The Great Northern War (The Portal Wars Saga Book 2) Read online

  “Have you seen him since?” Otto asked.

  She closed her eyes so she couldn’t see Otto staring at her. “No.”

  Her answer was barely audible and told him all he needed to know. “What did Thomas look like?”

  “Tall, blond, pretty blue eyes. He dressed in plain but clean clothes, nothing fancy. His voice was soft, gentle, and caring. He was so different than the other men I’ve met. He acted like he really cared about me.”

  “That’s all it was,” Otto said. “An act. Where did you meet him?”

  “The White Pony.”

  “I know it,” Allen said.

  “Is there anything else you can tell us that might help locate this man? Your life might depend on your answer.”

  “I’m sorry. Now that I look back on it, he really didn’t tell me that much about himself. That should have been a warning sign, shouldn’t it?”

  Otto just shook his head in disgust and released his spell. He turned to Lorenzo. “You don’t make armor here, do you?”

  “No, my lord. We’re only set up for bladed weapons.”

  “I was afraid of that. I suggest you put a system in place to prevent this from happening again. I or one of my agents will be checking in later. If things aren’t running smoothly when they arrive, you’ll be looking for a new position. Clear?”

  “Perfectly, my lord.”

  “Good.” Otto started to go, paused, and turned back to look at Val. “You’re fired.”

  Otto jumped down from the loading dock and led his companions away from the forge. When they’d gone a little ways down the street he said, “This Thomas has pulled the same trick or something similar elsewhere. That must be where he got the armor. I don’t suppose you got the maker’s mark off the mail?”

  “No,” Allen said. “I assumed it all came from the same place.”

  Otto waved his hand. He could count the number of places that made armor on one hand. The process was much more complex and time consuming than making weapons. It wouldn’t take long to track the missing mail.

  The more Otto learned, the more certain he was that Anders had been acting on his own. Nevertheless, he wanted to deal with these thieves. Having someone running around stealing from his family’s business made them look weak. And that was something Otto couldn’t allow.

  Chapter 20

  The White Pony reminded Allen of his own tavern. It was situated in a similar neighborhood and the building had an almost identical layout. He could have felt at home here. They even had a pretty good crowd considering it was only ten o’clock in the morning. Over half the tables were occupied by groups of men and women in their later years. Maybe he should try appealing to that group. They had plenty of free time and hopefully money.

  The smell of coffee and baked goods mingled with bacon and sausage. It made his mouth water. Not that he imagined Lord Shenk would be happy with him if he took an extra fifteen minutes for a late breakfast, especially considering he was waiting outside in an alley. Allen scanned the room and quickly spotted Ulf seated at a corner table sipping a cup of coffee. Eric and Erin were at another table trying to look inconspicuous and failing miserably. They were the only ones in the place wearing armor. Only Lord Shenk’s order had gotten them to leave their crossbows behind.

  Speaking of their leader, he elected to remain outside both to ensure Thomas didn’t escape and to avoid drawing too much attention. There were plenty of people that knew him both as the king’s chief advisor and the son-in-law of the richest man in the city. Not everyone of course, the incident at the forge proved that, but plenty. There were times being rich and famous was useful and times it was a nuisance. Allen was willing to give it a try just to see if he liked it.

  There was no sign of Thomas, but someone had to know him. Attractive people tended to leave an impression. He settled at an empty table and soon enough a cute young woman in a black tunic and white apron walked up to him.

  “What can I get you?” the server asked.

  “A cup of coffee for now. I’m supposed to meet a friend of mine but he’s late. Tall blond guy named Thomas, you haven’t seen him, have you?”

  “Not this morning. He doesn’t usually come in until later in the afternoon. Does he owe you money or something?”

  Allen chuckled. “Or something. He insulted my sister and I mean to have satisfaction.”

  “That sounds like Thomas.” Her face twisted in distaste. “He has a new girl every couple weeks. He’s handsome enough and charming when he wants to be, but deep down is a real shit.”

  Allen sent a silent prayer heavenward at his good luck. “It sounds like you have first-hand experience.”

  “More than I’d like.”

  He put a silver coin on the table. “How would you like to help me teach him the error of his ways? That coin has friends if you can tell me where to find him.”

  “How many friends?” she asked, never taking her eyes off the coin.

  Allen took out three more and put them in a neat pile on the table. “I also promise to punch him once in the face for you.”

  “Make it two punches and you got a deal.”

  He grinned and nodded. “Where is he?”

  “He keeps a love nest above the barbershop on Saint Street. If he’s not there, I can’t help you.”

  “Thanks.” Allen stood and left the coins behind. He caught Ulf’s eye and gave a slight shake of his head. He found Lord Shenk waiting outside across the street. “I have an address but there’s no guarantee that he’s home.”

  “If there’s one thing I’ve learned,” Lord Shenk said. “It’s that there are no guarantees in life. Let’s go see if we can find him.”

  “What about the others?”

  “They can stay here in case he shows up. The two of us should be able to handle a single fop.”

  Having seen Lord Shenk’s power firsthand, Allen figured he could handle an entire army of fops. Saint Street was only a few blocks over, so they went on foot. His employer—Allen refused to think of Lord Shenk as his master even though that was probably closer to the truth—seemed disinclined to talk.

  “It seems we are coming to the end of this job,” Allen said. “Do you have something else lined up for us?”

  “This business was a distraction. As soon as it’s dealt with, I want you to get busy building the spy network we discussed when I first decided not to kill you. It seems we will need to expand beyond the original scope I intended. There’s far too much going on in the city that I know nothing about, these thieves for instance. Imagine what’s going on in the rest of the kingdom that’s escaped our notice. There are simply too many outside threats for us to have chaos internally. It needs to stop and it needs to stop as soon as possible.”

  Allen tried to swallow but found his throat dry. Lord Shenk’s grim tone made it clear that whoever was causing the chaos he didn’t like was going to regret their choices in life. It made Allen happy that he was on the right side of that anger.

  “On another subject,” Allen said. “Captain Kelten paid me a visit the other day.”

  “And what did you tell him?”

  “The truth, just as you suggested, though heavily edited.”

  “And did he seem satisfied?”

  “For the moment. He said he may have more questions later on. I can’t imagine him finding anything to make it worth coming back to talk to me.”

  “Let’s hope so. He is yet another distraction I don’t need right now. Don’t all these people understand that there’s a war on? That we’re surrounded by enemies who want to see us all dead? All this foolishness just makes our enemies’ job easier.”

  Allen didn’t have anything to say to that and they completed the short walk in silence. They had no trouble spotting the barbershop; it had a six-foot red, white, and blue pole out front. There was an alley separating it from a dress shop next door. A set of steps running along the outside of the building led to a door that he assumed opened into Thomas’s flat.

&nb
sp; By some miracle they made it to the top of the stairs without them creaking. Allen tried the door but found it locked.

  “You want me to kick it in?”

  “No need.” Lord Shenk put a finger on the wood and a moment later said, “Give it another try.”

  Allen tugged and the door opened easily. He glanced down and found the latch had been sliced cleanly in half.

  Putting the magic firmly out of his mind, Allen stepped into the flat. The curtains were drawn, but a little light leaked through the cracks, enough to reveal a small sitting room with a couch and table and a cold hearth. A door led to another room out of sight. Not a sound could be heard.

  “He’s not here,” Lord Shenk said. “Let’s have a look around, maybe there’s a clue to his whereabouts. And close the door, we don’t want to scare him off should he return home.”

  Allen obliged then set to checking the sitting room while Lord Shenk disappeared through the inner door. He threw the curtains open to let in more light and went to the couch. The cushions were a little worn, but not too much. He tossed them aside but found nothing underneath. The table held only an empty wine bottle. There didn’t appear to be a kitchen.

  He frowned. If he were a gigolo that worked for thieves seducing women in useful positions, where would he hide his valuables?

  Allen turned at once to the hearth. He knelt, reached up the chimney, and felt around. Nothing but sooty bricks.

  He reached as far as he could and his nail ticked off of something metal. At the risk of hurting his shoulder, he stretched enough to grab a metal box and pulled it out. The thing was filthy, but Allen didn’t let that bother him.

  The box’s lid fit tight, but it wasn’t locked. With a grunt of effort, he yanked it open. Inside was a pouch and two sheets of paper. The pouch clinked when he shook it. Allen grinned and pocketed whatever coins Thomas had collected. Now the papers.

  The first one was written in some sort of code. The words were legible, but the message made no sense, at least not to him. He checked the second paper. It was a love note from some poor, deluded soul that imagined Thomas cared about her. Allen frowned. Why would he keep this note given the number of women he’d seduced? Maybe there was more to it than he thought.

  “Did you find anything?” Lord Shenk emerged from the back room empty-handed.

  “Perhaps, I’m still reading. You?”

  “Just clothes. Let me see what you have.”

  Allen handed him the coded paper and kept reading the love note. It was signed by someone named Sin. There were plenty of names that might be short for, or it might be a nickname. He went to the top and read it again. There were the usual confessions of eternal love, a promise that he would be well rewarded for his work, and another promise to meet soon at the Nest for a night he wouldn’t forget. The Nest might be important, but it wasn’t a name he was familiar with. Could be an inn or tavern or anything really.

  “Can you make anything of the code?” Allen asked.

  “Given time I’m sure I could decipher it, but I’m not wasting my efforts right now. What about the other note?”

  “It’s a fairly generic love letter. The only thing of interest is the mention of a place called the Nest and a promise to meet.”

  “The Nest?” Lord Shenk scratched his chin.

  “Does that mean something to you, my lord?” Allen stood and brushed himself off.

  “There’s a modest villa in Gold Ward that’s called the Nest. It’s short for The Crow’s Nest. It’s owned by the Crow family, a newly wealthy clan that only moved to the ward a few years ago. The older families like to sniff at them, but I briefly met the matriarch during the party before my wedding. She struck me as a sharp woman, too sharp to be mixed up with thieves. But that doesn’t guarantee some other member of the family isn’t.”

  “What should we do now, my lord?”

  “We’ll have to pay them a visit. But first you need to change your clothes. You look like a chimney sweep.”

  Allen grimaced but asked, “May I keep the coded letter? Ulf is good at that sort of thing.”

  Lord Shenk handed it over. “By all means, take it. I hate puzzles. Meet me in front of the portal at two. The Crow’s Nest isn’t far from there.”

  Allen bowed. He’d never visited a home in Gold Ward during the day. It should be interesting.

  Chapter 21

  Otto sat at a small cafe near the portal and sipped a glass of white wine. The huge mithril construct still crackled with ether in his magical vision, but it wouldn’t activate. He’d been thinking about ways to change that, but Otto understood so little about how the magic worked that his ideas were rudimentary at best. Someday he was going to have to bring it up with Lord Karonin, but there was so much else to do, he didn’t know when he’d get the chance.

  His irritation with the obstacles in his way had built to a dangerous degree and he needed to get it under control before they went to see Mrs. Crow. He’d get nowhere if he went in there frothing like a mad man and barking orders like his father. Rich matrons had their pride, especially those with new money who hadn’t fully won the respect of their peers. Hopefully he could use that pride to his advantage.

  He took another sip of his wine. It was an excellent vintage. One of the things he loved most about Gold Ward was that no one sold cheap wine. In fact, no one sold cheap anything.

  He yawned and closed his eyes. A moment later his vision was flying up over the nearest houses and toward the Crow’s Nest. Just because he wanted to be polite, didn’t mean he wasn’t going to scout out the area before he approached. If his enemies were operating out of the villa, he didn’t want to walk into a trap.

  The Crow’s Nest was painted dark gray with gold accents. They didn’t have any guards patrolling the small yard and no fence separated them from the street. The villa itself was only two stories with no wings flaring out to either side. It was still a beautiful home even if he could’ve easily fit the whole thing in a small corner of Franken Manor.

  Otto tried to fly through the dark-red door, but something stopped him. He shifted his vision and found an ethereal barrier blocking his way. It surrounded the entire house and while he could easily tear it apart, he decided not to risk alerting its creator. The barrier had to be new since the house itself was only fifty years old. He was surprised that there were any wizards currently capable of making such a spell. He barely understood the process himself, not that he’d spent any great amount of time studying protective magics. This little episode was making him think maybe he should.

  He returned his sight to his body and opened his eyes. If nothing else, the magical protections gave him confidence that there was something untoward going on at that house. After all, you didn’t hire someone to protect your home from prying wizards unless you had something to hide.

  And exactly what wizards did they have to hide from? As far as Otto knew, he was the only wizard capable of extending his senses and he didn’t exactly advertise the fact that he knew how. If it wasn’t him they were hiding from, who was it?

  “Lord Shenk?”

  He glanced right and found Allen, dressed in a fine tan tunic and matching trousers, standing a few feet away. He hadn’t worn his sword which was unfortunate. Otto nearly sighed at his lack of awareness. If some enemy had snuck up on him like that, he’d have been dead before he knew there was danger.

  “Allen. Are you ready?”

  “Yes, my lord. Ulf is working on the code as we speak. He seemed optimistic that he could crack it in a reasonable amount of time.”

  “Good.” Otto didn’t really think the code was that important, but every little bit of information they could get helped. “Are you armed?”

  Allen pulled up his right pant leg revealing the hilt of a dagger jutting from the top of his boot. “I didn’t think we were expecting combat. Should I go back and get a sword?”

  “No, and I didn’t expect combat either, then I found a magical barrier protecting the house. Now I’m not sure
what to expect. Come on.” Otto stood and tossed a silver coin on the table. “The only way to find out for sure is to introduce ourselves. For the record, you’ll be playing the part of my personal assistant.”

  “Why am I not going as myself?” Allen asked as they left for the Crow’s Nest.

  “Because why would I be bringing a tavern keeper with me to visit my neighbors? Dragging a servant along at least makes a little sense. I could say we’re going shopping later and I need you to carry my purchases. I’ve seen a few people doing that. I doubt it will come up, but I wanted you to be ready.”

  Allen nodded and asked no more questions. It took just over five minutes to reach the villa. It looked exactly the same as it had during his magical investigation. To his ethereal sight it appeared surrounded by a rainbow-colored dome not unlike the one that protected Lord Karonin’s tower, though far weaker.

  They stopped in front of the door and Otto looked at Allen.

  “What?”

  “Knock. That’s one of the jobs a nobleman’s servant performs.”

  “Okay.”

  Allen rapped on the door and a few seconds later it opened. A middle-aged man dressed in all black looked from Allen to Otto. “Can I help you?”

  His voice oozed the sort of disdain Otto took special pleasure in knocking out of people. “My name is Otto Shenk. I need to speak with the master of the house on a matter of Crown interest.”

  “What sort of matter?” the servant asked.

  “Are you the master of the house?” Otto asked offering his most arrogant sneer.

  “No, sir.”

  “Then it’s none of your concern. Fetch your employer. Or shall I return to the palace and inform His Majesty that the Crow family is uninterested in helping the Crown in a most serious investigation?”