Silver Skeletons: Book 3 The Rose Tree Chronicles

Chapter Twenty-One: The Spymaster

"All paperwork concerning Slaves must be available for the Association of Slave Owners, Law Enforcement, Nobility, and Royalty to view upon request."

Rein and Makiar stopped where they were and turned to look towards the marquis. Rein was especially worried. Why would Rallian want Makiar to return the orb to him? Of course, Makiar didn't hesitate to obey.

Nadia, who still recovered on the floor of the grand hall, glanced up at Rallian. "Master," she said. "What are you doing?"

"I asked for all of your secrets, Lila. That includes your ethnicity."

Rallian held out his hand for Makiar to deliver the orb, and Makiar handed him the purse. Rallian opened the purse and let the orb drop into the palm of his hand. Nadia clutched her stomach as the smoke-like substance escaped her and disappeared into the orb once more.

"It seems you now have a month to tell me the truth, Lila," Rallian said. "I still expect your chores to be completed on time, by the way." Marquis Rallian replaced the orb into the bag and handed it back to Makiar. "Carry on." Makiar left with the orb and the marquis addressed Nadia. "To your chamber for the night, Lila. Unless you decide to tell me the truth."

"Yes, Master," Nadia replied.

It was a struggle for Nadia to stand, and when she succeeded, she took two wobbly steps before she tumbled back to the floor. Mauro almost left his post to help her but stopped himself just in time. Nadia managed to get back onto her feet and slowly made her way to her bedroom for the night.

When she saw Nadia had managed to control her footing, Rein left to follow the lone satyr butler from a distance to wherever he may take Nadia's precious golden ball. It took longer than she had perceived for him to reach the destination and most of the journey consisted of climbing up an endless circle of dark narrow stairs which provided enough space to only fit a single person. Makiar was required to carry a hand-held candelabra with him to light his way, which also meant that Rein had to maintain her distance to keep from casting her light past Makiar's hooves.

Finally, Makiar came upon a wooden door guarded by a satyr with a bulkier build than his own. The guard stood motionless beneath a lit flambeau with a halberd in one hand. Rein quickly removed herself from the guard's sight and listened in on the words exchanged between the two satyrs.

"The marquis requests that I store this among the rest of his valuables," said Makiar.

"Very well," the guard replied in a voice much lower than the butler's. "You know the drill."

"Of course."

Rein heard the jangling of a ring of keys and then a wooden door creak open. Then, two sets of biped hooves entered through the door and the light went with them. Rein peered around the curve in the wall, but she was unable to see anything. After some thought, Rein concluded that she must currently be located in one of the marquis's five, tall stone towers. She flew back down the flight of stairs, bolted out one of the slim slits in the wall meant to be a tiny window of some sort, and flew up to where she judged the room to be.

At the top of the tower was a larger window, though not much larger than the slit through which she flew. She was careful as she peeked in on the guard and butler and gazed about the room at all the gold, jewels, silk, and heirlooms stored here. She came to the conclusion that this must be what was left of the vast amounts of treasure the marquis had come across back when he was a High White Knight sailing the world in the name of the queen.

Once all the flambeaus were lit, the guard stood by the doorway and watched as the butler unlocked a small chest in a far corner of the room. He set the felt-wrapped orb inside and then locked the chest before he turned to exit the room. Then the guard set about snuffing out the flambeaus. Rein waited outside the window to hear the guard lock the door to the marquis's treasury, and then Makiar clopped away. Rein pulled her cloak tight around her and entered the room. Hopefully, the guard wouldn't catch sight of her glow through the barred window of the wooden door. To keep him from also hearing the flutter of her wings, Rein climbed over the solid gold dishes and boxes of jewelry to reach the mahogany chest Makiar had accessed. She spotted the keyhole by the small beam of light which escaped her cloak and crawled through it.