Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 68: Murder most foul

Eventually, there was nothing left but to strike camp and continue our journey.

Watching the staff dismantle the camp was a first for me and highlighted Sidhe technology and ingenuity. I hadn't seen the estate and stable being constructed so watching the ease as they were dismantled and packed up was enlightening. Magic really does make mundane tasks much easier.

A formation array was powered down, and the house and stables reacted to the lack of energy by 'folding' up. Furnishings, laundry, items, and food were automatically compartmentalized and placed into appropriate spatial storage.

A member of the Aziza colony that was still inside the room when the process began was spat out and deposited where the front door to the estate had been. It was a built-in safety protocol, a feature to detect life signs and exclude and remove those found as part of the process of packing up. The entire procedure from start to finish took less than a moment.

The little guy that hadn't exited the building before packing up began rushed to rejoin the rest of his colony, squeaking in alarm or embarrassment, I wasn't sure, but it was just one more moment of laughter that seemed to set the tone for the day as those that watched his panic laughed at his antics.

The convoy of Skimmers that had been parked and hidden behind the summoned buildings soon filled with passengers, those that had been assigned to head to the next location and set up camp, set off. Leaving those of us who were going to ride our mounts to begin the process required to saddle and mount.

Meala was wide awake and as frisky this morning as she'd been last night, requiring a few moments of scratching and a treat to settle her down so that she could be readied. The stable hand checked and rechecked everyone's work, as much for the safety of the rider as the mounts, before he would release the mounts into our care. We'd just finished and were about to set out when one of the Skimmers came speeding back.

The vehicle had barely parked before the door opened and a frenzied driver cried out in panic, "Your Highness! At the crossroad. Come quick!

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"Is there a problem? Did one of the Skimmer's crash?" I asked.

"No, sir. The roads have been blocked by a body," he informed me.

"An attack?" I asked in confusion wondering what had happened up ahead.

"Not to our group," he replied. "Butler Henry is calling the Inspectors, but he sent me back to inform you of the situation."

His explanation really wasn't helping to untangle my confusion, but I promised we would follow after him. Satisfied he returned to the Skimmer and once again headed north. Motioning for the others to follow, those not mounted quickly gained their seats, and we set out.

The crossroads wasn't far and weren't exactly what I'd been expecting. Crossroads was a misnomer since there wasn't a pavement or road. But there was a clear intersection of a kind. A place where fields and forests merged into clear paths that lead east and west, and north and south. The place was barely a mile from where we'd set up camp. And as we approached the intersection, it became clearer that this wasn't an accident.

Dismounting, I walked around the outside of what could only be described as a ritual. A body butchered, chest flayed open, ribs cracked and displayed pointedly so that the murder could not be missed. This person had been eviscerated and left here. I wasn't sure if this was a warning for us, or we were just the ones to coincidentally stumble across the scene of the crime. I wasn't sure until Jennie identified the body.

"This is Alys, part of the household staff" she stated firmly, answering the questions and talking to an unfamiliar man. "I sent her ahead last night."

The poor woman's face was a wreck. Eyes had been gouged out, and without a closer examination I couldn't be sure, but it appeared her tongue had been ripped out. I had used the term ritual subconsciously when I first saw the body, and as I continued to examine the area and corpse, my first impression was justified.

Ritual murder. There was no way to ignore the signs and my certainty that this murder had meaning became firmly established. The real questions were who had murdered her and why?

I ignored those gathering into small groups gossiping and speculating, careful to remain around the outskirts of the body, and approached Henry. I'd finally managed to convince him and Brianne into accepting long-term contracts and joining my group. I still hoped to adopt them into my House. Their work in organizing and responding to my requests had been exemplary.

One of the reasons I was pleased they had decided to join my service, as Cedric had pointed out before contracts were signed, was I had been a bit too free in topics of conversation. Sharing reports, details of future plans, and sharing ideas that would allow a plethora of insights and House secrets to be exposed. I'd been to free, speaking in front of them when they weren't part of my House, and their knowledge would be beneficial to those that wanted to plant a spy amongst us.

I'd been lucky that they were honest as well as talented.

"Henry?" I said addressing him, my query opened ended but encouraging and giving him the opportunity to explain what he knew about was going on.

"Your Highness. We found the scene much as you see. If we'd have set off before the sun rose this morning, it's entirely possible we would have driven right over the unfortunate woman. Once we realized that she'd been murdered, we contacted the Constabulary with details of the event and our current location.

"The Chief-Inspector and his team arrived shortly before you. He and his team are just starting to gather information."

Thanking him, I went to introduce myself to the Inspector confused as to how he and his people could have arrived at such a remote location, so quickly.

[All Inspector teams have access to individuals versed in teleport and portal magics,] Caraid explained when I'd shared my confusion with him. [It allows for fast response when crimes in out of the way places like this occur. They are capable of locking onto the communication array signal Henry used when contacting them as a navigational target and teleport officials to that location.]

"We could have used this method of transportation to arrive at Duke A'Daoine's estate or the Capital?" I asked in confusion. Why wouldn't we have saved ourselves the time and bother and traveled that way?

[In an emergency, probably. But teleportation isn't a method used for normal travel. Not even the Seelie Monarchs make use of this method often. It creates weaves and permutations in the ether. And too much 'displacement' can interfere with the artificial construct that crisscrosses the atmosphere and serves as the Magical Intelligence network. It is too easy to disrupt faction communication abilities if a teleport goes wrong or is disruptive.]

[Portals that allow for travel between cities are built on land where ley lines intersect. The person or items being transmitted actually make use of these lines to travel. The person using the portal follows the path of the ley-lines minimizing disruption to the ether. It isn't a case of molecular deconstruction and reconstruction, but it is close.]

[We've found, over the years, that by traveling in this fashion, the distortion effect is negated, and large amounts of materials and goods can be make use of these distribution centers to expedite commerce.]