The Charlatan

39. Bell, Book, and Candle

If Clara's plan went uncomplicated, the Veltie ex-courier could redeem herself and keep her friends alive. If she could get information on the King's whereabouts, intercept him before her rendezvous with Hollow's assassins, and arrange a fair trial, she could possibly negotiate the Charlatan out of hanging. Negotiate herself and Air out of hanging. Clara admitted that Safiya would have had the best brain and tongue to tackle such a trial, but Priyanka was also quick-witted and knowledgeable about legal proceedings. Air likely also, since he had so long skirted the law. Actually, perhaps that goes for all of my companions, Clara thought as she glanced at all of them in turn from the corner of her eye. She grinned.

Her team of outlaws did her good in this particular situation.

However, plan set and knowledgeable allies with her, Clara knew that her plan could very easily fail. If her team was caught by the Veltie forces they were currently following, she would not go into talks with the upper hand. In fact, she would likely go straight to jail, if she wasn't killed on sight. If Clara could get Air to defend himself in court, when all of their lives hung on his every word, then perhaps the full truth about the Charlatan would reveal itself, and the King would hand out punishment proportionally. Perhaps with Priyanka and Charlie in tow, any aggressors would throw the group pity or at least hesitate before slaughtering them. Perhaps Honey's hand-to-hand combat skills could come in handy.

There were many 'perhapses' in Clara's thinking, and she knew this. But she refused to give up her optimism. Her King had been merciful to her before. If she could catch him alone again, then whoever was likely influencing him could be overruled. She had to have the upper hand, though. She had to approach him with power and leverage.

But then where would Hollow be? Clara had promised the nation that she would take down the King of Velt. If she went back on this, conveniently 'forgot' to rendezvous with the assassins, would Hollow accuse her of bluffing? Well, if my meeting with Velt fails, I'll be dead. So I won't have to deal with that. The truth was dark, but motivating nevertheless. Like many other times, Clara filed her problem away to deal with in the future. She had other things to focus on at present.

"These guards are very strange," Priyanka whispered to the group in her slow Genesese. Clara immediately broke out of her deep thought and peeked through the brush her group hid behind. Indeed, the guards they were following had not yet said a word to each other, despite several hours passing. Now they sat to rest and eat, still silent.

"Indeed," Charlie said. "They have not spoken to each other at all. No humour, teasing, beating off steam. Their task must be very secret."

"I'm not sure," Honey added vaguely. Clara watched her squint at the guards with a confused expression. That could not bode well. Honey was not one to be confused.

Before Clara and her companions could decide on how to act on this information, the guards suddenly stood and continued walking in the direction they had been for the past few hours. They were taking a winding route to the Citadel, mostly by the sparse woods around it. This made hiding easy for Clara but it was also strange. Clara could not figure out what their mission could possibly be except for patrolling. Surely the King would not send royal guards out to patrol Velt's outskirts. Something was off.

"This unsettles me," Charlie whispered to Clara as the group watched the guards move farther away. "They seem to be looking for something. Or someone."

Clara turned to Air. "You were in the Citadel a while and paying close attention to the guards and constabulary. Did they act this way there, too?" she asked.

Air did not answer. Clara assumed he hadn't heard her, as he, Honey and Priyanka had stood from their crouched positions and were beginning to tip-toe out of the bushes. Clara took this as a cue for her and Charlie to pause their conversation and follow suit.