“StarWind, SunChaser, what kind of names are those?” Malafar asked as he tried to sit up.
Goral silently moved in to help the mage sit and Malafar’s eyes widened we he saw the giant. “And what is that?” he questioned.
“That,” chuckled StarWind, “is Goral. We are Sakovans which is why our names appear foreign to you.”
“Sakovans?” spat Master Malafar. “What do you want with me? I have already done your dirty work for you. Help me up. I want to get out of here.”
“You are too weak to move,” frowned StarWind. “You have an odd way of showing your appreciation. If SunChaser had not pulled you out of the palace last night, you would be dead now.”
“Dead is what I should be,” snarled Malafar. “I have no use for Sakovans and I certainly do not intend to be of use to them either. Help me get up.”
StarWind frowned at Goral as if he might know what Malafar was talking about, but the giant just shook his head. “Perhaps you are still groggy with sleep,” suggested StarWind. “You assassinated the Katana last night. The entire city is searching for you and they will not stop until they find you. If you were able to leave this house, you would be killed on sight. You have nowhere else to go.”
“Nowhere is better than being captured by the Sakovans,” growled Malafar. “I know how you operate and I will not play your game.”
“Why this hatred of Sakovans?” quizzed StarWind. “We have never done anything to hurt you. Your wife was Sakovan. I do not understand.”
“Do not speak of Rhodella as a Sakovan,” threatened the mage. “She was Sakovan once, but she rejected all of that revolutionary garbage. She was not a savage who kills for the joy of it. She doesn’t use people and throw them away like you do. I know about Alfred now. Alazar told me all about it. SunChaser said she was a friend of Lyra’s. I suppose you have her now and you will get her to do your dirty work as well?”
StarWind stared at Master Malafar in shock. She thought of a thousand retorts to his misguided statements, but she simply shook her head and said, “You need rest before you go anywhere. Contrary to what you think, the Sakovans do not need outsiders to help them against their will. If you want to leave when you are able to walk under your own power, I will hold the door open for you. Goral will stay and keep you company. If you need anything just let him know, although I am sure you would rather take care of yourself.”
StarWind did not wait for a reply, but turned and stormed out of the door. She returned to her room and put on the servant’s uniform before going downstairs to find something to eat. SunChaser and Fisher were already up and in the kitchen.
“Tayo,” smiled SunChaser. “I hope you slept well?”
“Sleeping was the best part of my stay so far,” scowled StarWind. “That clova chip has really set me off. Instead of gratitude for saving his hide, he is ranting about how terrible the Sakovans are and how he can’t wait to be rid of us. If he wasn’t Lyra’s father, I would have thrown him out the window.”
“Maybe I should have left him,” murmured SunChaser. “I was torn because he assassinated the Katana which hurts the Sakovans, but I knew he had to be Lyra’s father as well. I’m sorry StarWind.”
“It’s not your fault,” assured StarWind as she tried to calm down. “I would have done the same thing. Anyway, he has been talking with Alazar. That was about the only thing I learned from him. I had a lot of questions to ask him, but I could not remain in the same room with him.”
“It may not be him talking,” Fisher suggested. “If you noticed the yellow tinge to his skin, you would know that he has been drugged for a long period of time. The skin color is indicative of prolonged use of Quetara, which causes a thinking dysfunction. The person gets very confused and is susceptible to manipulation. I would be willing to bet that Alazar is the new Katana if this mage has been talking to him recently.”
“How long does this drug take to wear off?” StarWind asked.
“A lot depends on the individual and the dosage,” answered Fisher. “If this mage killed the Katana and that is the opposite of what he would normally do then I would suspect that the dosage was very high. It would be days at the earliest before he starts to think correctly again. There is also the possibility that he has been permanently damaged.”
“You mean he may never act differently than he does now?” questioned StarWind.
“That is possible,” nodded Fisher.
“Great,” sighed StarWind. “I need to send a message to StarCity and let them know what is going on and I don’t know what to say about Malafar.”
“Have you ever seen Malafar before last night?” Fisher asked.
“No,” StarWind responded with confusion. “Do you think he is an imposter?”
“That is not what I was thinking,” smiled Fisher. “Perhaps you should not mention that you have Malafar because you are not yet certain that is who he is.”
“Thanks,” smiled StarWind. “That sounds like the proper path right now. Can you let me use one of your birds, SunChaser?”
“Don’t forget the meeting details with Lord Marak,” reminded Fisher. “I would hate to have him show up for the meeting and end up being alone.”
“That is the main reason for the message,” StarWind stated as she tightened her apron over the pale blue servant’s dress and followed SunChaser into the garden.
It took StarWind almost an hour to properly word her message and then encode it because thoughts of Master Malafar kept intruding in her mind. She finally did decide to report everything including Master Malafar in her report. The situation was too critical to worry about hurting Lyra’ feelings. The old mage was definitely unstable and that could mean trouble for all of them. At any moment he might go running into the street screaming about Sakovans. While she had left Goral behind to watch the mage, she doubted that the giant could repel the type of magic she was certain Master Malafar possessed. Having the mage with them magnified the difficulty of the situation they were already in, StarWind could not imagine just turning him loose to be killed by the Omungans either.
She marched back into the kitchen and saw Fisher in his new pale blue servant’s suit preparing to take food up stairs to Malafar and Goral. “Let me take it,” she ordered. “There is no point in letting the mage know about you as well. I doubt he could stomach a Khadoran in his midst. Play the servant in front of him until we find out which way he is going to fall.”
Fisher handed her the tray without comment and she took it upstairs. Without a word, she deposited the tray on the bed and retreated downstairs. When she got downstairs, StarWind saw Fisher and SunChaser in the dining room and went in. SunChaser had the large table filled with maps of the city and the surrounding area.
“Maybe we can get an idea from these,” SunChaser offered. “We dare not go out today anyway so I thought it would be worth the effort.”
StarWind sighed,” Might as well do something. Maybe it will keep my mind off Malafar.”
The three of them pondered the many maps for long hours, ignoring the hunger pains as high sun passed by, and continuing through the afternoon. Just as they were gathering up the maps to attend to dinner, a loud knocking came from the front door. The three of them froze.
“Are you expecting anyone?” StarWind asked.
“No,” answered SunChaser. “Fisher, get rid of the maps. StarWind, answer the door. Remember you two are servants and nobody else is here. If it is Imperial Guards or Monitors, we are in trouble. Anyone else, get rid of them.”
StarWind slowly approached the front door, making sure that Fisher had time to get rid of the maps. She cracked the door slightly and peered out. The first thing she saw was the sparkling white and gold of a Monitor’s uniform. Her heart pounded furiously as she eased the door open. There were two Monitors outside as well as a fat man in a military uniform.
“Can I help you?” StarWind asked passively.
“This is the home of Cherri is it not?” asked the military man.