Operation Barghest - Part Five
Previously - Rebbecca and Dr. Telford meet Lieutenant Nicoletta and chat with her about a shared past she has with Dr. Telford as well as what she’s been up to. Then they ask for a place to question a few of the facility’s inhabitants.
Douglas walked between the two necromancers, feeling none too comfortable with it. He opened his senses a bit and almost immediately slammed closed again. There was nothing malicious there, but the sense of something purely wrong emanated from both men. He had a moment to think about whether or not isolating himself from his companion was such a good idea. It would be nothing for him to get overwhelmed by these two, and then Rebecca would be helpless. He knew the risks coming in, though, and so did she. Despite the truth of that, he found himself growing surprisingly angry at the thought.
Soon, they were at the doo,r and he shoved the emotion down.
Once again, William placed his hand on the door. It had been generations since Douglas had heard the language spoken by the lord, at least from a human mouth. It was a dialect of Fae, spoken largely in the Unseelie Court. He managed to blush slightly at the word. It wasn’t polite even by a troll’s standards. The ring once again flared red, and the door opened easily under his touch.
The trio entered the room. He had expected a much larger space, perhaps cluttered with boxes or other odds and ends. The small room had been an antechamber leading to the bedroom. In its center, a circle was etched into the floor, a series of pictograms along its internal circumference. He had no idea what the circle was intended to summon, but something nasty would have come through if the stained rock was any indication. There was a faint whiff of rot and other unpleasantness.
William turned. “Here you are. This is as far as we go.” There was a door opposite the one they came in. “I will leave you to your questioning, but I will be right outside. If you need anything.”
Douglas nodded. “You’re too kind, Sir William.”
Edwards stood waiting.
Once they were alone, Douglas scrutinized the Sergeant. Silence dragged out between them. At first, the man was stalwart, looking at some point in the distance. His eyes betrayed him first. The glance was too brief to even really be called furtive, but it didn’t escape the wizard’s notice. “What do you have to be nervous about, Sergeant?”
“Not a thing, sir. I’ve done nothing.”
“Exactly. You’ve done nothing, and Sir William has done nothing. You are both complete innocents, at least when it comes to the leak. What about the things you have done?”
“Sir?” A bushy eyebrow rose.
“I know that in war and in times preparing for war men do things that they may not be proud of later. Have you done such a thing?”
“Begging your pardon, sir, the question hardly seems appro...”
Douglas didn’t raise his voice, but its timbre had changed. While he had never been in the military per se, he had studied the use of voice in acting. Certain spells also required the command voice a non-commissioned officer would follow. “You will not tell me what is appropriate and what isn’t.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”
“You needn’t call me sir. Dr. Telford is sufficient, if you can’t call me Douglas. Now, please answer the question. Have you done anything that you shouldn’t be proud of?” Douglas relaxed and let his Sight open. He was prepared this time for the sense of wrong he had felt from the pair of men earlier. He studiously ignored the circle, though.
Now it was the Sergeant’s turn to let the silence stretch. “Well, Dr. Telford, I can’t say that I have. That is, there’s nothing we’ve done here not to be proud of.”
So far as the Sergeant was concerned, he was speaking the truth. While looking at someone’s aura with the Sight was hardly proof of truth or falsehood, that combined with his own experience told him that the man was convinced of the rightness of what transpired here. He relaxed his inner eye. “Excellent answer. We’re both working for Her Majesty and the good of the Empire. One does what one has to do.” He circled the man, careful to avoid the pitted rock they stood near like a schoolboy avoided cracks in the sidewalk. “That being the case, why would one of the soldiers here feel it necessary to leak any sort of information about what’s going on?”
The Sergeant made no effort to follow Douglas with his eyes. “I’m sure that I don’t know, Dr. Telford.”
“Nonsense, Sergeant. While you may be a scholar, you haven’t achieved your rank by not knowing how to read your men or by being oblivious.” He’d actually known many men like Edwards who were completely oblivious.
He couldn’t see the smile, but he could hear it. “True, Dr. Telford. There are fools and cowards in any outfit. All I can figure is that someone doesn’t have the courage to stick to the plan.”
Douglas came back around and met Edwards’ eyes. “This is dangerous business and requires the sort of iron will that’s all too scarce these days.”
Edwards nodded. “Yes, Doctor. When you and I were lads, this man’s army was made of sterner stuff. Some of those upstarts are more worried about ancient promises than they are progress.”
“We must stride forward. These are dark times, and defeating our enemies may call for extreme measures.”
Edwards’ eyes filled with passion. “Precisely.”
“Do you know of any such men here?”
“While it’s true, what you say about my rank, I honestly spend more time in the library than I do molding these young men. Then there are those in the regular Army. They don’t understand the importance of the Art and its power. Perhaps one of them let something slip?”
Douglas steepled his fingers. “Perhaps. It’s unfortunate that you aren’t able to staff the castle with practitioners and sensitives.”
Edwards snorted. “Even if we were they wouldn’t begin to comprehend what we are doing here. No offense, Doctor, but the Black Watch has a calling that even ones such as yourself can’t grasp fully.”
“That’s my understanding, and no offense taken.” He walked to the door leading to the stair and pounded.
Sir William opened it quickly. “Finished already?”
“Yes. Sergeant Edwards was most cooperative. I’ve learned all I can from him.” He turned to the Sergeant. “You may go.”
The man looked confused, but saluted smartly and walked to the doorway. “If I think of anything else, I shall share it with Sir William?”
“That will do, Sergeant, yes.” He looked at Sir William. “I’ll wait here for Lieutenant Nicoletta, shall I?”
Sir William hardly looked pleased at the prospect of leaving Douglas alone but shrugged. “You might as well. I will return quickly. Mind you don’t touch that door.” He didn’t have to point for Douglas to know.
“Of course not.” The two soldiers left him in peace, though his skin began to crawl almost immediately. The ancient promise the sergeant had spoken of was likely the Tam Lin Treaty. It was a promise that, among other things, no Fae would be held against their will by a member of the Queen’s Army or one of Her representatives and vice versa. In light of what Rebecca suspected was going on here, that was the only one that made sense. Breaking that promise could bring dire consequences to Queen and country.
