Patrol 2: Lost & Found

Chapter 23

Knocking on the door made her straighten. With a loud squeak, Prant jumped from her lap and ran to the door.

"Vania? May I come in? It's Eddin."

"Yes, Eddin, come in."

The door opened and footsteps entered the room. The ferret chittered and Eddin replied, "Prant. Thank you for staying with Vania. I trust you did your job well?" The ferret chittered again and Eddin chuckled. As he approached the chair, he said, "Vania. I came to check on you, and to warn you. The house's more powerful wards—"

Bright green light erupted along the window. Vania sensed the magic surrounding her and winced, instinctively hunching down away from the feeling of the magical walls.

"—are being activated." He stopped beside her chair. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," she mumbled. "I can tell the spells're buffered, but they're too strong not be sensed anyway." She looked up at him. "What happened outside? Was it the wizard?"

"Yes," he said soberly. He sighed and walked over to the other chair, dropping into it. As he put a hand to his face, Vania saw the blood on his fingers.

"Eddin. Are you all right? Did you get injured?"

"No, I'm not injured." He dropped his hand, looking at his fingers. The hawk on his shoulder made a strange warbling sound; the ferret, perched on his other shoulder, chittered quietly and nuzzled his cheek. "This is F'rondel's blood. The wizard killed him and several of the guards; I didn't get out there soon enough. C'larkton was lucky—he hid in the stall with Tarva, so he lived." He sighed again. "That damned wizard is still wearing my face. We managed to chase him off, but it's only a matter of time before he returns."

"Eddin, why would he come here? Does he know Laria and I are here? How could he know that? The protective spells on this place must block his seeking spells."

"He knows Laria's here because he read it in my mind yesterday; I'd already brought her and her mother here before he attacked me. And after the events of last night, it's not a hard guess that you'd be here, too." He sighed again. Looking over to Vania's worried face, he added, "This is still one of the best protected houses in the city. You're still safer here than almost anywhere else. And now the gates are closed and locked against entry, and the entire contingent of our menagerie and rookery are patrolling the yard, aside from the ones we brought inside for special duties."

"You...have a lot of animals, don't you?"

He smiled. "We do. Being a family of animal wranglers, we have many." He chuckled. "Mother has the knack, as does sis, though sis hardly uses it. It skipped K'landrin, which has made him very bitter. And no one can figure out how a hereditary skill passed from mother to me, since she's technically not my bloodmother. My father doesn't have the skill, nor does the woman who birthed me."

"How...is that possible?" Vania asked.

"No one can figure it out. Of those who know." Eddin chuckled and stood. "I need to go talk to sis. Make sure she's satisfied with how we're handling this. And warn her not to let her apprentice leave—Sarin, Eluri, and several of the others would probably eat him." He pulled the ferret off his shoulder and dropped it into Vania's lap. "Stay with Vania, Prant. Keep her safe for me."

"Eddin."

Eddin stopped at the doorway. "Yes?"

"Check on Laria and her mother, too?"

"The wizard didn't breach the house."

"For my peace of mind? Please?"

"Yes. I'll check on them. Relax. Everything is fine." He walked out the door.