Don't you find it interesting that our security problems only began after
Captain Fisher joined us?'
'Oh, come on,' said ap Owen immediately. 'You're not seriously accusing Fisher?
She's a legend in Haven! And she fought like hell against the mercenaries and
the creatures in the dimension. In fact, if not for her, I wouldn't have lived
long enough to reach the dimension, and you wouldn't have lived long enough to
close the dimensional doorway. We owe her our lives!'
'Look at the facts,' said Nightingale calmly. 'The mercenaries didn't attack the
house till she got here, and the creatures didn't attack us until she'd joined
us in the pocket dimension…'
'He has a point,' said Regis slowly. 'And it does seem odd that Captain Fisher
should have been in the middle of so much fighting, and come out of it with only
minor, superficial wounds.'
'She's a good fighter!' said ap Owen. 'Everyone knows that.'
'No one's that good,' said Nightingale.
'And I must admit the new security forces have brought rather disquieting news
concerning Fisher's partner, Captain Hawk,' said Regis.
'Hawk?' said Fisher sharply. 'What about Hawk?'
Regis fixed her with a steady gaze. 'It appears that Captain Hawk is completely
out of control. He's assaulted a superior officer and gone on a rampage through
the city, attacking people in some kind of personal vendetta, and killing anyone
who gets in his way. We don't know exactly how many people he's killed, but we
have a confirmed account of more than thirty dead, and almost as many injured.
At least a dozen were just innocent passersby.'
'I don't believe it,' said Fisher.
'In view of what you've just told me,' said Lord Nightingale, ignoring Fisher,
'I don't think I care to trust my well-being to any security force commanded by
Captain Fisher. I'm afraid I must insist she be replaced, if the Talks are to
continue.'
'I have to agree,' said Regis. 'Well, Fisher, have you anything to say for
yourself?'
'I didn't want to come here in the first place,' said Fisher. 'If you don't want
me, I'll leave.'
'It's not that simple,' said Nightingale coldly. 'We can't allow you to just
walk out of here. You know too much. And besides, I don't believe in letting
traitors walk free. Regis, I want this woman arrested, and held incommunicado
till these Talks are over.'
Regis nodded. 'Fisher, hand over your sword. You're under arrest. The charge is
treason.'
Nightingale smiled at Fisher coldly. 'I'll see you hanged for your part in this,
bitch.'
Fisher drew her sword and dropped into her fighting stance. 'You and what army,
Nightingale?'
'Fisher, that's enough!' snapped Regis. 'Give your sword to ap Owen. That's an
order!'
Fisher laughed at him. 'Stuff your order. I may be slow, but I'm not crazy.
You're just desperate for a scapegoat, and I look like the best bet. Well,
sorry, people, but I'm afraid I must decline the honor.'
Regis looked at ap Owen. 'Arrest her! Do whatever you have to, but stop her. She
mustn't leave here alive!'
Ap Owen hesitated, and Fisher threw a chair at him. She was across the room and
out the door before the two Majors could get to their feet and ap Owen could
disentangle himself from the chair. Regis and Nightingale remained where they
were, shouting orders. Fisher slammed the door shut behind her, grinned briefly
as she heard someone crash into it, and then sprinted down the corridor to the
front door. She yanked it open and charged out into the grounds. The new
security people looked up in surprise, and moved towards her, anticipating some
kind of emergency in the house. Fisher grabbed the first officer she saw, and
pointed him at the front door.
'Block off that door and don't let anyone out, no matter what! Take as many men
as you need. Everything depends on you! Move it!'
The officer threw her a quick salute, and charged towards the door, yelling for
his men to follow him. Fisher ran for the front gate, breathlessly informing
every man-at-arms she passed of the terrible emergency up at the house. The
emergency became more and more terrible, and the details more and more
fantastic, as she passed through the main body of men, determined to stir up the
maximum confusion. She finally reached the gate, and paused a moment to look
back. The men-at-arms were milling aimlessly back and forth, trampling the snow
into slush, shouting incoherently to each other, and searching desperately for
some sign of the enemy. Fisher grinned, and set off down the street at a fast
but eminently respectable pace, so as not to attract too much attention.
First thing was to get rid of the Guard's uniform; it was too distinctive. Maybe
change it for a long robe with a hood, something large and bulky enough to
substantially alter her appearance. When word finally got out from the house,
there were going to be an awful lot of people looking for Captain Fisher. There
was no point in trying to protest her innocence. It was clear Nightingale had
picked on her as the scapegoat, and the others would go along with him in order
to keep the Talks going. As she'd been told from the beginning, the Peace Talks
were far more important than any Guard Captain. She was expendable.
But she wasn't about to let anyone or anything get between her and her search
for Hawk. From the sound if it, things had got really out of hand since she left
him with Burns. She frowned. Strange there hadn't been any mention of Burns. She
shook her head fiercely. That could wait. All that mattered was finding Hawk. If
he really was out of control, she was the only one with any chance of stopping
him. Whatever had happened between Hawk and Morgan, he'd listen to her.
And then they'd work together to find out who the real traitor was. Before, it
had just been business. Now, it was personal.
In the study, Lord Regis and Lord Nightingale were taking turns shouting at
Captain ap Owen. Outside in the grounds, Major Comber and Major de Tournay were
trying desperately to restore some kind of order to the chaos Fisher had made
out of the men-at-arms. Half of them were still running around like mad things,
looking for something to hit and mistaking each other for the enemy as often as
not. Ap Owen listened to the craziness outside, and somehow kept the smile from
his lips. Eventually the lords ran out of accusations and curses, and stopped a
moment to get their breath back. Ap Owen cleared his throat.
'What exactly do you want me to do, my lords? What are your orders?'
'Find Fisher!' snapped Nightingale, his cheeks mottled with rage. 'I don't care
how you do it, but find her!'
'Take twenty men and go out into the city,' said Regis. 'Spread the word among
