172 The Inquisitor (2/2)
\”Well, drow do look the part to be doling out evil plots,\” I joked.
She laughed a short but tinkling laughter that sounded nice to my ears.
\”But sometimes the more obvious is usually the real threat,\” she said.
We reached the bottom and followed the passage of wood and artistically repurposed foliage into a huge backyard that was reminiscent of the secret gardens one found around mana pools.
It was a landscape of tiny hills and shrubbery and young redwoods combined to form a serene space that was as inviting as it was colorful. Flowers of all kinds poked out of well-trimmed brushes exuding their scents to the surrounding air. At the center of this garden was a pool, and although it didn't glow like mana pools did, the freshwater gleamed underneath Idunn's light.
At the other end of the garden, Al and one of the Justiciars, the female dwarf companion of Rita, were standing side by side and debating about something.
We crossed the wooden walkways and reached them just in time to hear their dialogue on the merits of adding a rock garden to the Garden of Mana.
\”I guess you struck out too?\” I said after I raised a hand in greeting.
\”Well, technically, I did find someone just not the one we were looking for,\” he said, pointing toward his new companion. Then he looked over to the two Justiciars with me, his eyes lingered on Rita. \”Looks like you found someone interesting too.\”
\”More or less,\” I shrugged. \”You think Luca got it right then?\”
Al shrugged back. \”Why don't we go ask him?\”
Our new party of five left the garden and made our way around the Palanquin Palace to reach the front courtyard.
As we pass the main doors to the antechamber leading into the Patriarch's Hall, I heard the loud cheers coming from inside.
\”Looks like things were going well in there,\” I said right before I turned toward Rita and asked, \”Don't you need to be in there?\”
\”Perhaps later… I'm finding this chase a little more exciting than having to chaperone two alpha males into playing nice,\” she admitted.
Al and I shared a shrug before we pressed onward to the palace gates.
The closer we got to the gates, the more we noticed the obvious disturbance there. A group of palace guards was gathered just inside the gates, standing in a loose circle around two people who were sitting on the ground.
Worry and fear filled my brain, and I found myself running toward the crowd.
\”Excuse me,\” I said as I slipped into the circle. \”Coming through!\”
When I finally reached the center, I saw Luca sitting on the grass while a guard healer urged him to drink a vial of healing.
\”Luca!\” I yelled as I rushed to my brother's side.
He looked up at me and then sighed. \”He got me, Dean… snuck behind me just as I reached the gate and then whacked me in the head with something heavy…\”
The healer raised his eyes toward me and reported that my brother had a concussion. He then showed me the back of Luca's head which was bleeding just above the neck.
I cursed at the sight of yet another new injury for Luca.
\”I'll be taking him to the guard's infirmary for a more thorough checkup,\” the fairy healer insisted.
\”I'll go with you,\” I said quickly.
\”Dean—\”
I cut Luca off before he could protest and repeated what I said last, \”I'll go with you…\”
Luca sighed and allowed himself to be carried on a stretcher which meant he must have really gotten hurt because my little brother hated stretchers.
Before they took him away though, he apologized to me and Al.
\”I don't know how he got behind me… I was sure I was behind the shadow we saw…\” he admitted.
A thought struck me then. One I dared not say out loud. But what if the drow wasn't alone? What if there were more of them?
\”It'll be okay, Luca,\” Al assured him. \”We'll find the guy. We've got more help now.\”
Luca was so out of it that he didn't even notice our companions until Al mentioned them, and I watched as his eyes grew to saucers at the sight of Rita who, admittedly, looked like a goddess visiting us mere mortals.
After Luca was carted away, I turned to Rita and apologized for leaving abruptly, but she simply shook her head and said, \”I understand… your brother's important to you.\”
Before I got a chance to follow Luca, however, she reached into the folds of her dress and pulled out a tiny scroll in her hand.
\”Since you answered all my questions pretty well tonight, I figured I would reward you with a gift,\” she said, handing me the scroll in her hand. \”Beware of shadows and their ill intent.\”
I pulled open the scroll and read its contents, and it wasn't until I finished reading it that I felt the shock showing on my face.
\”What's wrong?\” Al asked.
I passed him the scroll for him to read. At the same time, I trained my eyes on Rita.
\”How accurate is this information?\” I asked with all urgency.
\”I am the Inquisitor of the Justiciars,\” she said finally, although I'd already guessed that much. \”Information has a way of finding its way to me… it seems your deductions were spot on, someone's plotting foul deeds tonight.\”