Chapter 13 #2
“It would be good information to know,” Xavier said. Realizing Alina’s attention wasn’t on him anymore, he followed her eyes to see a woman walking past, whom he was sure he recognized.
“Ellen,” Alina greeted the other woman. “How are you? Come to deliver the eggs again?”
“That’s right,” Ellen said. “All finished.”
“Ellen, have you noticed any groups forming among the workers here?” Alina pressed. “Anyone who seems a bit outside of it all?”
“Bless you, love, I just deliver the eggs,” Ellen said breezily. “I don’t know anything about all that. I must run, my dear.”
She trotted off with the words, leaving Alina watching her with a furrowed brow. Xavier remembered what Alina had told them before, that Ellen usually loved a gossip.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s speak to these manual laborers. And stick with me this time, no wandering off.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Alina sighed, but she obeyed him.
The men in question weren’t a talkative bunch, but a few of them were happy to pause their activity to speak with the group.
“There are quite a few as keep to themselves, Your Highness,” one told him. “And the rest of us are happy to leave them be. We don’t all like to fill our breaks with chatter.”
“What are you working on?” Alina asked.
“A fence,” the man told her. “To keep all the critters out.”
“And any unwanted humans, too, I reckon,” chimed in another.
“Could be,” acknowledged the first man. “But mainly the trouble is with the alicanto.”
“Alicanto?” Alina repeated, intrigued. “Aren’t they the nocturnal birds who eat gold and silver and precious ore like that?”
“They’re supposed to be nocturnal,” the workman said. “But for us, they’re making an exception. Guess they’ve never tasted chameleon steel before, and they seem to really like it. They’re coming out at all hours just to get a taste.”
“Always wait until the refinement’s all finished, too,” chuckled the second worker. “Drives the boss and all them craftsmen mad. They do all the work to get the metal perfect, then the alicanto come and gobble it up quicker’n you can curse their eyes.”
“Their eyes?” Alina was clearly bemused by the choice of words.
“The eyes of an alicanto emit a strange light,” Xavier explained. “It can dazzle potential predators so they can’t see the alicanto properly, or—”
“Or can lead pursuers off cliffs and such if the alicanto is feeling particularly testy,” Alina finished for him. “I do remember hearing something about how they like to lure people into trouble, now you mention it.”
“So which workers would you say keep to themselves?” Xavier asked, getting the conversation back on track. “Is that them?” He pointed to another clump of workers further down the partially finished fence.
“Nah, they’re all right,” said the man in front of him. “I wouldn’t say as there’s a group that are anti-social outside their own circle, just a few individuals who don’t really talk much to anyone.”
Xavier thanked them and moved away, wishing his questions were getting him somewhere.
Alina was still examining the fence, so he moved slowly, waiting for her to catch up.
A worker approached from the direction of the building, paying so little attention that he bumped Xavier as he went past. His only apology was a grunt, and one of Xavier’s guards took offense.
“Show some respect to the prince,” he growled at the worker.
The man’s heavy brows lifted slightly in surprise as he looked up at Xavier’s face.
“Apologies, Your Highness,” he said gruffly. “I meant no offense.”
Xavier waved him off with a careless gesture, but his eyes were keen on the man’s back as the worker joined the others at the fence.
Xavier saw the worker surreptitiously study Alina, and had to fight an urge to call her back to his side.
Thankfully, she stepped over to the rest of the group a moment later, just in time to hear Xavier’s question to his guard.
“Did you think that man had an unusual accent?”
“He certainly didn’t sound Siqualian, Your Highness,” the guard said. “The accent was faint, though. I thought maybe he’s one of the Carrackian workers.”
“I don’t think so,” Xavier mused.
“Which man?” Alina asked curiously.
Xavier described him, and she looked over just as the worker in question raised his head. Xavier was watching Alina, and there was no missing her sudden stiffening, or the discomfort on her features as she turned away.
“Do you think we should go back?” she asked. “The project manager might be ready for you now.”
Xavier began to walk at her side, waiting until they were a little distance from the workmen before challenging her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Do you know that man?”
She shook her head.
“Alina.” There was a growl of warning in his voice.
“I don’t know him,” she insisted. “But I have seen him before. Twice. On both occasions I used magic in public, once from carelessness, once from necessity. Both times he was there, and it seemed like he was watching me closely.”
Another growl slipped out, this time without Xavier’s permission. “We should bring him in for questioning.”
“Is that strategic?” Alina asked doubtfully. “He really didn’t do anything to me. I haven’t even seen him since then, so it’s not as though he’s been following me around. It’s noteworthy that he has a slight accent, but wouldn’t hauling him before an interrogator be premature?”
“I should at least discuss it with the captain first,” Xavier acknowledged.
He felt his guards’ eyes on him, and suddenly realized that he’d grabbed Alina’s arm in a protective hold.
He hadn’t even been aware of doing it. Letting go, he followed close behind while she returned to the main building, his eyes narrowed as he looked back toward the now-distant workers.
It bothered him that there was insufficient reason to contain the potential threat.
He didn’t like that this stranger knew of Alina’s skill with magic.
As Alina had predicted, the project manager was ready to receive them, full of apologies for the delay. He was a solidly built Carrackian man with a no-nonsense demeanor, but he greeted the prince very respectfully. Xavier tried to respond in kind, but he was on edge after Alina’s comments.
He waited with growing impatience while their host delivered a report designed more to showcase the project’s success than to address anything of interest to the investigation.
“Have you had any complaints about any of your workers?” Xavier asked him at last.
The manager sighed. “I know there have been complaints from the nearby towns. They don’t like my men passing through.
But from all I hear, that’s just because of rumors about some folks who aren’t accounted for, not because of any reported behavior from my men.
There’s nothing whatsoever that makes me think any disappearances are connected with our project, Your Highness.
I’ve made my own inquiries since I heard the rumors, and I’ve searched the site thoroughly, and I’ve seen nothing suspicious. ”
“So you haven’t had a single complaint from within the camp?” Xavier pressed. “No one reporting feeling threatened, or uncomfortable around any of your foreign workers?”
The manager raised his eyebrows, not liking that question. “I don’t know what you mean by foreign workers, Your Highness. Carrackians might be foreign to you, but to my Carrackian workers, it’s Siqualians who are foreign. And the refiners from Dernan, of course.”
“You’re in Siqual,” Xavier pointed out, steel below his calm words. “Anyone from Carrack or Dernan is a guest here, and expected to answer to the authority of my father the king.”
“And so we do,” the manager said. “But we’re here by formal agreement between King Madoc and His Serene Majesty King Aelius.” He said his own king’s name with great pride. “And I’ve been given oversight over this project. I won’t punish my countrymen because of idle rumors.”
“No one expects you to,” Xavier said coolly.
“But your authority here isn’t absolute.
You shouldn’t have conducted your own investigation without collaboration with us.
You may have given warning to any perpetrators hiding amongst the workers.
And your assurances that no one feels threatened or unsafe aren’t consistent with the fence we just saw being constructed. ”
“The fence is for the alicanto, not for people,” the Carrackian said angrily.
Xavier raised an eyebrow. “A fence will keep out birds?”
“Not keep them out, Your Highness,” Blair interjected.
“But stop them escaping. They can’t fly very well after they’ve gorged themselves on chameleon steel.
They get heavier the more ore they eat, and they end up having to run along the sand instead.
They’re hoping that if the birds can’t escape, they’ll learn quickly not to risk stealing the ore. ”
“That may be,” Xavier said. “But was the construction of this fence cleared with anyone in the capital? It’s a significant extra expense that wasn’t part of the original deal.”
“The agreement gives me oversight over the project,” the manager repeated. “I don’t need permission from anyone to keep my workers and my product safe.”
“I’m very familiar with the terms of the agreement between our kingdoms,” Xavier said.
“Down to the last detail. And the site remains within Siqual. Limitations around access are ours to determine. How can I be sure you didn’t keep construction of an unplanned perimeter fence quiet because you didn’t want to acknowledge that you have problems with security? ”
“Why would you suspect me of that?” the Carrackian protested. “Of course I wouldn’t hire anyone whose trustworthiness was in question.”
“But can you personally vouch for each man?” Xavier challenged.
“Not all of them came with you from Carrack. And not all of them come from Siqual, either. As you said, there are some from Dernan. Perhaps even some from further afield, who aren’t as known and whose loyalty can’t be as fully trusted. ”