror. When she was done, it would open with the proper words directly over the same spot in Daemon's quarters. Such spells were common in magick friendly areas and the use of such a spell would probably go unnoticed. When she was finished, she covered the mirror with an insulating cloth and set it on the shelf beside the box of talismans.*

#4344  Penthesilea
     
The Keyholder's Bedroom

     *Penthesilea was able to grab a few more hours of sleep before it was time to greet Apollo. She rose and sang and then went forth to meet the day and the problem of Black Lotus....*

#4346  Penthesilea
     
The Keyholder's Office - Second Floor

*Hypatia arrived at Penthesilea's office shortly after the Keyholder did. She was dressed for travel.*

Penthesilea: Something has come up that you need know before you present my treaty request to the Chandaran government.

Hypatia: What is it? *Penthesilea shows Hypatia a map and explains about the trade routes and Black Lotus. Hypatia has heard of the drug and grows pale. Penthesilea hands her a briefing packet.*

Penthesilea: This is for the Chandaran government. Even if they don't sign a treaty with me, they need to be aware of what is happening out here. If Black Lotus starts moving down the river, Chandara will be the first city hit. *Hypatia nods.* After you have presented my treaty request to the Chandaran government, I want you to prepare an identical request and present it to the Madridooran Council. If Chandara is first on the dealers' list, Madridoor City and East Madridoor have to be next. There's no time to waste so I've arranged for Sir Michael to fly you to Caine's Landing in one of our gunships. From there, you will take an airship to Chandara. You should be in the city by local noon. *Hypatia was a bit dazed by the speed with which the Lady worked but she rallied.*

Hypatia: Of course, my Lady. *The idea of flying in a gunship was a bit daunting.*

Penthesilea: *smiling* Don't worry. Sir Michael will take good care of you. In addition to being very easy on the eyes, he's one of our best pilots. *Hypatia smiled back. Sir Michael was easy to look at!*

Hypatia: One last thing, my Lady. *Penthesilea's ears pricked up at the formality.* When I return, I would like to offer you my oath of fealty if you would accept it. *Penthesilea is touched.*

Penthesilea: Of course I would. *The women embrace.*

Hypatia: Well then, I will be on my way, my Lady, and I'll make arrangements to transfer my citizenship to your country.

Penthesilea: (ever practical) We really don't even have a country yet! *Hypatia thinks.*

Hypatia: I'll get to work on that too. *They laugh and Hypatia leaves the room. A few moments later, Penthesilea sees the gunship, with Sir Michael at the controls, lift off and head southwest.*

#4348  Penthesilea
     
The Keyholder's Office - Second Floor   

*Penthesilea sat at her desk, once again buried in paperwork and worry. The Hearth Queen watched her critically from a nearby armchair for a few minutes, then closed her vivid green eyes.*

Kodiak: (inspeaking) If you keep frowning like that, my dear, you will set a crease in your forehead. *Penthesilea jumped. She had been so deep in concentration that she had not been aware of him.*

Penthesilea: (inspeaking) How do you know I'm frowning?

Kodiak: (inspeaking) A tabby cat told me. *Penthesilea looked over at the Hearth Queen who simply sat contentedly in the chair and purred.* What is wrong? *Penthesilea knew from his mindvoice that he would not accept any evasion from her. She leaned back in the chair, closed her eyes and told him everything. *You're afraid.

Penthesilea: (inspeaking) Yes, my love. I am. I'm terrified. I'm doing everything I can think of and I don't know if it will be enough.

Kodiak: (inspeaking) It will be more than enough.

Penthesilea: (inspeaking) How do you know?

Kodiak: (inspeaking) Because I know you, my little one, and I have faith in you.

Penthesilea: (inspeaking) Thank you. I love you. *Rather than speak, Kodiak let what he felt for his lady flow through the bloodbond and the inspeaking both and for a time it was as if he held her in his arms and shared his strength with her....*

#4350  Penthesilea
     
The Lord Marshall's Office

     *Penthesilea made her way to the Lord Marshall's office through the controlled chaos of a moving day. The first floor of the barracks building was finished and ready to occupy and everyone was, well, occupying! The Quartermaster and his assistants were stocking and doing inventory, the Mess Hall/Kitchen was being set up and offices for the various officers needing them were being moved into. Fortunately for Penthesilea, the signs were up. She followed them to the Lord Marshall's office to find Lord Cujon bellowing orders over the din as husky privates moved heavy furniture. She began to thread her way through the maze and finally reached him. When he saw her coming toward him, he got the same "what the hell is wrong now?" look on his face that she'd seen all too often on Kodiak and, in spite of herself and the seriousness of her news, she laughed.

Lord Cujon: What's funny, my Lady?

Penthesilea: The look on your face when you saw me. You looked just like Kodiak. *Having seen how his brother looked at Penthesilea, he hoped that he had not had that sort of expression on his face! Penthesilea did not notice his moment of consternation.* It was his "what's wrong now?" look. He got it a lot when he was Lord Marshall. *Lord Cujon grinned.*

Lord Cujon: I imagine that he did and I suspect that is one reason why he resigned. Not the most important reason but one of them.

Penthesilea: Yes, he had the foolish notion that he couldn't be my Lord Marshall and love me at the same time. *Lord Cujon chuckled.*

Lord Cujon: My brother has some very set notions, the first of which is that he keeps his personal life and professional life strictly separate. It is a good policy overall but I think it may have gotten him into a bit of trouble this time.

Penthesilea: I wouldn't call it a "bit" of trouble. *She looked around the room with all the people going in and out.* Is there somewhere where we can talk privately? *Cujon led her to what would be his private office. Everything had been moved in and arranged and no one was working in there. Cujon allowed Penthesilea to precede him and closed the door firmly behind them. Once the door was closed, Penthesilea told the Lord Marshall everything about the Black Lotus threat. Cujon had heard of Black Lotus but had no direct experience with it. Penthesilea had seen it in action and spent the better part of the next hour answering his questions.*

Lord Cujon: We will need a testing protocol as part of the mustering in physical.

Penthesilea: That was my thought as well. I'll be speaking to the Healers next about it. Everyone in the army should be screened, then the Castle Guard. *She noticed the time and swore.* Damn!

Lord Cujon: What, my Lady?

Penthesilea: We've been in here, alone, for over an hour now. What do you want to wager that someone will start the rumor that I'm dallying with the Lord Marshall while his brother is away? *Lord Cujon started to laugh, then choked.*

Lord Cujon: My lady, you are one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen but I've been thinking of you as my little sister for quite some time now. My brother might not have realized that he was going to end up with you but I did! *A smile tugged at Penthesilea's mouth.*

Penthesilea: It would have been nice if you had told me! It would have saved me many sleepless nights.

Lord Cujon: I would have, my Lady, but, frankly, I didn't know how long it would take my thickheaded brother to figure it out!

Penthesilea: He is a bit thick at times, isn't he? *They laughed. Penthesilea had special incentive for giggles. Kodiak had popped in just in time to catch the last exchange and was now being indignant in her head! Seeing Cujon's confusion at what he considered her excessive giggling, she explained.*

Lord Cujon: He can read my mind now?

Penthesilea: No, just mine and the rest of my family's.

Lord Cujon: Good! *His relief was so obvious that Penthesilea was thrown into giggles again.*

Penthesilea: I'd better go. Someone will think that we are having too much fun in here! *Cujon agreed and showed her to the door.*

#4352   Salanthos
     
a lone figure walked down the road towards the castle. she paused a moment, then strode up to the castle door and knocked.

"I would like to speak to the lady, please" she said.

#4354  Penthesilea
     
Quote:
Originally Posted by Salanthos
a lone figure walked down the road towards the castle. she paused a moment, then strode up to the castle door and knocked.

"I would like to speak to the lady, please" she said.

*The sound of horses behind her causes the newcomer to turn.

Penthesilea: I am Keyholder Penthesilea. What can I do for you?