Princess Electra Book 2 Out of Barburee by Dory Lee Maske
He didn't finish. He didn't need to finish. It was obvious to all that Fernland had no weapons to combat these cylinders that could tear apart bushes on contact. And their job as magicians here in Barburee was to bring this weapon under control. Just as their job as Fernlanders was to make sure that didn't happen.
Chapter 31
Barburee
The Fernland men watched carefully as an archer measured out powders from three different boxes and packed them into a short length of hollow bamboo. They stood a few feet away to protect themselves from explosions and Hilgard shouted out questions in the Barburee tongue.
"He says the yellow powder is not dangerous," Hilgard translated.
Smiles walked to the box that contained the yellow powder and stuck his finger into the rank smelling substance. He sniffed it and coughed. "Smells like somethin' gone bad."
Hilgard asked about the second box of black powder. "Left over from fire? I'm not sure what that means," Hilgard said, "but he says that one is not dangerous either."
Smiles moved to the second box and pinched a bit between his fingers.
"Don't be settin' something off," Bear yelled to his friend.
Smiles brought the bit of black powder over to Bear. Bear shrunk back a little.
"Ain't nothin' but charcoal, ground up like. See?" Smiles held his fingers out for Bear's inspection.
Bear sniffed it and ground a bit into a finer powder with his fingers.
"He's right. Tis charcoal."
The others gathered around and agreed, in turn—it was only charcoal.
"The last box holds the troublemaker," Hilgard said, after speaking to the archer. "He says it sometimes explodes on its own."
They looked at the white powder in the third box from a distance. Smiles started to walk toward it.
"Are ya crazy?" Bear shouted. "Did ya not hear what the man said?"
Smiles shrugged and turned back to his friends. "How we gonna fix them bad arrows if we don't take a look see?"
They saw that the archer had finished packing and wicking his bamboo tube and was now in the process of attaching it to a heavy arrow. He turned to sight in on a sheep's skull at the end of the field. Then he lowered the arrow, lit the wick with a candle and quickly let the arrow fly. The arrow hit its mark and the sheep's skull exploded. A cheer went up from his fellow archers.
Muller ran down the field and gathered up the fragments of bone he could find. He brought these few burnt fragments back to show to the other Fernland men.
"This is incredible. I could hardly find a piece bigger than my thumb. We have to take some of those powders back to Fernland."
"By we, I'm hopin' ya mean you," Bear stood with his hands on his hips. "I'll not be carryin' it nor comin' near him what is."
Muller glared contemptuously at Bear, then turned to Hilgard. "We need to find out where they get the yellow and white powders. The charcoal is no problem."
They watched as more archers packed tubes with measured portions of the three powders—two parts yellow, three parts black and fifteen parts white. The archers seemed encouraged by the success of the sheep's skull explosion. A cloud of powder hung in the air as they worked. Several men got off successful shots, then a close call occurred as a tube exploded just after an arrow was released.
Take moved a little closer to watch as an archer finished packing his tube with powders, then pressed wax into both ends to seal it. He stuck a thin stick through the soft wax to form a wick. Take stepped back as the archer began to tie the tube to an arrow.
Take shook his head as he returned to his group of friends. "Maybe it is bad magic. It looks like chance whether it explodes when the wick burns through like it's supposed to or whether it blows up before the flame makes contact."
"You would think they would be more afraid then they seem to be," Hilgard said.
Muller shook his head. "The rewards when it works are too great. They have to chance it and to do that, they have to practice."
"I can't see Fernland's archers wantin' ta chance it," Bear said.
Muller glared at Bear for the second time. "If you're so worried about your safety why don't you go wait with the women?"
Bear glared back at Muller. Then his glare turned into a mean smile. "Why don't I just do that? What bout you then Smiles, ya comin' with me to wait with the women folk?"
Smiles shrugged and looked sheepishly at his friends. "I spose I'd best."
Bear was grateful when his friend joined him. They headed back to the city of tents. When they were out of hearing range Bear turned to Smiles.
"The spy's just mad cause he knows I'm right. Nobody in Fernland is stupid enough ta be messin' with arrows what explode any time they feel like it."
"Bet yer right there. What ya make of it? Why's a one explode ahead a time and an a tother don't?"
"I'm guessin' once them three powders get together they're ready ta blow an all kinds a things could set 'em off. Like maybe shakin' or somethin'. But I don't see no good comin' from tryin' to find out."
"Not magic, ya don't think?"
"Don't start with that again."
When they reached Twenty Quivers' tent, the two little grand daughters ran out to meet them. Their hands were covered with flour.
"Long as we're sent ta keep the women folk company, what say we show them how a proper sweet pastry's made?" Bear asked. "I got a bit of a taste fer one."
"Now yer talkin' my language." Smiles began rolling up his sleeves.
The two men entered the tent, much to the delight of the little girls. With gestures toward the flour, the wood fire and themselves, they let the women know they meant to cook. The women looked surprised but laughed among themselves and stood back to watch. Bear located the ingredients he needed—barley flour, oil, goat's milk, honey and some dried red berries for sweetness.
As Smiles ground the flour to a fine texture, Bear combined ingredients to make a flat dough which he kneaded and slapped loudly on a flat stone. Bear was happily engrossed in his task and did not notice what the little girls were up to. They too were intent in their task. They mimicked Smiles by pulverizing their own large piles of flour with flat sticks. Soon the air was thick with tiny particles of flour.
Bear's nose twitched. He breathed in the floured air and sneezed mightily into the sleeve of his shirt. The air around him hung thick with floating flour above the smoldering cook fire. Bear had heard stories from other bakers of thick air-borne flour catching fire and causing an explosion. "No!" he shouted as he grabbed the little girls, one under each arm and ran for the opening of the tent. "Get out! Get out!" he yelled.
Smiles followed him out gesturing to the women behind him. The women paid little attention to Smiles or his gestures. They were intent on following the man who was running away with their children. Outside the tent Bear attempted to explain that the flour in the air exposed to flame could explode. He tried this with large arm gestures and repeated cries of "Boom! Boom!" He saw that he had only succeeded in convincing them that he was crazy.
Bear kept checking the air inside the tent until he was satisfied that the flour particles were sufficiently diluted by the vent at the tent's top and the breeze from the open flap, to make it safe to return. As he resumed his work and the women returned, he kept a close eye on the little girls, giving them lumps of dough instead of flour to pound with their flat sticks. The pastries turned out very well and the confidence of the women in Bear's ability and sanity slowly returned.
As they all lounged in the tent, sleepy with full stomachs, Bear turned to Smiles.
"I should likely keep it ta myself. Don't no good never come a givin' folk advice, but--I think I know why some a them arrows been explodin' early."
Chapter 32
Village of Helsop
Electra looked out the door of the clinic. Bataar and his men rode by on their horses with a good amount of shouting and laughter. They seemed to be on
The clinic had no patients today. Electra spent the morning making bandages and setting herbs out to dry. She was thinking of taking a break for lunch when a messenger from Henge rode up to the clinic. Electra hoped he carried a reply from Serafina.
The soldier dismounted and walked to the door of the clinic.
"You are Princess Electra?"
"I am."
"I was told I would find you here."
He held out a rolled up paper sealed with wax and tied with a red ribbon.
Electra tore open the seal, eager to see Serafina's reply to her invitation. She read the note quickly. It was very short.
My Electra,
I will arrive 3 to 4 hours after this messenger. Prepare an unlit bonfire of pitch and green wood.
Always your Mother
Serafina
Electra constructed the bonfire with tiers of wood coated with pitch. Tandor stood close by, offering his help.
"It's better I do it myself," Electra said. "I know how she likes her bonfires built."
When she had a large bonfire assembled just outside the village along the road Serafina would take to enter Helsop, Electra retreated to her cottage. She lay on her cot, looking up at the ceiling and wondered why she always seemed at a crossroads between warring nations that led to marriage proposals for political gain. She thought she had found a peaceful refuge in Helsop, a place where her skills as a herbalist would have value, but that had been short-lived.
She wondered how her life would have been had she stayed in Chase Bound where Serafina had taken her after Take kidnapped her. She could have refused to accompany Avor back to Fernland, refused to even meet Queen Delphinia and King Geoffrey. She sighed, then noticed the crystal ball wedged between her cot and the wall. She spun it around in her hand, watching the little clouds form deep within. A shout from Tandor broke her concentration.
"The sorceress has just come over the rise. She has two soldiers with her."
Electra jumped up, her crystal ball forgotten. "Tell Dagon at once. Then go to the river and fetch the Barburee ambassadors. I will go out to meet her."
A large crowd including Dagon, Helsop's villagers, Bataar and the Barburee ambassadors, assembled along the road in front of the wood stacked for Serafina's bonfire. Serafina rode straight for the crowd and dismounted. She wore her loose fitting black robe with the wiccan symbols, and looked very much the sorceress that she was. The two soldiers with her carried large bows and quivers filled with arrows attached to long narrow tubes.
Serafina smiled a generous smile at the gathered crowd. Her face seemed a little fuller and she was quite beautiful.
"Ah, you have prepared a fire. How thoughtful," she said to the crowd.
She pointed to the fire and it burst into flames. The crowd gave a collective gasp and stepped away from Serafina and the bonfire.
Serafina looked at the Barburee men pleasantly.
"You must be Bataar," she said in a charming voice. "I have looked forward to meeting you."
Bataar held his ground and said nothing. He appeared faintly uneasy as he watched the cloud of smoke grow thicker behind Serafina.
"I was sorry to hear you and your ambassadors would not be traveling on to Henge." Serafina appeared relaxed and in a mood to chat.
Behind her the cloud of smoke was forming into a towering shape. The dark thick smoke twisted and writhed like a living thing. The dark smoke seemed to be condensing into the shape of a giant monster. Two bulging arms grew slowly, hypnotically, out of the smoke cloud. A dark head began to take shape. Hollows grew within the head where eyes should have been. Another hollow formed where a mouth might have formed, but this hollow became a gaping hole, tunneling into the smoke, a giant maw that opened and closed as the smoke twisted and turned.
.Bataar watched as the smoke demon began to bend slowly downward. Its arms came forward and its hollow eyes fixed on him. The gaping mouth opened wider and the head of the smoke demon stretched down as if it meant to devour Bataar.
Serafina looked up to see the towering smoke monster above her. She snapped her fingers and the monster disappeared, instantly.
"The wood must be green." Serafina looked deep into Bataar's eyes and smiled. "How good it is to have met you," Serafina moved on to greet Electra.
"Men have magic arrows." Bataar looked at Serafina but pointed at her two soldiers, who each carried arrows in their quivers with tubes attached.
Serafina turned back to meet Bataar's eyes. "Yes, are you familiar with them?"
Bataar shrugged.
"Would you like to see a demonstration?"
"Yes." Bataar's lips turned down in a sneer.
Serafina waved the two soldiers from Henge forward. She looked around and settled on a post some distance away as a target.
The two men each fitted an arrow into their bows. Serafina lit the two hanging wicks by touching them with her finger.
The two archers let fly and both arrows struck the post just as their cylinders exploded, sending the post flying out in shattered chips of wood.
The crowd of people bolted. Some screamed and ran for their houses, others watched in fascinated shock.
Bataar narrowed his eyes in anger. He called to his men and they stalked back to where they had left their horses.
"That went well." Serafina smiled as she hugged Electra warmly.
Dagon continued to stare at the shattered post in silence. He finally looked at Serafina, a confused expression on his face.
"Was that witchcraft?" he asked.
"No, that was innovation," she replied.
"We have a meal prepared, and places for you and your men to stay," Dagon gestured toward the mess tent. "I would like to find out more about these innovative weapons."
"Let me speak to Electra first, and then we will join you." Serafina nodded to her two soldiers and they followed Dagon to their temporary quarters.
Chapter 33
Village of Helsop
Electra and Serafina walked back to Electra's cottage together. As Serafina entered she saw the sheeted hole in the back wall that led to the massive construction of framed timbers behind. Pulling the sheet aside, Serafina asked, "Doing some renovations?"
Electra did not want to begin their talk with details about Queen Delphinia's vision of a proper dwelling for a princess. She waved the question away with a flick of her hand. "It's a family project."
"I see," Serafina said, with a slight upturn of her mouth. She moved the crystal ball aside and sat on one end of the cot, there being no other place to sit.
Electra sat on the other end of the cot with her legs crossed beneath her. "Thank you for coming. I thought your smoke demon very effective and your exploding arrows even more so. Do you think Bataar is having second thoughts about attacking Henge?"
Serafina frowned before she spoke. "Unfortunately, no, I do not. He was quite terrified by the smoke demon, but he would die before he would show any sign of fear. As for the arrows, he is familiar with them. Prince Blackwell heard rumors of Barburee's exploding arrows from gossip around the docks. He asked me if such a thing were possible and I saw that it was. I took on the task of inventing a similar weapon for Henge. Bataar was furious to learn that their secret weapon has been copied. I notice he and his men do not display their exploding arrows."
"No. They put on a most impressive display of their abilities with conventional bows and arrows in Fernland, but there was no hint of explosives."
Serafina considered this news for a moment, then appea
Electra leaned back against the wall beside her cot and sighed. "I suppose I shall be responsible for Fernland's demise should I refuse his offer of marriage."
Serafina chuckled. "I did warn you that Geoffrey would use your hand in marriage as a political tool."
"This was not King Geoffrey's idea. In fact I don't think he would allow it, even if I were willing. He does not want Fernland in bed with Barburee. But he could be signing Fernland's fate if he objects. It weighs heavy on my mind."
Electra looked at the cloth of Serafina's shift, pulled tight across her midsection. She sat up straight and her mouth sagged open.
"Yes," Serafina said. "I am with child—twins in fact."
Electra was too stunned to speak. She felt an unusual sensation sweep through her. Serafina was her mother, no one else's. She recognized the feeling as jealousy and quickly buried it deep inside. "But that is wonderful." She reached out to hug Serafina.
"Two little sisters for you," Serafina said gently as she studied Electra's face.
Electra blushed like a child caught misbehaving. Then she laughed at her feelings of jealousy. "Are you so sure they will be girls?"
"Yes, I am sure, though my father-in-law would prefer it were not so."
"I pity them, being born daughters of a king."
"I will not have you speak like that," Serafina said.
"I'm sorry, and of course I jest. I know their lives will be nothing like mine." Electra lowered her eyes.
"I speak of you, not them." Serafina lifted her chin. "Since when have you not been in charge of your own life?"
Electra stopped to consider her question. She shook her head. "I can not live as you do, feeling no responsibility for others. I know it is a weakness that I would even consider marriage to save the lives of people I barely know."
Serafina breathed deeply. "Very well. Then I take it you are considering going ahead with an unwanted marriage, against your father's wishes, in an effort to save Fernland from Barburee."