{"id":92,"date":"2017-10-04T01:40:11","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T01:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/?p=92"},"modified":"2017-10-11T13:35:41","modified_gmt":"2017-10-11T13:35:41","slug":"twenty-psst","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/10\/04\/twenty-psst\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-One: Psst"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI don\u2019t think she really wants the kitten gone,\u201d the Diamond Raven commented, when they were out the gate and on another road. \u00a0\u201cAnd I don\u2019t blame her.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cute, isn\u2019t it?\u201d \u00a0She looked down at it, and it looked up at her and mewled. \u00a0\u201cI bet it\u2019s terrified. \u00a0All this being moved around by people bigger than it-\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEmpathizing?\u201d the Diamond Raven chuckled. \u00a0\u201cSounds like your life. \u00a0Or, come to think about it, mine.\u201d \u00a0He touched the gold lasso around his neck lightly. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m pretty tossed around, too. \u00a0And even in the same way. \u00a0Can I hold it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re careful.\u201d \u00a0Raizel passed the kitten over. \u00a0\u201cWe may have to hide it when we get on the train. \u00a0Do they let animals like that on trains?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been.\u201d \u00a0He smiled crookedly at her. \u00a0\u201cThis is an adventure for both of us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s that, all right. \u00a0It was just supposed to be a boring old trip. \u00a0Go down, pay the taxes, come back, get the girl and the boy.\u201d \u00a0She touched her belt lightly, where the money sat in a pouch against her skin. \u00a0\u201cI – there have been plusses.\u201d \u00a0She glanced over at him. \u201cAnd I met you. \u00a0And I might have gotten a kitten.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd a curse and the attention of the gods, a spectre answering your questions and -\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPssst.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAnd a boy-whore who wants me to make him a scented fox,\u201d she finished, determinedly staring at the Diamond Raven and Ignoring The Hiss To one side of them. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s been an education already.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPsst.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Raven raised his eyebrows at her but took her cue. \u00a0\u201cThat is has. \u00a0I\u2019m still surprised you\u2019re old enough for spending time with – well.\u201d \u00a0He coughed. \u00a0\u201cClearly you\u2019re not. \u00a0And clearly you\u2019re not too young to be out on the road by yourself, since you, well, you lassoed me and you have a kitten, you managed to get <\/span>answers<\/i><\/b> from a <\/span>spectre<\/span><\/i>,\u201d he dropped his voice into a low rumbly imitation of her specter, \u201cand only the gods know what else. \u00a0Oh, let\u2019s see, a ring from a Prince-\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPssst.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c-a deserter following me and demanding I commit treason, that one wasn\u2019t so much fun,\u201d she countered. \u00a0\u201cAnd now I have to get you AND the kitten far away. I just want to get to the train station.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHey!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think your troubles will end there? \u00a0The train, I\u2019ve been told, has a lot of stops and moves slowly.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPsssssssssssst!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, even if it does, I can handle that if my feet don\u2019t hurt.\u201d \u00a0She looked down at her boots ruefully. \u00a0\u201cThese are my best shoes, but I don\u2019t normally walk for entire days.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we\u2019ll pass a cobbler,\u201d he offered. \u00a0He was watching her very intently, perhaps to avoid looking around him at the voice. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really have money to spare for such things. \u00a0I need to save up, if I want to – well, if I ever want to start my own house.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHello, I\u2019m talking to you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat, you don\u2019t want to live with your parents forever?\u201d \u00a0The Raven smirked at her. \u00a0\u201cNo, no, I remember what that was like. \u00a0To be honest, it\u2019s why I became a wizard. \u00a0I had a lot of things I could do, but doing that meant I left my family home for years and wasn\u2019t expected to go back to it ever again. \u00a0And it got me out of the family business, which was bookkeeping.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHello.\u201d \u00a0Someone darted out in front of them and stopped, such that Raizel and the Raven had to stop or run into this person. \u00a0Raizel took a look at the shadowy figure in a deep cloak, sighed, and stepped around the person.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want to get out of my parents\u2019 house because we\u2019re\u2026\u201d \u00a0She hesitated and frowned at him. \u00a0\u201cWe live high on the mountain, you know. \u00a0And the family is a good family, but it\u2019s a big family, and there\u2019s never anything that you can do without having an audience – oh, for crying out loud, <\/span>what?\u201d<\/span><\/i> \u00a0The cloaked figure was in front of them again. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to do something for me! \u00a0You need to do it now!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d \u00a0Raizel held up her hand. \u00a0\u201cNo. \u00a0I <\/span>need<\/span><\/i> to go to the capital. \u00a0I <\/span>need<\/span><\/i> \u00a0to pay my census fee. I <\/span>need<\/span><\/i> to get back home to my family. \u00a0And I <\/span>need <\/span><\/i>\u00a0to do that all while keeping in mind all of the things already required on this trip. \u00a0So I\u2019m sorry, but I don\u2019t need to do anything for you at all. \u00a0I simply don\u2019t have time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cListen.\u201d The cloaked figure stood up taller and showed, in a gloved hand, the insignia of the Tzar. \u00a0\u201cOn the train, there will be one who calls himself the King. \u00a0He\u2019s the King of the bloodflower, the King of the Purloined letter, the King of the stolen truth. \u00a0All of those are names he uses for himself, are you listening?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026I see that the Tzar\u2019s left hand is speaking to me,\u201d Raizel answered flatly. \u00a0There were people you messed with. \u00a0The Tzar\u2019s left hand, the secret police of the realm, were not on that list. \u00a0\u201cI hear that there is something that I should do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew you\u2019d come around to my way of thinking. \u00a0Listen, there\u2019s going to be a stop in Federskiarl. \u00a0That stop has a deep basement under the train stop. \u00a0It used to be a mine. \u00a0Get the Poison King down there and get him into the vault. \u00a0The vault itself will take care of the rest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI don\u2019t think she really wants the kitten gone,\u201d the Diamond Raven commented, when they were out the gate and on another road. \u00a0\u201cAnd I don\u2019t blame her.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s pretty cute, isn\u2019t it?\u201d \u00a0She looked down at it, and it looked up at her and mewled. \u00a0\u201cI bet it\u2019s terrified. \u00a0All this being moved around… Continue reading Twenty-One: Psst<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Side Quest Chapter Twenty: Psst\r\nJust who is psst\u2019ing at Raizel now?","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Tn4Q-1u","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":98,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/10\/16\/twenty-three-cleaner\/","url_meta":{"origin":92,"position":0},"title":"Twenty-Three: Cleaner","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"October 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"They made it to the bathhouse without further incident. \u00a0Raizel had never been inside a place like this, but she\u2019d heard the stories and descriptions from people in the town that went down into the flatter lands: There were rainfall devices where you soaped off, and then big drinking-trough tubs\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 5 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 5 comments","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/10\/16\/twenty-three-cleaner\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/10\/11\/twenty-two-lost-and-found\/","url_meta":{"origin":92,"position":1},"title":"Twenty-Two: Lost and Found","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"October 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cWhy her?\u201d The Diamond Raven shifted so he was standing almost between Raizel and the Left Hand. \u00a0\u201cWhy this stranger on the street?\u201d \u201cBecause she\u2019s not a stranger, is she? \u00a0She\u2019s the one that everyone\u2019s been muttering about. \u00a0She\u2019s got you, which is interesting in and of itself. \u00a0She\u2019s made\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/10\/11\/twenty-two-lost-and-found\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/09\/26\/twenty-the-kitten\/","url_meta":{"origin":92,"position":2},"title":"Twenty: The Kitten","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"September 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The gardener in front of them cut a strange figure, her pockets wriggling. \u00a0 Raizel bowed politely anyway. If she had learned anything so far on this trip it was that she might find the god-touch or even stranger things in places she was expecting nothing of the sort. \u00a0\u201cI,\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/09\/26\/twenty-the-kitten\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":117,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2018\/01\/05\/twenty-seven-the-train\/","url_meta":{"origin":92,"position":3},"title":"Twenty-Seven: The Train","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"January 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cAm I really here?\u201d Raizel muttered to the Diamond Raven. \u00a0It felt unlikely. \u00a0She had been trying for this for what seemed like months, even if it had only been days, and here they were, on the platform, buying two tickets for the train. \u00a0 That she had the Diamond\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":121,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2018\/01\/16\/twenty-eight-the-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":92,"position":4},"title":"Twenty-Eight: The People","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"January 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Raven had done something, she was sure of it. \u00a0She had expected to be in the part of the train where people crowded onto benches or sat in the aisles. \u00a0That was cheap part, the part where most people like her rode. Instead, she and the Raven and six\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Quest"","block_context":{"text":"Quest","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/category\/quest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60,"url":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/27\/twelve-watch-what-you-say\/","url_meta":{"origin":92,"position":5},"title":"Twelve: Watch What You Say","author":"Lyn Thorne-Alder","date":"July 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The man who might or might not b the Diamond Raven struggled, but he couldn\u2019t seem to do anything about the cord around his neck and, rather than have Raizel tug it tighter, he followed her. \u00a0\u201cI have things I should get-\u201d he protested, but she didn\u2019t listen, and then\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/2017\/07\/27\/twelve-watch-what-you-say\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/94"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.lynthornealder.com\/sidequest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}