The Woodward Academy, Year 7

Chapter 3: August

David stared at the empty field.  He had only five hours to turn it from a neglected field of tall grasses and weeds into a beautifully manicured lawn.  Thankfully, this would be a relatively simple job.

Raising his arms wide, to encompass the entire area, he shouted, "Formendi Senrasen!"

The weeds in the area disappeared immediately.  The long grass slowly shrank and changed shape until it was only a few inches tall, and green, instead of its previous brown.  Now, a luxurious carpet of grass adorned the rolling land.

The "rolling" part was a problem, however, as it was a bit too uneven.  Concentrating, David reached out, using his terramandy to slowly level out the central area.  He only needed to clear the portion where people would be sitting: the rest of the area could remain natural.

By the time he was done with the land, David was glad that the rest of the work was fairly easy.  A lot of it was mere illusion, the rest just some levitation of things.  There were a few more tough jobs, including the creation of the two fountains, but he would have help with those.

Before he could get any further, Prof. Rutherford approached him.

"Good morning, Professor," David said.  "How are you?"

"I'm fine.  Cat, however, is a wreck.  She wants to talk to you."

"Right now?  I'm sort of in the middle of preparing her wedding chapel..."

Prof. Rutherford smiled.  "She probably won't calm down until you speak with her."

David sighed.  "Okay, I'll go."

"Anything I can do in your absence?"

"Um... sure, if you'd like.  We need the chairs set up, and if you can create a raised platform with steps right in this area..."  David pointed and gestured to give her the idea.

"Simple enough.  Any decorating you want done to that platform?"

"Use your imagination.  You know the wedding colors."

"White and blue," she confirmed.

"Right.  So... don't go crazy, but you'll probably come up with something better than I would, anyway."

Prof. Rutherford just nodded, and motioned him off.  "Go deal with the worried bride."

David shook his head as he headed off to the guild hall.  David and Ellen had not so much offered the Peg Riders Guild Hall to them as insisted they use it.  Since they wanted an outdoor wedding, they were converting the unused pasture land.  There weren't currently any pegs kept at the guild hall, so the pasture land wasn't needed.  He wondered if that would ever change.

Entering the hall, David made his way upstairs, and then knocked on the door of one of the rooms.

"Come in," Cat said from the other side.  David opened the door and peeked in.

"You decent?"

"Does it matter?  I haven't changed any since you last saw me naked."

David came in and said, "Yes, you have.  You've become someone else's girl.  Anyway, Prof. Rutherford said you wanted to speak to me?"

Cat came to him and gave him a hug, then let him loose.  She stepped back just slightly, but she was still close enough for the conversation to feel intimate.

"Am I doing the right thing?  Do you think marrying Charlie's a good idea?"

"It hardly matters what I think, Cat.  Do you love him?"

"Yes," she said.

"Does he love you?"

"I sure hope so... but I thought Ben loved me, and he clearly didn't...  David, I've screwed this up so many times... Elliot, you, Ben..."

"You never screwed up with me, Cat."

"I must have done something wrong... you never wanted to be my husband..."

"To this point in my life, Cat, I've never wanted to be anyone's husband.  I'm not ready for that.  But this is getting us off the point.  You've told me before that you felt like your relationship with Ben had 'stalled'... like it had reached a point where it might not go any further.  Do you feel like that with Prof. Phillips?"

"No.  I think he'd actually like to have children with me."

"And is that a good thing?"

"I wouldn't mind..." she replied, smiling softly.

"Okay, then.  If you're waiting for me to say something bad about Charles Phillips, you're going to be waiting a really long time.  He's one of the best professors at the school.  He's helped me out with a lot of things over the years, and I consider him a friend.  Really, Cat, if I thought there was a problem with this marriage, I'd have said something a long time ago."

"But will it work this time?" she asked, her worry taking hold again.

David shrugged.  "There is only one way to figure that out.  And don't you dare ask me to do a divination for you.  Even if I did one, I'd never tell you how it turned out."

"You've already done one, haven't you?" she asked astutely.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that," he replied stiffly.

"Uh-huh," she said.  "So, just a simple yes or no.  Do you think I should marry him?"

"That's not my call to make, Cat.  It's yours."

"But you're not saying no."

"I didn't say yes, either," David said with a smile.

"But you're not saying no," she insisted.

"This is true.  I'm not saying no."

"Okay.  Thank you.  I'm sorry to take you away from the preparations."

"That's okay.  Prof. Rutherford is filling in for me.  But I'd better get back out there.  I didn't give her the entire plan."

"I thought Ellen was going to help."

"She's tending the pegs for your carriage."

"You two are doing so much for us..."

David waved it off.  "Least we can do to support you two."

"Thank you."

David moved back to the door, then turned.  "Cat?"

"Yeah?"

Now that he was sure she'd made up her own mind, he could say what he thought.  "If I thought you shouldn't be getting married, I sure as hell wouldn't have given you the use of the guild hall, and volunteered to be the one to prepare your wedding."

Cat's smile widened slightly.  "Thanks."

David nodded and headed back out to work on the chapel.

David stood up on the platform where the wedding participants would stand.  Prof. Rutherford had used terramandy to lift the platform straight out of the ground, and had lined it with blue and white flowers.  The steps up to the platform, as well as the aisle down which the bride would walk, had been turned into a mix of grass along with pink flowers.  The guests would walk down side aisles, so they wouldn't disturb the flowers before the ceremony started.

Along the sides of the cleared section were some illusory trees.  There was simply no time to move real trees into place, so the illusions would have to do.  Hanging from their branches were ribbons and ornate lanterns, inside of which were real fireflies who'd volunteered to do the job.  The sky above the "chapel" was a sunset sky, even though it was only early afternoon.  That illusion had been put in place by Ellen.  Cat had wanted an evening wedding, but they needed time for the pegs to fly them to their honeymoon destination, so the wedding had to take place during the day.

The gurgling of fountains on either side of the platform was helping to calm David, who was nervous about everything going well.  He'd offered to become the wedding coordinator to take that stress off the two of them, but that meant he got to have all that stress for himself.  It also meant that he'd had to step down from his best man position.  Prof. Phillips had understood, and had asked one of the other professors to be his best man.  That did not mean, however, that David had not participated in the bachelor party, and he was glad that he'd restricted his alcohol intake.  He feared that Prof. Phillips had a whopper of a hangover.  He could see it on his face as he approached the platform.

"Everything ready, David?" he asked, keeping his voice quiet.

"Looks to be," David said.  "Thirty minutes.  Is the officiator here?"

"Just arrived.  That's him now."  Prof. Phillips motioned to a man who appeared at the back of the open chapel, which was a white marble archway.  The man tried to walk down the center aisle, but David enacted a protective barrier to stop him.

"Side aisle, please," David said.  The officiator looked annoyed, but nodded and moved to the one side.  He quickly joined the other two on the platform.

"Good afternoon, Professor," the officiator said, shaking hands with Prof. Phillips.  He turned to David.  "And you are?"

"David Stroud.  The wedding coordinator."

"Ah.  So, where am I to stand?"

"You'll be right here.  Groom's party to this side, bride's party to this side."

"Very good."  The man looked around.  "No music?"

"The music will be provided magically."

The man nodded.  "Okay.  How long have we got?"

"About twenty-five minutes or so," David replied.

"Very good also.  Where might I find the little boys' room?"

David smirked.  "In the guild hall, take a left off the entrance hall, you'll turn the corner and it'll be the second door on your left."

"Thank you."  The man walked down the steps, bumped into David's protective barrier when he tried to walk up the center aisle, grumbled, and moved off to the guild hall by a different route.

"Where'd you dig him up?" David asked.

"That's just who they sent.  He's a government official."

"Ugh."

Prof. Phillips took a deep breath and asked, "Have you seen Cat today?"

"Yes," David replied.

"How is she?"

"Nervous as all hell," David replied seriously.  "How are you?"

"About the same," he admitted.  "I know I love her, I know I want to be with her... I'm just worried about making it all work, you know?"

"You worry too much about that, and it just causes problems," David said.  "Just be who you are, and deal with the problems as they come up."

"Easy for you to say.  You're not the one getting married!"

"Thank the tivaru for that," David said with a grin.

"Would you really not have married her if she'd asked?" Prof. Phillips wanted to know.

"I don't love her that way, Professor-"

"Charlie..." Prof. Phillips corrected.

"And it wouldn't have been fair to her.  She needs someone who is ready to be one-hundred-percent devoted to her."

"I am... I think," Prof. Phillips said.

David grinned.  "It'll be fine.  Now, I have to go check on things and get this shin-dig started.  Where are your groomsmen?"

"Here they come," Prof. Phillips said.  All the groomsmen were dressed in light blue suits, as was Prof. Phillips, though his was a bit more ornate.  They gathered at one of the back corners of the chapel, as they were supposed to.

David turned back to Prof. Phillips.  "Okay, let me go find the bridesmaids, and we're almost ready to go.  It's time to start letting the guests in.  Good luck."

David found the bridesmaids in their designated dressing area in the guild hall.  Prof. Rutherford was the matron of honor, and the other three bridesmaids were people David didn't know well.  He directed them out to the chapel, and then he made his way up to Cat's room.

"Are we ready?" he asked her.

"Ready as I'm going to get," she said.

"Let me escort you to the carriage, then," he said.  He took her arm gently and led her to the stairs.  Thankfully her wedding dress didn't have a train, so he didn't need to worry about her tripping on the way down.  He led her out to the carriage, which was topless, and he helped her get inside.

"You know the signal?" he asked the driver, who nodded.  David nodded back, then stepped up to the lead pegasus.  "You look nice, Cupcake," David said.  The pegs each had a flower wreath around their necks.

Cupcake nickered in response.

David moved back to the chapel, to inspect things.  The bridesmaids were now standing at the back of the chapel, on the opposite side from the groomsmen.  The guests appeared to all be present, with only a few stragglers finding seats.

Standing at the back of the chapel were two people, a man and a woman.  David was unfamiliar with them.

"Can I help you?" he asked them.

"You're David?" the man asked.

"Yes, David Stroud.  You are?"

"Ryan Mandu.  This is my wife Lena."

"Oh!  You're Cat's parents.  I'm glad you were able to make it."  David had not met these two before because they lived in Sopasante, and they'd only been able to get into town earlier in the day.

"It was a bit of a struggle.  We're on time, I hope?" Mr. Mandu asked.

"Perfect timing.  If you'll wait here, Mr. Mandu, I'll escort Mrs. Mandu to her seat."

David held out his arm, and the woman took it.  David gently led her down one of the side aisles.

"Cat has told me all about you," Mrs. Mandu said.  "I want to thank you ever so much for all you've done for her."

"It was my pleasure, ma'am.  Cat is a good friend.  I'm just glad I was able to be there when she needed help."

"Well.  Thank you."  Mrs. Mandu kissed him on the cheek as he stopped at her seat.  "And the chapel is beautiful.  You've done a wonderful job."

"Thank you, ma'am.  It is my design, but I had help in the execution."

"Of course.  Everyone needs help with this sort of thing."

David smiled.  "I hope you enjoy the service."

"Good luck," she told him.

David nodded and then turned to return to the back of the church.  He turned to one of the assistants, borrowed from the staff at Woodward, "Where are the kids?"

The woman just motioned to the two children, fidgeting in seats outside the chapel.  David breathed a sigh of relief; they were calm and still looked presentable.

To Mr. Mandu, David asked, "Have you met your grandchildren?"

"Not recently," he said.

David waved him over.

"Garrett, Angela, do you remember your granddad?"

"Grampa!" Angela said immediately, and jumped up to hug him.  He hugged her back.

"You look upset," David said quietly to Garrett.

"Why's she got to get married again?  And why so fast?"

"Fast?  It's been over a year..."

"She dated that Ben guy for this long, and he left us."

"Trust me, Garrett, this is different," David assured him.

"I guess."

"Do you not like Pro...er, Charlie?"

"He's okay."

"He's nice!" Angela assured David.

David smiled at her.

"Okay... you guys know what you're supposed to do, right?"

They both nodded.

Turning back to Mr. Mandu, David asked, "And you're ready to walk her down the aisle?"

"Yes.  Who would have done this if I hadn't been able to make it?"

"She'd asked me to do it, so I'm glad you're here," David said with a grin.

Mr. Mandu smiled.

"David?" Ellen called quietly from the back of the chapel.

David looked over at her.

"We're ready."

David nodded.  He moved Mr. Mandu into position, then he raised his wand, uttering a silent spell.

From above the chapel, the sound of a ringing bell filled the area.  It echoed across the open plain, and signaled the beginning of the ceremony.  David turned and motioned to the two kids, who were already up.  He positioned them so that Angela was first.  Ellen handed her the bouquet of flowers she was to carry.  David got the ring pillow from its secured spot, and handed it to Garrett.  As he finished that task, the carriage, its six pegs walking proudly, pulled up outside the open-air chapel.  David moved to the carriage door and opened it, helping Cat down.

"Your parents made it, thank god," David said to her softly.  Cat smiled at him.

"I'd have been perfectly happy to have you walk me down the aisle," she told him.

"That makes one of us," he said with a grin.  He led her over to her father, who gently took her arm.

"Everyone ready?" David asked quietly.  They all nodded.  He stepped inside the chapel, lifted his wand once more, and suddenly, the sound of a full orchestra playing the wedding march filled the air.  David motioned to Angela, and she began to walk forward.  She remembered the pace she was supposed to keep, and so the procession moved forward as it should.  Once the flower girl and ring bearer had made it halfway down, the groomsmen and bridesmaids started their procession.

Garrett handed the ring pillow off to the best man, and Angela gave her bouquet to the matron of honor, and then they sat beside Cat's mother.  At this point, it was Cat's turn, and David turned to gesture at them.  Cat and her father began their walk, keeping in step.

David looked up at the platform, where Charlie and the officiator were waiting.  The matron of honor and the best man would only ascend the platform after the bride had done so.  The remainder of the wedding party would stand to the sides of the platform.

Once Cat had been delivered to the platform, David heaved a silent sigh of relief.  His arrangements were finished at this point.  Ellen had been responsible for the reception afterward, and the wedding process was the officiator's responsibility.

David didn't pay much attention to the officiator's words.  They were recited from a book of such ceremonies, and so devoid of any real meaning.  Cat and Charlie had chosen not to write their own vows.  David thought maybe they were too nervous to come up with anything.  The ceremony itself went much like an American one would have, right down to the "love, honor, and cherish" part, and the "I do" part.

With the couple now officially married, David once more had the "orchestra" play, and he had the bells ring in celebration.

The reception was being held in the guild hall, and so everyone headed off in that direction.  Cat and Charlie, along with their immediate family, were the last remaining in the chapel.  David walked up to join them.

As soon as he arrived, Cat gave him a big hug.

"I don't know how to thank you.  It was beautiful."

"You can thank me by not making me do it again," he said with a grin.  The group laughed.

"I guess we should get to the reception.  Everyone's waiting on you two," Mr. Mandu said.

"Okay.  You're coming, too, right?" Cat asked David.

"Just as soon as I clean this all up," he confirmed.

"Great."

David had removed the illusions, stacked the chairs, and dismantled the fountains.  The remainder was the responsibility of the helpers from Woodward, where they'd gotten all of those items from in the first place.

The reception had been a fun and enjoyable little party, which was still going on, but the bride and groom had to leave to make it to their honeymoon during daylight.

"You sure that Niobi won't mind watching Garrett and Angela for a week?" Charlie asked Cat as they approached their wedding carriage.

"She said that Lyssa was looking forward to it," Cat said.  "David!  What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Someone has to drive this thing," David replied.

"Why you, though?  Your day's already been rather full..."

"I have some business down in Senesty tomorrow.  So, I'll drop you guys off at your little retreat, spend the night someplace, take care of business tomorrow, and fly these ladies back to the school afterward."

"Ladies?  None of these is a winnie?"

"The winnies wouldn't let me put the flowers on them," David said with a grin.

Charlie and Cat both laughed.

"So I found a building, but they're wanting way too much for it," David told Ellen Abernathy.  They were sitting in her office, discussing the results of David's visit to Senesty the previous week.

"Did you offer them a lower price?" she asked.

"Yes, but they nearly laughed at me.  I'm gathering that prices in Senesty proper are pretty high."

"I suppose that's true.  So, what do you think we should do?"

"I've already sent a request for information to the king's court.  I need to know if the guild hall has to actually be in Senesty, or if that guild hall merely has to cover the entire Senesty area."

"How would that help?"

"If we don't have to buy a building right in Senesty, we can start looking at the surrounding area.  Even if we can't purchase a suitable building, we could just purchase some land and build something."

"Our dues are not that high, you know."

"I know.  Good thing the guild has a rich benefactor," David said with a grin.

Ellen chuckled.  "I'd feel bad about how much you've put into this guild if you hadn't assured me that it wasn't hurting you financially."

David snorted.  "I haven't even noticed the money I spent on the Gorumshead guild hall.  I won't notice whatever I spend on the Senesty guild hall.  The only reason I won't pay what they're asking is because the building itself just isn't worth all that, given what we'd have to do to it.  At some point, however, for the guild to become self-sustaining, we're going to have to find a way to make some revenue.  I don't really mind acting as our bank account, but it leaves us wide open to criticism to say that the guild cannot run its own operations."

Ellen replied, "Well, it's not operations we're having trouble with.  Dues are covering things like the payroll for the fairies that help us, and for the food and supplies we use up.  But let's face it, guild halls are very expensive.  Without a product to be sold, like the potions guilds, I don't know how anyone would afford it without outrageous dues."

David nodded.  "True.  And like I said, I don't mind.  It's just something we should consider."

"Agreed," Ellen said.  "Now, we do need to discuss this year's Festival of Merlin.  Last year's display was good, but this year, I want-"

Ellen was interrupted by the buzzing of David's mirror.  He grumbled slightly as he pulled it out of his coat.

"Yes?" he said as the image appeared.  "Oh, hey, Joe.  What's up?"

"We've got another missing person."

"Where at this time?"

"Hartford, Connecticut.  Wasn't that the place that serial killer lived?"

"Yes, but he's still in Barnard Hill."

"I know.  My point was that I know where it is.  Can you drive your truck down here to get me?  On the Earth side, of course."

"Okay.  I'll be there in less than an hour."

"Good enough.  See you in a while."

David fogged off with Joe and put his mirror away.  Turning to Ellen, he said, "Sorry.  Looks like the planning for the festival will have to wait.  Duty calls."

"That's okay.  We have plenty of time yet.  It's still over a month and a half away.  We do need to keep focused on it, though."

"Right," David agreed.  "I'll see you later."

David headed out and made his way first to Earth, then down to the Earth-side location of the Bolmont travel gate.  He picked up Joe, and they headed out for Hartford.

As they drove, David asked Joe, "So, what was up between you and Zyla?"

"Huh?"

"Last month, when we were after that Morley guy.  You said you were having troubles at home.  What was that about?"

"Oh.  Nothing.  Just stress."

"Uh-huh," David replied.

"Speaking of Zyla, though," Joe said, changing the subject, "She said that she was going to need you to go to the factory with her to meet with the workers."

"What for?"

"They say they have her last payment ready, which means, I guess, there's some paperwork to be handled."

"Damn, they've paid her off already?  That was fast."

"The factory's been doing really well since the expansion.  Haven't you paid attention to your profit checks?"

David snorted.  "I never look at my bank balance, Joe.  I have a guy who checks that shit.  I told him only to bug me about it if I'm actually spending more than the interest on my money."

"You mean, you live on just the interest from your account?"

"You got it."

"Shit, just how rich are you?"

"No idea.  Don't want to know, actually."

"Why not?"

"Because it would probably change how I live, how I do things, and I'm happy with the way things are right now.  Well, or would be, if shit wasn't about to hit the fan as far as the werewolves are concerned."

Joe grunted.  "Things are starting to get a bit tense, I have to admit.  Keef is pushing all of us to get more training in."

"Really?  I haven't heard anything..."

"David, you're training with goddamned gargoyles.  There's no point in him bugging you about getting more training!"

David chuckled.  He was, in fact, sore from his previous night's exercises.  Goliath had knocked him clear across the courtyard at one point.  David had managed to raise a protective shield to keep himself from getting injured, but the pain had taken all night to go away.

"You think there's any chance of us avoiding this thing?" Joe asked David.

"Not really," David replied.

"Dammit," Joe replied.  After that, the car ride was quiet for a while.

"You're the Rimohrs?" the detective asked.

David nodded and introduced himself and Joe.

The detective introduced himself, and then said, "Frankly, I'm glad this is going to be your case.  I've got no idea what I'm looking at."

"Well, let's make sure this is our case, first," David said with a smile.  "What have we got?"

"Shaniqua Conyers, age twenty-six.  Last seen last night around ten o'clock by her boyfriend, Darren Leighte.  Mr. Leighte left her here, and went to a sports bar, where he was seen by no less than three dozen people making a fool of himself hitting on a waitress while extremely drunk."

"Maybe it was an act, to cover his actions?"

"If it was, then he's been working up to this for a year.  The patrons said his behavior was nothing unusual for him.  In any case, he was seen leaving the home, and Shaniqua was seen at that time, alive and well, by a neighbor.  If he did something to her, he'd have had to come back here after leaving, and he'd have had to do it fast, in order to make it to the bar in time."

David nodded.  "Signs of a struggle?"

The detective winced.  "I'm not sure what you call them.  We have signs of something."  He pointed to several points of damage to a bookcase, the wall, and a doorway casing.

Joe said quietly to David, "Energy ball blasts."

David nodded.  "Tenaga bado, I'd bet."

"I wouldn't bet against you."

"Excuse me?" the detective asked, confused.

"Sorry," David said.  "This was probably done by a ball of energy.  The spell we use is 'tenaga bado'."

"Could it have killed her without any trace?  Vaporized her?"

"No.  If he'd hit her with one strong enough to kill her, there'd be blood everywhere.  But tenaga bado doesn't usually do that much damage.  You can see how little has actually happened to the things he hit with it."

"You call this little damage?  There are entire chunks missing."

"True, but the bookcase is still here.  We have energy balls that would knock out this wall, let alone the bookcase."

The detective looked a little green.  "This guy could do that kind of thing?  Knock out a wall?"

"Maybe.  If he's strong enough.  But this doesn't look like he was trying to do damage, it looks like he was showing off... or..."

"Or what?" the detective asked.

"Or trying to intimidate her," David said, looking at Joe. 

Joe looked back, and then it clicked.  "Ellen Lasbury."

David nodded.

"Excuse me, who?"

David turned back to the detective.  "What do we know about Shaniqua's background?"

"Raised by her mother, finished high school but then lived with a series of boyfriends rather than working.  Has been arrested multiple times for prostitution and drug dealing.  Her last big arrest was a doozie.  She was caught dealing drugs out of a day care center.  She was dealing to various parents, and using the children to courier the drugs.  She was discovered when the packet of drugs in one child's diaper busted and the child absorbed a massive overdose into her system.  The child died within hours."

"Why was this woman not in prison?" Joe asked.

"Because the detective on the case fucked up with the evidence, tainting it.  It all had to be thrown out of court.  Without the evidence, they didn't have anything on her, and had to let her go."

"This woman's a sleazeball," David said to Joe.

"Ellen Lasbury wasn't exactly a saint, either," Joe reminded him.

"Who is Ellen Lasbury?" the detective asked in some exasperation.

David replied.  "Ellen Lasbury is a woman that disappeared in Boston at the end of June.  She, too, was abducted by a wizard who used energy balls to intimidate his victim.  That scene, in fact, looked a lot like this one, with the exception that in Boston, he blasted his way through the door.  Shaniqua must have let him in."

"You think they're related?"

"Ellen Lasbury was an executive with a company that made a living by putting blue-collar folks out of work.  Both of these women are what you would politely term 'not very nice.'  It strikes me that someone might be acting as vigilante."

"Wide spread, though, from Boston to Hartford," Joe objected.

"Is it, really?  It's what, like a hundred miles?  Couple hours on the highway.  Hell, we should know, we just drove here from there."

"You guys work out of Boston?" the detective asked.

"No," David replied.  "It's complicated, and trust me, you don't want to know."

The detective said, "Okay, I'll buy that.  But you really think these were done by the same guy?"

"I have trouble believing that two wizards used the same MO so close together in both time and space," David replied.

"So... you guys are taking the case, right?" the detective asked.

"We're required to," David assured him.  "Any case involving a wizard as either victim or perpetrator."

"Well, that's a load off my mind.  I didn't really relish the idea of going after this guy."

"That's precisely why we take these cases," Joe told the man.  "We're trained to deal with them."

"What help do you need from us?" the detective asked.

David explained what he wanted them to do, and they followed him back to the precinct in order to get copies of all the files they needed.  After that, they headed back toward Massachusetts.

"You really think this is the same guy?" Joe asked.

"This is far too coincidental," David replied.  "Look at that picture of Shaniqua.  You'd expect a druggie to be kind of a mess, but her mugshot looks like a yearbook photo.  She was a hell of a looker.  Ellen Lasbury was pretty hot, as well."

"But they don't look anything alike.  They have no similarities."

"Other than being sleazeballs," David reminded him.

"That's hardly a connection," Joe said.

"I think you're trying to fit it into the mold of a serial kidnap/rapist.  I don't think that's what we're dealing with."

"What, then?"

"I think this guy's a vigilante.  He's using his abilities to take bad women away from the public."

"But what's he doing with them?  Killing them?"

"I don't know.  I hope not."

Joe grunted.  "What do you figure to do next?"

"Start trying to connect the two.  See if I can find anyone that had contacted both of them, see if anyone was seen around both people, that kind of thing."

"That could take forever."

"Do you have anything better?" David asked.

"No."

"All right then," David said with finality.

"You got anything yet?" Joe asked David a couple days later.

"Oh, I've got plenty," he said, motioning to piles of file folders on his work table.  "Of course, none of it is helpful, but..."

Joe chuckled.  "But you still think there's a connection."  It wasn't a question.

"Yes.  In fact, the more I dig into this, the more I think it has to be the same guy.  Nothing else makes any sense to me."

"That... seems illogical.  You've found no connection, yet you insist it must be the same guy.  Why?"

"Because, although these two women have, as far as I can tell, not a single thing in common... they were abducted in exactly the same manner.  A manner that is not commonplace.  In fact, in a manner that has not happened within the last twenty years, as far as Nancy has been able to figure out for me.  What are the chances that two people suddenly take up identical MOs at the same exact time?"

"Weirder things have happened..." Joe said.  His objection was weak, however.

"I'm sure, but do you work off the assumption that the odd is what's occurring, or that the normal is what's occurring?  What's normal is for this to be one guy."

"Maybe he was hired to do it?"

"Definitely a possibility.  That makes him the connection, of course... how would we go about finding a dark wizard for hire... in Earth?"

"That's a good fucking question," Joe said.  "See if you can find an answer."

"Right," David said.  He was about to pick up his mirror to call the Bolmont District HQ for information when Nancy and one of the other Rimohrs escorted in a frightened being.  It was much shorter than a human, with brown and white fur, and extremely large ears coming from the side of its head.

David rose just like the rest of the officers in the room did.  The being was very upset and trying to communicate, but its language was unfamiliar to them.

Agent Keef came out of his office.  "What the hell is this all about?" he asked in consternation.

"I can't figure out what his problem is," the Rimohr said.  "He keeps wagging his hand at me and then jabbering on.  I have no idea what he's trying to tell me."

"What the hell is that thing?" Dikko asked in disgust.

"'It' is a daubentonian," David said.  "And they're just as smart as humans.  In your case, Dickless, quite a bit smarter, actually."

"Fuck you, Stroud."

"David, you know about these beings?" Keef asked.

"I ran across them during my Citizenship Exam.  They live in Sopasante.  What they're doing up here, I have no idea."

"Can you talk to him?"

"Talk to him?  No.  Can I try to find out what happened?  Maybe.  Does the district have linguists?"

"No.  The agency as a whole does, however, train a few people.  I don't know if any of them would speak this guy's language, though."

"Could you call in and find out?"

"Sure.  What are they called, again?"

"Daubentonians."

"Okay.  You see what you can do, and I'll call HQ."

"Yes, sir."

David walked over to the daubentonian, who was still waving his hand back and forth in what David knew was a negative response.

David put up his hands, palms out, to ask the being to stop.  He then motioned him to follow.  The daubentonian did so, following David over to the Quiet Room.  He sat when David motioned him to, and when David motioned him to stay, the being pumped his hand up and down.  David did likewise, then closed the door and turned to the others.

"I need a writing board and a marker."

Vivian handed over hers."Okay, let's see if I can figure anything out."

David went into the room and sat down across from the daubentonian.  He tried the obvious first."Can you understand me?"

The daubentonian just stared at him blankly.

David sighed, then placed the writing board flat on the table.  He picked up the marker, which was a simple magic wand that was only good for performing this one function.  With it, David drew a question mark on the board, and then looked to the being across from him.

The daubentonian turned the board around, and looked at the mark.  He pumped his fist, indicating he understood.  David handed him the marker, and then he waved his hand over the writing board, clearing it of the question mark.The daubentonian started to make several drawings on the board.  David had trouble interpreting what he was seeing.  He had a feeling a lot of the marks represented specific people and places, and there was no chance of him understanding those.  He recognized a few things, such as two large beings which appeared to be humans, who were, from the looks of it, taking away one daubentonian, while the other ran free.

David stared at it for a long time after the daubentonian had finished and turned it back to him.  He looked to the being, who held up his hand, palm open and facing up, as if to say, "Well?"

David frowned, and merely held his fist up, then moved it up and down slightly, then left and right slightly, then up and down again.  He had no idea if this made any sense at all, but he hoped he was conveying the message that he understood some, but not all, of what had been said.The daubentonian sighed in frustration.  David raised his hand, palm out, to tell the being to wait.  It pumped its hand in understanding, and then David went out to the main room.

"I get the vaguest gist of what he's saying, but not enough to do anything about it."

"What's going on?" Vivian asked.

"From what I've figured out from his drawings, he and another daubentonian were attacked by humans... or beings that appeared to be human.  The other daubentonian was taken captive, while he escaped.  I can't figure out why the humans were doing that, or how he escaped, or why he came here.  There's just too much noise in the drawing for me to piece it all together."

"Well, you're in luck," Agent Keef said.  "They sent out the linguist for this area.  In fact, after I called, they decided to transfer her here, so she'll be staying even after this case."

"Great.  Where is she?"

"Right behind you," Keef said.

David turned around just as the woman said, "Hey, Cap'."

"Chloe!" David said brightly.  He gave her a warm hug for a long moment.  Finally, they separated, and David coughed.  "I mean, hello, Officer Kirkland.  Welcome to the Bolmont Division."

Chloe snorted.  "Since when are you formal?"

"You outrank me now," David said.

"When has that ever stopped you from speaking your mind?" Chloe asked with a grin.

David chuckled.

"I gather you two are acquainted?" Agent Keef asked.

"Boss, this is Chloe Kirkland.  She was one of my patrol leaders when I was captain of the DIRT team up at Woodward.  She and I joined the Rimohrs at the same time, just under different programs."  To Chloe, he asked, "How long did the Academy take you?"

"Four months."

"Not bad, Officer.  Not bad."

"Then they sent me to linguistic training for six months."

"Wait, you mean we train our own linguists?  I figured we just trained officers who happened to have language skills, or we hired out civilians.  Why are the Rimohrs so focused on interpreters?  I thought we depended on species-specific Rimohrs for most of that kind of thing."

"Let's just say that there are things coming up we want to be ready for, and leave it at that," Keef told him.

David nodded, knowing what that was probably about.

"So," Chloe said, getting back on track.  "Someone said you had one of our old friends in an interrogation room?"

"Well, I doubt this one was in the mountain..."

Chloe nodded.  "One of the languages I focused on was daubentonese."

"Oh, good.  'Cause I can't understand his scribble."

"You tried to have him write for you?"

"Well, draw."

Chloe nodded.  "A good idea, but probably not going to work."

"I know that his friend was taking captive.  That's it."

"Okay.  Well, let's go see what's going on."

David led Chloe into the room, and then closed the door behind them.  The next half-hour was a disturbing revelation.

"So what's going on?" Agent Keef asked.

David motioned to Chloe.  "You're senior."

"It's your case," Chloe objected.

"Okay, someone talk to me," Keef said, annoyed.  "We'll work out the seniority problem later."

David said, "Our friend, whose name I will not even endeavor to pronounce, and his wife were kidnapped from their home in Sopasante.  They've been captive for weeks.  Apparently, today they were being transported to a new place.  He doesn't know if they were just going to another place to be held captive, or if they were going to their final destination."

"Does he know what their final destination was?"

"Not specifically.  Apparently, there were some daubentonians being forced to work with the human captors.  What they told our friend was that he and his wife were being sold off as slaves to humans, elves, orcs... whoever would pay the price."

"How did he escape?" Joe asked.

"While they were being transported, there was some kind of disturbance on the street.  Something like a carriage overturning or something like that, he wasn't sure.  In any case, the human holding him became a little too distracted, and our friend was able to slip his grip.  Once free and a few feet away, he started screaming at the top of his lungs to draw attention to himself.  He had hoped the crowd would be able to rescue his wife, but the captors had apparently been smart, and had retreated to a place where they weren't visible.  The crowd let our friend run on, and he came in here because he recognized the insignia."

"Wonderful.  So we have an active slave trade going on," Keef said.  "We don't need this shit.  Run it to ground."

"Um... who?" David asked.

Keef scowled at him.

"I'm not trying to be funny, boss.  She's a full-fledged officer.  I'm still just a trainee."

"With more hours on the job than me by about a hundred times..." Chloe muttered.

"Stroud, you're one of the best officers I've got, but this damned internship of yours is a an administrative pain in my ass."

David grinned.  "Sorry, boss."

"Look, I'm going to handle it this way.  You are Garibaldi's trainee.  I'm going to put Kirkland into Garibaldi's squad.  Now it's his problem."

"Gee, thanks, boss," Joe said.

"You're welcome.  Now get to work!" Keef said with a grin.  "And keep me in the loop on this slave trade thing.  That may get half the agency involved before you're done."

"Yes, sir," David said.

"Okay," Joe said.  "Chloe, welcome to the division.  How much field service have you had?"

"About three months."

"Where?"

"Working out of the Academy District."

"That's, what, a fifty-mile radius?"

"Yes, sir."

"How many cases did you handle in those three months?"

"Two."

"They only had two cases in three months?" David asked incredulously.  "I have two cases right now..."

"Oh, no, there were plenty of cases.  They just weren't letting 'the rookie' handle them.  I spent a lot of time reading newspapers."

"Gee, that sounds familiar..." David said, eyeing Joe.

Joe grinned.  "Well, look at the bright side, David.  Now you can split that job between the two of you!"

David growled at him.

"Now, more seriously.  Chloe, I want you to get as much information from our victim as you can.  Descriptions, places, names if he can remember them... pick his brain clean.  You're the only one who can understand him."

"You got it."

"David... are we going anywhere with this abducted woman?"

"I don't know.  I need at least two days to finish going through the information I have.  Plus you wanted me to find out how one would hire a dark wizard in Earth."

"Okay, work on that part now, while she's talking to our friend.  Once we've got all the information from him, we'll see where we're going."

"You got it," he said, mimicking Chloe.

Joe smirked, then said, "David?"

"Yeah?"

"You've worked with her before.  What am I getting with Miss Kirkland?"

David turned to face him, and said seriously, "The best officer you will ever have the privilege of commanding," David said.

"Even better than you?" Joe asked seriously.

"Chloe has certain qualities that make her a better people-person than I am.  She's more even-tempered, and a bit more tolerant of idiots.  Having said that, she still gets the job done.  I'll tell you what I told the Academy: I wish I'd had a DIRT team full of Chloes."

Joe nodded in understanding.  "You trust her."  It was not a question.

"If it meant anything, I'd trust her with my life," David said.

"Good enough for me.  Get on that dark wizard for hire thing."

David nodded, and walked back to his desk to make his call.

"Well?" David asked.

"No luck.  Apparently Prof. Thropp's spell can't work with drawings," Chloe replied

"Shit, and I know why."

"Why?"

"Because her spell works on the person's identity, not their actual features.  The drawing has no identity, it's just a piece of paper.  The spell was designed to work on photos."

"So..."

"We're going to have to do it the old way."

"This drawing's not really good enough to evaluate against photos.  At least, I'd have a hard time doing it..."

David nodded.  "We need an actual bust to work off of."

"I don't think your... I mean our artist is up to that."

After a few moments of thought, David said, "I'll be back in a few minutes."

"What the hell is all this stuff?" Joe asked.

"It's a mold box," David said.  "And this is the plaster to fill the mold with.  And this is a 5-gallon bucket of water."

"And we're doing what?"

"Making a physical bust of the guy who was holding our daubentonian friend captive."

"Uh... how?"

"Come on in and watch," David said.

Joe accompanied David and Chloe into the room.  While David set up all his supplies, Chloe explained to the daubentonian what they were doing.  Once he had everything arranged, David sat down with the bucket of water in front of him.

David concentrated and pulled a large ball of water out of the bucket.  He floated it up to eye level, and then started to shape it.  He gave it a basic human head shape, with a neck and the start of shoulders.

"Just give me a running commentary on what to change," David told her.  They could hear the concentration in his voice.

"The head was wider," Chloe said, translating the daubentonian's words.  "And the cheek bones weren't as pronounced.  The chin was broader... yes, he says that's the right shape."

"Now the nose," David told her.

Slowly, They all worked together, and a head emerged out of the water.  Joe stood by, watching in incredulity as David worked.  It took a solid half-hour before they were done.

"Yes, he says that's him, as perfectly as he can remember," Chloe told him.

David grunted.

"Now what?" Joe asked.

David used his aquamandy to push the bust over the table.  He closed the mold box around the bust.

"Pour the plaster in the top," David said.

Chloe mixed up the plaster, and then dumped it into the mold box.  She used the spell on the side of the bag of plaster, and it instantly solidified.

Everyone saw David relax.

"Crap, that's tough."

"Okay, but now what?" Joe asked.

David opened the mold box, then used his wand to create a small hole in the bottom of the mold, letting the water out of it.  They mixed up a bag of much harder material, that was almost like cement.  They poured that slowly into the hole he'd made.  Another spell solidified this mix in just a few seconds.

David picked up a hammer.  "Here goes."

One swift blow of the hammer broke open the plaster mold, revealing the solid bust inside.

"I'll be damned," Joe said.

"We're not done yet," David said.

"What's left?" Chloe wondered.

"We have to color it.  Ask him about the man's skin tone."

It took another twenty minutes, but when they were finished, they had the next best thing to a photo of the abductor.  The daubentonian even looked leery of the recreation.

"Now at least they've got something they can work with to identify him from the records."

"Yeah.  It's still going to take forever, though," Joe warned.

David just frowned.  He said, "I guess I have the time to work on the missing woman case, then.  What do we do about him?" David asked.

"The agency will put him in a nice hotel, if he wants... or we'll transport him home, whichever he prefers."

David nodded, and then he returned to his own desk.  He did have other work to do, and though it seemed less urgent than the daubentonian case, it at least had evidence for him to look through.

"So, how's the school been?" Chloe asked.  She was eating lunch with David in a small restaurant near the office.

"A bit quieter.  No major battles.  Still some fights.  Some of our second- and third-year students tried to make up for not backing us up by becoming vigilantes."

"Oh, Christ.  I bet that was fun."

"You could say that."

"I heard about you and the king.  Nice work."

"Hurt like hell," David said.

"They talk about you at the Academy.  I've had a chance to follow some of your cases that way."

"Why are they talking about me?  I'm not even an officer yet."

"I think that's their point.  Still an intern, and you've accomplished so much.  The academy seems to be shifting its focus somewhat in the way it trains its cadets.  As I was going through, I could see a shift.  It was subtle, but I have to believe it was real."

"A shift from what to what?" David asked.

"From focusing almost solely on the regulations we were to follow while doing investigations, to things like riot management, crowd control, strong interrogation techniques, and an increase in the physical training.  By the time I'd left, the physical training time at the academy had nearly doubled."

"Hmm."  The other items, David could have written off as merely different teachers and different classes.  The physical training time, however, was interesting, especially as Keef had done the same thing within the division.

"It's got to be the war.  They're expecting to get caught up in the middle of it while trying to do investigations."

"War?" Chloe asked, surprised and concerned.

"You know what the weres are doing.  You have to see what's coming."

"I know they're causing trouble.  Small raids and making noise.  But war?"

"Trust me, Chloe.  It's coming, and it's coming fast."

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen it," he said, tapping his head.

"How bad does it get?"

"Bad enough that I'm training with gargoyles," David said.

"That's... bad."

"Yeah."

"Why haven't they said anything?"

"What good would it do?  It'd just panic people, and they can't do anything to prepare, anyway.  I'm sure when the time comes that they're absolutely certain that there's no way out, they'll warn people."

"Do you think they'll find a way to avoid it?"

"Let's just say I haven't seen any visions that don't end in war."

"Shit," she opined.

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

"What do we do?"

"What can we do?" David asked.  "We do our jobs as best we can."

"Is Bolmont a safe place to be?"

"I don't know," David said.

"What about Woodward?"

David just looked grim.

"They don't... not the school... I mean, it's not even a military post."

"I know," David said, nodding his head slightly.

"Bastards," Chloe muttered.

David was driving Zyla back from the factory.  The signing of the paperwork and the continued sale of the business over to the workers had gone smoothly, thanks to Mr. Becker and the lawyer hired by the workers to oversee the transaction.  David had just lost thirty percent of his ownership in the business, but he knew that he'd be getting plenty of money out of it, anyway.  Not to mention that the workers were already talking about another expansion, for which they would likely tap him for capital.  He wouldn't demand ownership back, but he would certainly demand a share of the new profits.

Zyla had been quiet throughout the proceeding, which wasn't unusual for her, but she was also quiet on the ride back, which was.

"Something the matter?" David asked.

"Hmm?" she responded.  "Oh.  No, just thinking about things.  Wondering if Daddy would be happy with how we handled the business."

"Ask him," David said.

"I'm afraid to.  I don't think I want to know if he's unhappy with me."

David grunted, and continued their drive.  After a while, he asked, "Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Of course," she replied.

"Are you and Joe having marital problems?"

"No.  What would make you think that?"

"He said... well, strongly implied you guys were fighting."

"No more than usual.  I mean, we have our disagreements, but they're not big issues.  The only thing lately that has been any kind of problem is the thing with Grace."

David suddenly swerved across two lanes of road and pulled off the highway, coming to a rapid stop.  Zyla had braced herself, and looked a little panicked.

"What thing with Grace?" David demanded.

"He... um, I think there's someone who wants to talk to you."

David looked in his mirror, and saw a state trooper marching up to his window.

"Fuck this shit," David said, and pulled out his wallet, which had his Rimohr badge in it.  He was currently dressed in civilian clothes.  He rolled down the window, and didn't have to wait long for the officer's tirade.

"Do you realize how many people you just cut off?" the trooper demanded.  "That was the most reckless, irresponsible-"

David wasn't going to listen to any more.  He held up his badge.

"Shut up, walk back to your car, put it in gear, and go away," David ordered bluntly.  "Unless, that is, you'd like to see how much fun crossing the road as a lizard is."

The trooper looked at the badge, heard the words, and then walked quickly back to his car.  David watched as the trooper pulled back into traffic, and sped off.

Putting his badge away and rolling his window back up, David turned back to Zyla.

"What 'thing with Grace'?" he demanded again.

"Joe didn't tell you?"

"Joe has said nothing to me about Grace... or you, frankly.  What's going on?"

"We found out last month that Grace has Frederick's Syndrome."

"What the hell is that?" David asked.

"It's also called retro-evolutionary hexigenic neuropathy."

"Same question," David replied.

Zyla sighed.  "Joe really didn't say anything?"

"Not a word," David confirmed.

"Dammit.  I hate having to talk about this.  Frederick's Syndrome causes the person to mentally de-evolve to an earlier state.  It starts out with increased aggression and a reduction of higher brain function.  Have you ever noticed how Grace tends to throw things?"

"Yes... but then she goes right back to being a calm little girl.  I figured she was just being a typical kid."

"She's not.  At her age, the condition can be temporarily subdued by things as simple as being yelled at, or getting scared.  So, she would throw things, then we would scold her, and that would cause the disease to temporarily go back into hiding... but it was just waiting to come out again."

"How did you find out about this?"

"Last month, we finally realized that she just wasn't learning as fast as she ought.  Grace is almost four now, but she's barely keeping up with kids who've just turned three.  Also, her temper tantrums were becoming more frequent.  We took her in to Healer Cutner to have her looked at, and she made the diagnosis."

"You called it... what, again?  The long version?"

"Retro-evolutionary hexigenic neuropathy."

"That 'hexigenic' part has nothing to do with the number six, does it," David said.  It wasn't a question.

"No.  The disease is magically caused.  Somehow, those who are given access to magic are also made susceptible to certain other diseases, caused by magic.  In this case, her genes have been magically corroded to cause this."

"That would explain why technos have no idea about it.  So, she's going to be what... dumb and angry all her life?"

"No.  Left untreated, it gets much worse than that.  Her mental facilities would keep degrading until she basically thought and acted like a gorilla or a chimpanzee... do you know what those are?  I didn't, and had to look them up."

"Yes, I know what they are.  So it won't change her body, just her mind?"

"Right."

David sat back and sighed deeply.

"Why didn't they find this before, if it's a genetic problem that she's always had?"

"You have to look for it specifically.  It doesn't show up in general healing scans," Zyla replied.

"Oh.  Is there anything they can do?" David asked.

"She's being treated.  There's a potion that she takes once a week, which keeps the disease dormant.  It won't help her catch up with her friends, but she at least shouldn't fall any further behind."

"How long does she have to take the potion?"

"Forever.  This isn't a cure, it's just a treatment.  They've never been able to find a cure."

"But... she takes the potion, and she's then a normal four-year-old girl?"

"Yes.  As long as she takes it, she's the sweet, loving little girl you and I both adore."

"So... what's the problem between you and Joe over it?"

Zyla turned her head away and down.  "Joe's feeling very let down."

"By who?"

"Me, I think, though he doesn't say that."  She turned back to David and continued, "Joe wanted a family.  He wanted several kids.  He wanted to play Dad and give his kids piggy-back rides, play catch with his son, admire his daughter's artwork.  What he ended up with was one child, with no hope of more, and now it turns out this one's not the perfect little girl he wanted, either."

"That's ridiculous," David said.  "Grace is wonderful.  Okay, she has a problem, but there's a fix.  No, it's not a perfect fix, but it works.  He's that hung up on the image?"

"I don't think it's the image... I think it makes him feel like we failed as a family, that he failed as a husband, and as a man.  I shouldn't tell you this, but he's been very disinterested in me, physically, since we learned about this."

David just shook his head in disbelief.  "I'm sorry, Zyla.  I wish I knew what to say.  I never knew Joe had that side to him.  I didn't think this sort of shallow thing was in his makeup."

"I don't want to call him shallow.  I think it pains him that he can't fix this.  There is literally nothing he can do to improve this situation.  If you add that to the fact that this gene comes from his side of the family..."

"How do they know that?"

"It's happened before, about sixty or seventy years ago."

David frowned.  "Damn."

"What?" Zyla asked.

"Now I have to pretend I don't know this about Joe.  Obviously he didn't want me to know what was going on, or he'd have said something.  That he didn't kind of pisses me off."

"Don't judge him too harshly.  He's still trying to come to terms with it."

David grunted.  He then put the car back in gear, checked his mirrors, and pulled back out into traffic.

After a long moment of silence, Zyla hesitantly asked, "It doesn't bother you, does it?  That Grace is a little... flawed?"

David snorted.  "We're all flawed, Zyla.  When Grace hits me with a blunt object, it'll bother me.  Until then, she's my god-daughter, and that's all that matters."

"Thank you," she said quietly, briefly putting her hand on his arm, and then she settled back for the rest of the ride home.

 "Okay, listen up!" Joe said to the officers in his squad.  "We're about to go after what we think is a slave trader.  He may or may not be at his residence, he may or may not be resistant.  He has a record of assaults, as well as a whole slew of non-violent crimes."

"Why the hell is this guy still in Dugerra?" David asked.

Joe replied, "None of his crimes has been serious enough to kick him out."

"But he's habitual," David objected.

"Talk to the magistrates, not me," Joe said.  "In any case, we're going to go and serve a KO to search the premises for evidence of slave trading or any other crime."

"If he's there and resists, what do we do?" Chloe asked.

"You take his sorry ass to the ground," David replied.

Joe said, "I think I would have said it differently, but it amounts to the same thing.  Resisting our authority is not something he'll be allowed to do.  All right, Vivian, Dikko, you'll take the back.  David and Chloe, you'll take the entry.  Tom and I will stand as back up for each team.  Tom, you'll take Vivian's team.  Everyone clear?"

There was a rumble of agreement among them.

"Okay, let's go do this."

"You ever done a breach before?" David asked quietly.

"No.  Never even been present at one."

"You want me to go first?"

Chloe nodded.

"Okay."  David pulled his mirror and contacted Joe.  "Ready here."

"Go at your discretion.  We're standing by," Joe said.

David nodded, then put away his mirror.  "You ready?" he asked Chloe

Chloe swallowed hard, then nodded.

David pointed his wand at the door and shouted, "Arieti!"  The door went flying across the room, and David rushed in, followed by Chloe.  David moved left, and Chloe went right.

"Rimohrs!  Lie down on the floor and wait to be located!" David called out loudly three times.  Turning to Chloe, he nodded.

The two of them moved through the house, their wands held at the ready.  Chloe kept behind David and to one side, allowing her to fire past him if necessary.

Moving down the hallway, they looked in every room.  Chloe would stay at the door and keep the hallway covered while David searched.  Room after room turned up nothing.

Finally, they had searched the entire house.  David went to the back door and opened it.

"Come on in," he told them.  Vivian and Dikko entered, and Tom soon followed.  Joe appeared in a minute, having been summoned by Chloe.

"House is empty," David said.  "It's been cleaned, so no telling when the guy was here last."

"You see anything that might have been evidence?"

"Joe, we were looking for people, not paperwork."

"Right.  Okay, back to the office.  Chloe, David, this one's your baby.  Do the search thoroughly."

"You know it," David confirmed.

"Chloe?" Joe said.

"Yes, sir?"

"Good job."

"Thanks."

As the others left, Chloe turned to David and said, "He seems decent enough."

"Joe's a good guy... most of the time," David said, thinking about Grace.

"You two find anything?" Joe said.

David thumped some papers on his desk.  "Travel documents, but that's about all.  Nothing that has evidentiary value by itself.  Might prove something if we get other information, though."

"Right.  So where do we go from here?"

"Start running down known associates?" Chloe asked.

Joe nodded.  "Get on it."

"It's been a week.  Where are we?" Joe asked Chloe and David.

"Not much of anywhere," Chloe said.  "We've got bits and pieces, but nothing solid to point us anywhere.  Our trader hasn't shown himself that we've heard about."

"Could he have gone to Earth?" Joe asked.

David replied, "It's possible, but we haven't turned up any contacts in Earth.  I can contact the FBI, if you want, and have them start looking for him."

"No... let Chloe do it.  She hasn't had to deal with them yet."

David nodded.

"About the missing woman?" Joe asked David.

David shrugged.  "We've got squat.  There's no evidence at the scene to tell us who took her, there's no body to tell us she was killed, and there's nothing to definitively connect her to the other missing person other than my gut instinct and a duplicate MO."

Joe nodded.  "Okay.  We've not got anything big in, so keep on these cases."

"Right.  You know I return to the school on Sunday."

"Oh, shit, yeah, right.  Well, fill Chloe in on all the details, then."

"Already did that."

"Efficient bastard, ain't ya?" Joe said.

David smirked.  "Been through this before," he replied.

"Okay, well... keep in touch.  I've got to get home," Joe said.

David said, "Give Zyla and Grace a hug for me."

Joe stopped at that.  "Since when are you giving away Grace's hugs?"

David shrugged.  "I think you need to hug your daughter more.  You're grouchy."

"Hmph," Joe said, then waved his hand and left the room.

"What was that about?" Chloe asked.

David shook his head.  "Don't worry about it, it's just personal crap.  Anyway, if anything turns up on these two cases, you let me know, okay?"

"Will do, Cap," Chloe said.

David just glowered at her for a second, then packed up his files into his Conjuring Room.

"See you soon," he said, and headed out.  He and Olissa were both heading back up to the school that night.  It was early; the school didn't officially start letting in students until Sunday, but it helped to be on a first-name basis with the dean of students.

Besides, it wasn't like Olissa would be staying in her room before Sunday...

David was in his Woodward office, going over, for the fifth time, all the material that pertained to the two missing persons.  He wasn't really making any headway, but he was hoping that eventually something would stick out.

When the door to his office opened, he looked up, and then sat back.

"Lady Aberlin," David said formally.

Christa scowled.  "I thought we'd settled that shit.  I'm no lady.  Call me Christa."

"What can I do for you?" David asked, realizing ahead of time that this was a leading question for her, but having no other way to ask it.

Christa smiled, then said, "Dad wants to see you down in the carriage."

"Ah," David said.  He got up from his chair and walked around his desk.  Christa didn't let him pass, however.  She pushed him back against his desk.

"You don't have to go... right now, though..." she said.

"I think it best to answer when the king calls," David said.

"He wouldn't notice if we had just a little quickie on your desk.  Only take a couple minutes."

David squeezed his way past Christa.  "That's a couple minutes longer than it's polite to keep a king waiting.  Jailla, you coming?"

Jailla winged his way to David's shoulder, and then David moved out of the office.  He saw that Christa was looking around, and seemed to be interested in the papers on his desk.

David cleared his throat to get her attention.  "That information is private.  If you would?" he asked, gesturing with his hand.

Christa pouted, but exited the office.  "I was just gonna wait for you to get back so we could have some fun..."

"I have work to do," David replied.

"I see that.  Do you ever have fun?"

"When I have the time," David said.  "Now, would you like me to escort you to your dorm room, or can you find it on your own?"

"Already been there.  How do you think I got this outfit on?"  Christa was wearing a nearly see-through shirt.  David could see the outline of her bra clearly through it.

"I should point out that your shirt is not in compliance with the school's dress code."

"School hasn't started yet," she said.  "But I'll take it off if you like..."

As Christa started to reach for the buttons on her shirt, David said, "That's quite all right.  You can change later.  If you'll excuse me, I have to go see your father."

David made sure the door to his office was closed firmly, and therefore locked.  He walked briskly out of the student center and across the bridge to a rock lift.

"She's going to be a problem for you," Jailla said.

"That's the understatement of the month," David agreed.  "Any idea what to do about her?"

"Perhaps refuse the king when he asks you to look after her?" Jailla proposed.

"You trying to put me back in front of a sniper rifle?" David asked

Jailla ruffled his feathers.

"You don't say no to the king," David went on after a moment.  "It's in the oath of citizenship."

"Then I foresee a great deal of difficulty in your life."

David snorted.  "So what's new?"

When David reached the carriage, there was a worried-looking man pacing back and forth outside of it.

"You are Paladin Stroud?"

"Yes..."

"It's not polite to keep a king waiting," the man barked.

"It's kind of a long walk from my office down here," David said.

"You were sent for over an hour ago!" the man snapped.

"I came here as soon as I was told that the king wanted to see me.  Perhaps, if you didn't want to inconvenience the king, you should have used your mirror instead of relying on a teenage girl for your messaging.  Now, unless you wish to continue barking at me, I would point out that now you are making the king wait."

The man frowned, but then he nodded to the guard who was standing by the carriage door.  The guard opened it, allowing David inside.

The interior of the royal carriage was opulent.  Even more ornate than the carriage that David had traveled in when the king had wanted to see him about his potions.  Everything was plush, gilded, or polished stone.  Neither the king nor queen were in sight.

"Through there, sir," a young girl told him, motioning to a door that led further back into the carriage.  David shook his head at how much space could be magically squeezed into a vehicle that, on the outside, was no larger than a typical horse-drawn carriage.

Stepping through the door, David found a sitting room, where the king and queen were apparently having tea or coffee.

"Your Majesties," David said.  He wasn't sure exactly how to bow in this situation, so he bowed from the waist, hoping that would be sufficient.

"I hope we didn't interrupt something important," the king said.

"No, sir.  I was merely going over one of my investigations."  Sensing that they were commenting on the passage of time, David said, "I think perhaps your daughter did some sight-seeing before she came to tell me you wanted to see me."

The king grunted, and the queen smirked.

"So, what can I do for Your Majesties today?" David asked.

The king took a deep breath.  "Paladin Stroud, I know how painfully aware you are of the coming troubles with Vrudena..."

"Yes, sir..." David confirmed.

"Woodward is awfully close to the Vrudenan border.  It worries us that our daughter could be used as a... well, let's call it a bargaining chip."

The queen said, "If they were to kidnap her, they could reasonably expect to get concessions out of us to get her back."

"Yes, ma'am..."

"I seriously considered whether or not to send Christa here," the king admitted.  "There are two or three decent colleges in southern Callamandia, where she would have been somewhat safer.  In the end, however, We wanted her to have the best education possible.  You and I both know that means this school, and no other."

"Yes, sir," David confirmed strongly.

"That being said, we wanted to make sure that our daughter was secure.  I'm sure you're already aware that Christa has been placed in Firebird Dorm, despite only being a first year student.  This was done for her safety.  You should also know that her dorm room is right next to yours."

"Yes, sir, I'm aware of this."

"Oh?"

"I showed your daughter her dorm room when she was here last time."

"I see.  So you probably already know what I'm going to ask of you."

"I think so, sir, but I wouldn't presume to put words in your mouth," David replied.

The king grinned.  "You mean you don't want to accidentally volunteer if you're wrong," the king said.

David smiled.  "That, too, sir."

The king said, "Well, I'm sure you have it right.  We'd like for you to keep an eye out for Christa, to make sure that she is safe, and that no one tries to kidnap her."

David frowned.

"You have a problem with this task, Paladin?" the queen asked.

"Of a sort, ma'am.  I'm a Rimohr intern.  I am regularly called off campus.  Further, I have my own school work to perform, which is often done in an isolated workroom in Alton Hall.  The truth is that, if I saw your daughter for more than an hour a day, it would be something close to miraculous, given her schedule and my work load.  I don't see how I can possibly maintain proper security on her for you."

The king frowned, but the queen was ready for this.  "If you knew she was in trouble, though, you would come to her aid?"

"If at all possible, yes, ma'am..."

"Then let me give you this," she said, reaching into a small box sitting on the table next to her.  She pulled out what looked like a pin bearing the royal crest.  She handed it to David.  "I have given Christa a similar pin, and told her to wear it at all times.  If she presses and holds her pin, yours will emit an alarm.  You have some way of locating her on campus?"

"Yes, ma'am," David said, knowing he could use the Dalmajak Cynosure to do that task, or just have them put a trace on her.

"Very good.  We know you can't go everywhere with her.  This will at least give her an extra level of security."

The king said, "Thank you, Paladin Stroud, for doing this for us.  It means a weight off my mind to know you are here for her."

"However I can serve, Your Majesties," David said formally.

It was clear David was being dismissed, and so he turned to go.  After a couple steps, he stopped and slowly turned back.

"Something else, Paladin?" the king asked.

David wasn't sure he wanted to say what was on his mind, but decided that they needed to know what he was up against.

"Sir, I think I should mention that your daughter has already made it clear to me that she..." David searched for a phrase that would not make Christa look bad, and finally came up with, "...intends to live her life to the fullest while here at Woodward Academy."

The queen smiled.  "You mean she said she plans to get wild, party, and do whatever she pleases, now that mom and dad aren't watching over her shoulder?"

David would have blushed, if possible.  "Something to that effect, yes, ma'am."

The king chuckled.  "We're aware of her behavior, Paladin.  She's an adult now.  What she chooses to do with her personal life is her business.  I would hope that you might try to counsel her, if you see her doing anything that is patently dangerous."

"I'm not sure how much counseling she's going to take from me, sir.  She seemed more interested in me helping her do things that were patently dangerous for at least one of us."

The king raised an eyebrow, but the queen gave David a knowing smile.  The king said, "Well, do what you can.  I know she's felt constrained these last few years, but you and I both know that certain actions are really not a good idea."

"Yes, sir," David agreed.

"By the same token," the queen said, "Don't refuse her the ability to explore who she is.  She'll make mistakes, but that's how we learn.  Just try to keep the bigger mistakes at bay."

"Yes, ma'am," David replied.

"Thank you again, Paladin... for having the courage to say something.  There are many on my staff who wouldn't comment on this.  You could have been forgiven for letting it go unspoken."

"She's your daughter, I just thought you should know what's going on."

The two of them nodded, and David knew that he was once again dismissed.  He was rather happy to be out of their presence at this point, and he sighed in relief as he stepped out of the carriage.

Jailla returned to David's shoulder as he walked back to the school entrance.  Jailla had not gone inside the carriage, not feeling comfortable in such spaces.

"So?" Jailla asked.

"So it's what we expected.  They want me to keep an eye on their daughter."

"Did you say anything to them about her behavior?"

"Obliquely."

"And?"

David sighed.

"What?" Jailla prompted.

"I was speaking to two people.  If I take either person's comments in isolation, I had two completely different conversations."

"So..."

"So I have no idea how they want me to behave around their daughter."

"Perhaps asking for clarification?"

"Jailla, you don't ask people like that to be specific when being specific is precisely what they're trying to avoid."

Jailla squawked quietly in acknowledgment.

"So what do you plan to do about her?"

"Hell if I know," David replied.

"Hey, David," Christa said, sitting down with him in the lunch room.

David looked over at her.  His mouth was full of pork chop, so he couldn't exactly respond.  He grunted in acknowledgment.

"So did you enjoy your little talk with Dad?" she asked.

David swallowed.  "Not particularly.  And thanks so much for nearly getting me in trouble."

"For what?" she asked.  She almost sounded like she sincerely didn't know what the problem would be.

"You made your father wait for an hour to see me!" David growled.

Christa shrugged.  "I figure'd if it was important, he wouldn't have told me to tell you."

David sighed loudly.

After Christa got her food, he asked, "Do you have your pin with you?"

"What, that ugly thing Mom gave me?  No way.  I'm not wearing that thing in public."

"You can wear it on the inside of your coat.  That pin is a security measure.  It's not like I can stand behind you all day long."

"So... what, if I press the pin, you're supposed to come save me?"

"Something like that."

"Oh.  Well, okay, I guess I can wear it where no one will see it, then."

"Good."  David took another bite of his pork chop, then he asked, "Don't you have a familiar?"  Jailla was sitting on the table eating some walnuts.

Christa rolled her eyes.  "I came to college to get away from nagging parents, not to have one living in my dorm room with me."

David closes his eyes and shook his head.

"What?" Christa asked.

"You're in for a rough four years," David said.  "At least."

"You think I need a nanny?" she demanded.

"Familiars aren't nannies or parents.  Jailla is one of my best friends."

"Who's Jailla?" she asked.

David motioned to the bird on the table.  "I introduced him to you when we met."

"I wasn't paying attention to a bird," Christa said.

"Obviously you don't pay attention to much of anyone but yourself," David said.

"You can't say that to me!  I'm the daughter of the king!"

"Whatever you say, but I need to tell you something about your parentage.  As of right now, it means precisely dick."

Christa's mouth gaped.

"You are a Woodward Academy student.  You have just entered the most reputable, most prestigious, most difficult school in the kingdom.  You can try to be a party girl if you want, but if you don't pass your classes because of it, the students here are only going to call you just one thing."

"What's that?" she asked.

"A loser.  They won't give a shit who your daddy is, or who your mommy is, they'll know what you are.  And around here, that's pretty much all that matters."

"It can't be that bad," Christa scoffed.

David shrugged.  "Believe me or not.  You'll figure it out soon enough."

Jailla chirped at David to let him know that someone was coming their way.

David looked over to see Lydia approaching.

"Hey, Sweetie," David said brightly.  "Did you just get back to campus?"

"About a half-hour ago," she confirmed.  "Who's she?"

"This is Christa Aberlin.  Christa, this is my girlfriend, Lydia."  David emphasized Lydia's title in hopes of cooling Christa's ardor for dating him.

"Hey, Lydia," Christa said calmly.

"She with you?" Lydia asked David.

David snorted.  "I've been asked to... look after her."

"Ah, okay."

"Sit down and eat," David said.

"No, that's okay.  I need to go to town and visit my 'friend'.  I'll eat with him.  I just wanted to let you know I was here.  You weren't at your room or the security office, so I figured this was the next best place to look."

"Okay.  Drop by my place later, so we can catch up?"

"Sure.  See you."

As Lydia walked off, Christa said, "She seems... um... 'proper'..."

David chuckled.  "Pray it stays that way, for your sake."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't worry about it.  She doesn't know you, and you look like you're getting friendly with me.  That concerns her."

"I wish we were getting friendly," Christa said.

"Soon you will have three hundred boys your own age to chase after."

"None of them is a Paladin," Christa said.

David snorted.  "Like that matters for anything.  Eat your dinner."

David and Lydia were sitting together on his couch.  He had his hand on her thigh, and their tongues were tangoing wetly while they kissed.  She'd been in his room for about ten minutes, just long enough for them to get the idle chit-chat out of the way.

As David reached up to fondle Lydia's breast, a shrill scream echoed through the room.  They both jolted.

"What the fuck is that?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know," David said.  He went looking for the noise, and found it coming from his coat.  Narrowing it down, it was the pin that the queen had given him.

"Shit.  I have to go see if she's in trouble," David said, pressing the pin so it would stop the alarm.  "I'll probably be right back."

David pulled out a piece of parchment and asked it where Christa was.  It showed him that she was right next door, in her dorm room.  He grumbled, put the parchment away, and headed out the door.

David came through Christa's door with his wand drawn, but held low.  He had it out, just in case this was a real alarm, but he had a strong suspicion that it probably wasn't.

"Oh, so it does work," Christa said with a smile.  "I just wanted to check," she told him.

David growled and put his wand away.  He did so with such aggression that the bracer on his arm emitted sparks of flame.

"This isn't a toy," David told her.

"Hey, if you expect me to put my life in the hands of some gadget, I have to know it works..." she said, trying to sound reasonable.

"Uh-huh.  Well, it works just fine."

"Good.  Now, since you're here, and since tomorrow's not even a school day, let's have some fun."

"I was about to have some fun, with my girlfriend.  And I intend to go back and do just that.  Good night, Christa."

"Hey!"

David turned and looked at her.

"What's she got that I haven't got?"

David thought for a moment, then finally said, "Me."

With that, David left Christa's dorm room to return to his own.

Lydia was still on the couch, but she looked upset.

"What the hell was that about?"

"Christa being a pain in the ass."

"I'm gonna have to teach that little girl to mind her manners," Lydia scowled.

"I'd be careful about that," David said.

"Why?  She some kind of undead, too?"

"No, she's the king's daughter."  No one had told him not to mention this to people, and frankly, it was going to be hard to hide this fact, especially with Christa's attitude.

"Now, where were we?" David asked.

Lydia scowled.  "I'm not in the mood, now.  She got me all pissed off, and I haven't calmed down yet."

David sat back and growled.  "Now she's got me all pissed off."

David was walking across the terrace.  He was planning to meet Dean Lengel and Sam for lunch, to go over the Little Brother program to see if anything needed changing from the previous year.  Sam was getting involved as the program's coordinator, since David was getting a little too busy to do it.

About two hundred feet from Byron Hall, however, David was hit by a spell that knocked him off his feet.  It also made him a bit dizzy, since it hit him in the head.

By the time David was able to push himself up to his hands and knees, four other students surrounded him.  They were all fourth-years.

"Not so tough without your security team to back you up, are you, Stroud?" one of them sneered.  He kicked David in the side.  David wasn't expecting it, and so the air whooshed out of his lungs.

After that, the four began to rain down a barrage of punches and kicks to David.  David hunkered down, casting a protection charm that kept him safe, until he could decide how he wanted to deal with these four.

Finally, after about thirty seconds, David shouted as loud as he could, "VAISUNOOT!"

The four students all went flying.  None of them landed within thirty feet of where David was now standing, looking around at them as if they were bugs to be squashed.

Dean Lengel and Sam, who had been summoned by other students when the attack started, came over to David, but he held up his hand to them to ask them to wait.

David waved his hand around, and the four attackers, none of whom could stand up at the moment, were magically flown to the spot in front of David.  He dumped them there on the ground.

"Lift up your sleeves," David commanded.

"If we don't?" one of them said.

David got down in his face and said darkly, "Then I will rip off your nuts and shove them so goddamned far up your ass that you will spit them out your mouth.  Now roll up your motherfucking sleeves."

The one on the left was calm.  "Relax, Will.  It's nothin'.  Three months, no big deal."

David grabbed the talkative one's arm and turned it over to see a Clan tattoo."

"Think so, fucknuts?" David said.  "Well, let me clue you in.  You just attacked a Rimohr.  That, plus this tattoo, puts you in Barnard Hill's maximum security section for six years.  And I get to dictate just how fucking miserable your life is going to be."

"Six years?" Will asked in panic.

"He's bullshitting," the talkative one said.

"You'll find out," David said.

Each of the four had Clan tattoos.  David called Joe to let him know that he'd be bringing them in.

Turning to Dean Lengel, David said, "Guess we'll have to postpone this talk for dinner.  I have garbage to take out."

"Spell was a bit much, wasn't it?" Emile asked.  Healer Hall had just shown up to repair the damage David had done to the four attackers.

"How many students do you want me to have to hurt?  Four, or forty?"  She looked at him in confusion.  "I do this now, chances are they don't try this again.  That means more of your students stay in one piece... although, these aren't students.  These are criminals."

Emile nodded.  "We'll see you at dinner, then."

David wished them a good meal, then looked down at the four gang members.  He was torn.  On the one hand, he didn't need the distraction this sort of thing would cause in his day.

On the other hand, it had felt really good to blast them across the terrace.

All life is trade-offs, I guess.