Heart of Dorkness

Scourge Forty-Four - Spycraft

Bianca leans over, pressing herself closer to my back so that she can snake an arm ahead of me. “Over there,” she says.

I follow her finger to the shoreline of the big lake next to the capital. We’ve been following the coast for nearly an hour already. Below us are a bunch of houses. Little villages that are only a few minute’s walk apart from each other, with a road connecting all of them together. Boats are coming in for the night to little docks and it seems like things are winding down for the day in the little towns.

“Which one?” I ask.

Bianca’s pointing is towards a part of the coast that’s filled with jagged stones as the land rises. The capital is just a ways past that. If we flew straight for it we’d reach the walls in maybe twenty minutes.

A few big roads, lined with homes and vineyards and farms, stretch out from the coast to the city proper. Opposite those is a river, one that I suspect was dug out by hand, leading into the city.

“It’s the villa with the red roof tiles and the large stables,” Bianca says.

“Do you want us to land in front?”

“Could we land somewhere more discrete?” she asks.

I look around as we start to circle the area. There’s more than just one villa next to the coast. Six, maybe seven big houses, all with their own fenced in yards, several with what look like small homes built around them which only made the main buildings look bigger. I guess this is where all the really well-off families from Caselfella stay instead of the city itself.

Bianca’s family villa has a big mansion, with plenty of balconies overlooking a wide yard that someone spent a lot of time trimming and maintaining. There are a few servant homes off to one side, behind a copse of trees that keeps them out of sight. There’s even a greenhouse and some fields for farming.

I aim the bird monster we’re riding towards the outside of the villa, where the area has more woods and where the walls can hide us from view.

We land on a gravel road, the bird monsters jogging a bit to bleed off excess speed. “Alright! Please unbuckle your seatbelts and prepare to disembark from the craft. We thank you for riding Air Valeria.”

“What are you talking about?” Esme asks.

I laugh and swing myself off the bird. I pat it on the neck while Bianca carefully climbs off of it. “Just a passing thought, sorry. So, that’s your family’s mansion?”

“It’s our estate outside of the city, yes,” Bianca says. “There’s a second, smaller house in the capital, next to the seat of government.”

“Alright,” I say. “Are you sure we can just stay here for the night?”

“I’m certain it won’t be an issue,” Bianca says.

We grab the stuff we need from the bird’s backs. Most of our things are in backpacks already, so we just need to toss them on and we’re good to go. I tell the two love birds to run off for a bit and to keep out of sight of any passing humans. We’ll need them tomorrow, after all.

Felix steps up next to me and squints ahead. “I don’t like being in a place like this. It doesn’t feel safe.”

“We’ve stayed at inns,” I say.

“We were anonymous then,” she says. “Now we’re staying at someone’s place. It’s different.”

I can’t see much of a difference at all. “I’ll keep my guard up then, just in case.” If that’s all it takes to make Felix happy, then it’s a small price to pay.

Felix grins. “Nah, don’t bother. Guarding you’s my job. I’ll keep my guard up for the both of us.”

The entrance to Bianca’s family’s villa is closed off by a great big gate with a gatehouse next to it. The walls are only a bit taller than I can reach if I raised both hands over my head. Tall enough to stop most non-flying animals from just jumping over it, I guess. Not so tall that a determined person wouldn’t find a way over it.

No one’s at the gatehouse because why would anyone be sitting around and waiting there? This isn’t likely a place that’s visited all that often, and I bet that when Bianca and her family show up, it’s only after sending a warning ahead.

We slip through the gatehouse, then start along the road leading to the villa. Felix wasn’t far off the mark when she called it a mansion. It’s a big place, with columns and balconies and a roof entirely made of red tiles that must have been painted recently because they’re practically glowing in the evening sun.

Someone sees us from inside the building, and suddenly there’s a fury of activity from inside the building. Someone calls out to someone else, their voices too indistinct for me to make out what they’re saying, but a moment later the main doors open and a man steps out.

He’s a middle-aged guy, wearing the kind of clothes I’d expect a manservant to wear. A clean doublet and pants over... sandals and socks? I think we might have caught him off-guard.

“Pardon me, pardon me,” he says as he jogs over. “We weren’t expecting any deliveries today. What do you have for us?”

I blink, but this is Bianca’s place, so it’s also her problem to inform this guy of why we’re here. I turn her way and notice that she’s a little flushed in the cheeks.

“Hello Rafael,” she says. “Pardon the sudden appearance. I was not expecting to have to use the estate today. We need some rooms prepared for some important guests. And a meal wouldn’t be amiss either. Baths too, I suspect.”

“Oh, wow, meals and baths, you know Bianca, you’re not half bad,” Felix says.

Bianca flushes a little more at that, but her focus remains on Rafael who blinks and stutters for a moment. “Ah, well, yes, hello Lady Malicieux. We certainly didn’t expect you. Is your father in the city?”

“No, just myself,” Bianca says.

“I see, I see,” he says. He glances at us, then back to the house. “Might I have a word, miss?”

My friends and I stay put while Rafael and Bianca step closer to the house. The man leans in and whispers a few things. I distinctly hear him utter the words “ruffians,” and “peasants.”

I can feel the moment Bianca starts to be really angry. The air around her starts to waver and shift and a warm breeze shifts over to where I’m standing.

She’s not very happy, I guess.

After repeating her previous demands, this time while wearing a glare that cows the older man, she returns to us as if fully expecting him to carry out everything she asked. “Shall we retire to the sitting room while things are prepared?” she asks.

“Sure,” I say. This is why mom has monsters instead of people. Monsters don’t second-guess you or have any sort of loyalty issues. Also, they don’t need to be paid and live basically forever. Really it’s mostly positives. If monsters weren’t so keen on eating people I bet they’d be a lot more popular as household helpers.

“He didn’t sound happy to see us,” Felix says.

“Yes, well I suppose we’ve ruined whatever plans he had for the evening,” Esme says.

“Those plans ought to be set aside for something like this,” Bianca says. “The entire reason the staff is paid and allowed to live on the estate is to keep the house ready for guests. I don’t expect them to be able to prepare a grand feast on command, but a few rooms and some dinner shouldn’t be infeasible.” She sighs. “If my father were here, they’d be tripping over themselves to do as he asks.”

“We’ll be fine,” I say. Still, maybe I’ll send a few little friends out. There are plenty of wooded areas on the estate that could hide a monster or twelve. And I can probably convince a few others to patrol the outside of the walls, just in case.

“Come, we can sit back and relax a little indoors. It’ll be getting chilly out here,” Bianca says.

“I, for one, won’t mind sleeping with a roof over my head,” Esme says.

We walk over to the villa, then step in. It’s a tastefully decorated place, though there’s none of the grandiose architecture I’m used to back home. Bianca seems to know where she’s going, so we follow after her as she stomps over to an office in the back.

“My father has... let’s not mince words here, he has spies. They often collect and send things here so that he can review them once he’s in the city. If you don’t mind, I’d like to go over some of their reports. We might learn something.”

“I’ll help,” Esme says.

And with that, we’re all roped into it, I guess. Well, it’s not the weirdest way I’ve spent an evening.

***