Secrets of the Swords, Book 1

Chapter 12: Three's a Crowd, Four's a Nuisance

"She wants to do what?" Marrene asked when Ulsper told her and Calatar of their plan.

"She's coming with me to Andilir," Ulsper repeated. "There's bound to be information on the Twin Blades there. I need to find out how to release the enchantment on the blades so that whoever possesses them is no longer invincible."

"Is she crazy? Are you crazy?" Calatar hissed, as if afraid that Suthe in the next room would suddenly gain the ability to understand Noth and overhear him. "There are spies crawling everywhere looking for you.  And you haven't even found the swords yet!"

"I'll be careful," Ulsper said. "And they're bound to turn up eventually, with so many searching for them."

Marrene raised her chin. "I'm coming with you," she said.

Not to be outdone, Calatar added, "So am I!"

Ulsper shook his head. "Four of us will be too conspicuous," he said. "I won't be able to travel by rail lest someone recognizes me, which means we would have to travel by carts and strangers' goodwill. We would stand out and the Imperial Guard would catch on to us in no time."

Marrene glowered, but stayed silent, realizing he had a point. Calatar, however, wanted to dispute Ulsper's reasoning.

"So don't have her come with us, and there will only be three people!" the inventor argued, gesturing at Marrene. "Or, two of us go by rail and meet you there. Four people will find the information on the Twin Blades much quicker than two—it's double the search!"

"Hey! If we're kicking someone out of the group, it's going to be you, inventor-boy," Marrene objected, pointing an accusatory finger in Calatar's direction. "You don't even know a word of Shun Dwo, and you're a terrible fighter, I bet."

"I know how to dismantle one of their clockwork soldiers, do you?" Calatar shot back.

Marrene opened her mouth to argue, and Ulsper held up a placating hand. "I appreciate your willingness to help," he began, "but—"

There was the creak of a floorboard, and Ulsper looked up to find Suthe at the doorway.

"Um, what are you discussing?" she asked timidly.

"We're not sending you two off by yourselves to have all the fun," Marrene told her, switching to Montese. "Calatar here and I want to come along too." She slung a shoulder around the redhead, who quickly shrugged her off.

"What did she just say about me?" Calatar asked Ulsper, who merely shook his head.

"Four people would draw too much attention to us," Ulsper explained to Suthe. "Especially since we won't be able to take the train, lest I'm recognized."

Suthe frowned. "So how are we getting to Andilir, then?"

"We'll have to ask for rides along the rural back roads," Ulsper explained. "It will take a long time."

Suthe looked worried. "How long?" she asked.

"A few weeks."

"But someone else might find the swords before then!" she objected.

"Exactly why we should take the train and meet you there!" Marrene said to Ulsper, still in Montese. Ulsper briefly wondered if she was doing it just to annoy Calatar. "We can search for the swords while we wait for you to get there."

Ulsper shook his head. "Neither you nor Cal have ever been to Andilir before," he said. "You would stick out too much."

"I've studied it in my trainings!" Marrene objected. "And I'm not too bad at speaking Shun Dwo, either."

"You have a terrible accent."

"I'm getting better at it! Besides, how else am I supposed to improve?" Marrene crossed her arms.

"Now is not the time to improve your training," Ulsper growled. "You'll put us all at risk if you're discovered. You and he are staying here, and that is final."

Marrene's lips pressed into a thin line, but she said no more.

"Where in Andilir are we going to go?" Suthe asked after a moment of hostile silence.

"We'll start in Sang Bur," Ulsper told her. "I know someone there who might be able to help us."

"If you even get there in time to need help," Marrene grumbled. "Someone will have probably discovered the swords by then and it'll be too late."

Suthe bit her lip. "I might have another way," she muttered. "But I...I'm not very good at it. I don't even know if it will work."

"You want to use your druith traits," Ulsper said, remembering Suthe's disappearance earlier that day. "To appear there."

Suthe sucked in a breath. "I don't want to—I don't even know if I can, but since we don't have a lot of time..." she trailed off, rubbing at the back of her wrist. Her eyes darted from Ulsper to Marrene. "Actually, it's probably just better if we go with your original plan. Forget I even mentioned it."

"It's worth a try," Ulsper said.

"I don't really have any control over it," Suthe protested. "I shouldn't have even brought it up."

"I agree with Ulsper," Marrene said. "I think it's at least worth trying."

Suthe's eyes widened. "B-but with all of you? I can barely disappear by myself!"

"You forget, Ulsper's not letting us come with you," Marrene huffed.

Suthe shook her head. "I still don't think I can..." Her fidgeting was only getting worse, and Ulsper put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She couldn't vanish at a time like this.

The druith jumped a little under his touch, but the rapid rise-and-fall of her chest slowed down a bit.

"We'll give it a try, tomorrow morning," he said. "If it doesn't work, we'll take the country roads."

Another deep breath from Suthe. "Okay," she whispered.    

~~

Sorry for the short chapter.  I'm traveling this weekend so I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to post then, so I decided to put this up really quick.  What do you think--should Ulsper let Marrene and Cal come with them?  Will Suthe be able to use her magic to get to Sang Bur?

Thank you for all of your comments in the last chapter, I really loved hearing your reactions.  And thanks for reading!!  ^_^