Taniel (The Taverner's Daughter I)

80: Sam

Sam pulled on his sleeves as he anxiously awaited Baldwin's news. He hoped he was right in suspecting that he was a grandfather, already.

"So, the witch and my son used the portal," he said. "Who were the other two?"

"Unidentified women. One was ungifted but the other was..." Baldwin moistened his lips and took a deep breath. "A female dragonspeaker."

Sam pretended surprise. "You're sure, absolutely sure?"

"Oh aye. We all witnessed her travlling. There is no doubt."

"And you think Ritter has her?"

A hint of a sneer curved Baldwin's mouth. "It was your son using the door-ball, not Ritter."

"Where did they travl from?" Sam asked.

After exchanging glances, the travl-wizards clamoured until the grandmaster wizard called for quiet.

Joyce stepped forward. "Beyond the Great Lake is the best we can do. Contact dropped out for a good while but when the door-ball was reactivated, we saw everything. Fortune smiled upon us, for if we weren't actually watching, we might have missed that final use."

"The south is a big place." Sam centred his medallion.

"I sent Wizard Briant to Skerby with a portable detector," Baldwin said.

"Skerby?" Sam jerked his head up.

"The firedrake must connect somehow so we agreed Skerby a good enough starting place as any. We must identify the woman before we accuse anyone. She might be in Stakkr willingly, though the timing looks suspiciously like a snatching to me."

"Dax would do no such thing," Sam cried, taking in the grim faces.

"We will see," Baldwin said. "You understand these people better than we do. Will Ritter's wife stand by while he breeds with the girl, or will she be put under one of the sons? Yours, perhaps?"

Sam let his dismay show. Olivia was a hell of a woman, but jealous. He was sorry when his term with her was over. These wizards guessed all too much.

The sooner he found out the truth of what was going on, the better. After letting the others know of his intention, Sam turned his back and opened a mindpath. He was almost relieved when a connection was repelled. His talk with Dax was best done in person.

"There's a shield around Ritter's pile of rock. I'll have to go there." On his way to the door, a thought hit him. "What time was that last Stakkr travl?" he asked.

"A few hours before dawn," Baldwin responded.

"That long ago? You did not think to pass me the news?"

"Sorry, Grandmaster," Munson interjected. "Sedgely and me were on duty. We called for backup and carried out every precaution. Tracking the Void and crosschecking the auras takes time.

"It's past noon." Sam shook his head. "We're too late. That midwitch is proficient. They've had ample time for breeding twenty times over, wouldn't you say."

"I'll come to Stakkr with you," Baldwin said.

"By all means, but now I think it best we will hold off until we have gathered more information. We will take the portable detector with us, too, in case Ritter moves her to one of his estates."

Sam spiked his hair. "Inform me when Briant gets back from Skerby."

"Should we not meet him there?" one of the travl-wizards asked.

"We will wait. I'll be at my desk." He nodded and strode from the room, unwilling to hang around while they made obeisance. A million things buzzed through his head as he walked to his office.

He must stall going to Stakkr.

Despite Sam's words to the wizards, he thought Dax might need more time for the impregnation. And, if his son did not agree to share the paternal spell, in exchange for protection, Sam still had nine months to talk him around.

Reaching his office, Sam arranged his leather skirts around him before sitting in his overlarge chair. He centred the silver medallion, placed his magnifiers on his nose, and tugged down his sleeves. He reached for Baldwin's report.

It was good to be back in control.

***

4 April 2017 - split Sam's original scene into two, this being the revised latter part.

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