“I have to clean my face,” sobbed Cherri as she pulled away from his hands and ran upstairs.
StarWind glanced at the Minister and hastily followed Cherri up the stairs and into her bedroom. “That was close sweetie,” StarWind said. “You would not believe what saved you.”
“I thought my performance saved me,” grinned Cherri.
“Not really,” StarWind stated. “The Monitor holding me told the leader that we should leave you alone.”
“Why?” questioned Cherri. “Monitors do not tell their leaders anything.”
“He was one of the Monitors who escorted you and the Katana last night,” StarWind explained. “He told the leader that it was you who alerted the Katana to the threat from Master Malafar. To the leader, it made no sense that you would then be hiding the assassin. That is why he agreed to end the search.”
“That fat slob could have ordered them out,” complained Cherri. “Instead we were saved by a weird quirk of fate. I will make him pay for that.”
“If it is any consolation,” grinned StarWind, “I loved your performance. Still that was too close to disaster. We have to get out of here.”
Cherri splashed water from the basin on her face and dried with a towel. “From what I am hearing so far,” she replied, “that is not going to be easy. Did you hear about Khadora and the armies surrounding the Sakova?”
“Yes,” answered StarWind. “I will need to get another bird off tonight. You are not intending to let him spend the night I hope.”
“Are you serious?” chuckled Cherri. “Never, never give them what they want. As soon as they are satisfied you are worthless to them. No, I will keep him on the hook until I have no further use for him and then I will pick a fight with him so that he is glad to leave.”
StarWind shook her head and smiled. “I can see that you are not only good at what you do, but you love your work,” giggled StarWind.
“Yes and I better get back to it,” she sighed. “That clova is excellent by the way. Where did you get the recipe?”
“I didn’t,” laughed StarWind. “Fisher cooked it.”
“Incredible,” she chuckled as she opened the bedroom door.
She composed herself on the way down the stairs and quietly took her seat at the dinner table. “I am sorry Kapla,” she apologized. “I have not had a man order me around in my own home since Calix died. “I guess I just couldn’t handle it. The thought of some man going through my personal belongings really disturbed me. And that fool trying to break into my private garden didn’t help. No person other than myself has stepped foot in my garden since It was built. I did not even allow Calix or the servants in there. It is my personal sanctuary.”
“I must confess that my actions tonight were callous,” admitted the Minister of Defense. “These searches are routine for someone in my position and I never thought how someone might react to them. I figured that people would be glad to know that we are performing our jobs. I will make sure that it does not happen again. I hope you can forgive my shortcoming in this matter, but it happened so quickly. What can I do to make it up to you?”
“I will think of something,” Cherri smiled weakly. “Let’s finish dinner before it gets cold.”
She signaled for Fisher and he brought the meat cart back out and sliced new hot portions for the Minister and Cherri and disappeared again. They ate in silence for some time before Kapla finally wiped his lips with the napkin and threw it on the table.
“That was the finest meal that I have had in years,” he declared. “You have such a fine staff here that I look forward to more of these comforts in the future.” Cherri smiled slightly but didn’t respond and the shadow of a frown fell over the Minister’s face. “Were you really going to throw me out?” he asked.
Cherri quietly put down her fork and pushed her plate to one side. “Yes,” she replied solemnly. “I expect my man to do whatever he can to make life easy and wonderful for me and I will do the same for him. Surely you must have known that I was getting tense at their intrusion? You should have used the power of your office to make them go away. Then I wouldn’t have had to get upset and spoil my dinner.”
“But they are looking for the assassin of the Katana,” argued the Minister. “Surely you can understand that everyone must comply with the searches?”
“I understand no such thing,” retorted Cherri. “I am not everyone. I am special and the rules do not apply to me. Don’t you think that I am special?”
“Of course you are special,” agreed Kapla.
“All of this is very distressing to me,” confided Cherri. “You asked before if there was something you could do for me to make up for tonight. I have thought of something.”
“Just name it,” smiled the Minister of Defense.
“I want to leave the city,” Cherri declared. “I think I will go sell my estate up north before the market drops up there.”
“Impossible,” pleaded Kapla. “The city is sealed. Nobody can leave.”
“I am not nobody,” smiled Cherri sweetly. “I will be taking four servants with me. The two you have already seen, my old tutor who is infirm and will have to be carried and my stable boy. Of course he doesn’t look much like a boy because he is huge, but that is what I call him.”
“Cherri,” Kapla pleaded, “Alazar would have my head if I let anyone out of the city. It is my responsibility to make sure nobody gets out.”
“Then make sure that he never learns of it,” demanded Cherri. “We will leave at night if that will make it easier on you. Am I special or not?”
Kapla fidgeted with his hands and Cherri rose and walked over to him and stood close to him. He turned his head and stared at her body, his eyes rising until they met her smiling face.
“Be ready to leave in four hours,” he conceded. “I hope you will not be away long.”
“I will be back before you know it,” grinned Cherri as she hugged the overweight Minister of Defense.
Chapter 29
Lord Marak
It was the middle of the night when StarWind answered the gentle tapping at the door. She eased the door open to find Minister Kapla standing alone in the darkness with a black cape around his shoulders.
“Is she ready?” the Minister of Defense asked.
“Yes,” StarWind replied softly as she signaled to those behind her. “The stable boy will bring the horses around with the old tutor. Cherri is on her way right now.”
Cherri pulled the door open and walked out with StarWind and Fisher right behind her. Gone were the pale blue servant uniforms and dark travelling clothes were in their place. Cherri wore a long animal fur robe over her travelling clothes.
Kapla’s eyes widened when he saw Cherri. “Are you going to wear that expensive robe?” he asked. “The trail dirt will ruin it.”
“It is only gold,” smiled Cherri. “You do want me to look the part of an important diplomat, don’t you?”
“Well, yes,” responded the Minister, “but it is such a fine robe. Well, I am sure you know what you are doing. I hope you will take care of your business and hurry back soon.”
“I will,” promised Cherri as she hugged the overweight Minister. “Here come the others now.”
Goral appeared around the corner of the building leading five horses, one of which had a litter attached. Kapla’s jaw dropped open as he stared at the giant leading the horses.
“That is your stable boy,” he sputtered.
“Yes,” chuckled Cherri softly. “I told you he was huge, but he has the mind of a child, poor thing. Don’t let him notice that you think he is tall. He is very self-conscious and may start to cry. I’m afraid the other children gave him such a terrible time when he was younger. We just treat him like a little boy and he is happy.”
Minister Kapla shook his head without comment and leaned to see who was in the litter. An old bear of a woman lay sleeping in the litter with a basket of sewing items next to her. She had a large gaudy necklace, which lay between her obviously uneven breasts and the stable boy swiftly covered her with a blanket and tucked it all around her.