Kinderling 6

I instantly had two ideas warring inside my head.

The odds-on favorite, of course, was "Did my kitten really just talk to me?  Am I going bonkers?"

Just slightly behind that was, "If Beso thinks I'm with Father, he'll lead me right to them!"

Breathe.  In.  Out.  Relax.

The resolution for the first thought was simple once I stopped for a moment.  I was right!  The little lavender kitten was magical!  And we were bonding as Kinderling and Familiar!  I had dreamt of this day ever since I was four!  Mama always said "Don't let your hopes destroy what is possible", by which she meant that it would either happen or it wouldn't so don't get my hopes up.  Mama is so weird.  Father, as always, was more supportive and told me stories about Kinderlings that he had known who were bonded to a familiar.  Those stories were the meat and potatoes of my dreams.  Every time I tried something hard, or a device I tried to craft didn't work like I wanted or sadly fell apart into black dust, I would remember those stories and push myself even harder so that one day I would be deserving of a bond.

*"it doesn't work like that"*

The thought from the kitten drew me up short.  "It doesn't?" I asked.

*"no"*

Not only no.  I didn't just "hear" the word in my head.  Along with that "No" was a world of meaning.  No, it doesn't work like that.  No, she couldn't explain why.  No, she couldn't explain how it really works.  No, and quit asking dumb questions.

With no answers forthcoming, It was time to move on.  How was I going to make Beso think I was with my Father, when I didn't even know where my Father was?  I couldn't just walk up and tell him.  Beso isn't exactly a mental giant, but I'm pretty sure he'd realize I was lying to him if I told him to his face that I was somewhere else.

Hearing Beso's office door start to open, I ducked further down behind the rocks I was using for cover.  Beso emerged, looking all smug and happy with himself and strolled away.  I didn't know where he was going, but a plan started to form in my head.  I was sure he would be back eventually.

By the time Beso returned an hour later, I had everything in place.  Pinned to Beso's office door was an anonymous tip warning that "Tandy" (that's me) had been asking around about where "The Elder Tadius" was being held, and was later seen heading towards the mines.  That last was a little bit of a gamble, but Mama said they were being held somewhere down in the mine complex, and that would have been an awfully imprecise thing to say if she didn't at least know that they were down there somewhere.  Mama is never imprecise.

I kept the note simple and to the point.  No sense in trying to get all fancy with it.

Upon reading the note, Beso yelled "Ha! I got her!" and ran off yelling for guards.  Lucky for me he was making enough of a spectical that it was easy to follow him at a distance without being spotted.  On the flip side, his shenanegains started attracting a number of guards from the militia, who appeared to be taking orders from him.  Perhaps the plan was working too well.

I followed Beso and his platoon of guardsmen towards the oldest sections of the mines.  Nobody usually goes to there because it's more than a little dangerous.  In the early days, the Kinderlings working in the mines didn't know a whole lot about what they were doing.  So such nice things as ceiling bracing and supports aren't as common a sight as one might hope for.  When they reached the entrance to the old section, the opening that I had always seen boarded up was open, and Beso passed through, followed by his soldiers.  I couldn't believe it, they really were going into the old section.

I was relieved to see that Beso didn't think of leaving guards at the opening, but I waited, in case it was a ruse and he had left guards further in.

*"i will scout"*

The kitten shot forward, keeping to the shadows wherever she found them.  I didn't think Beso, or anyone, had any clue about the kitten, and I resolved to keep that information as quiet as possible.  Having a tiny little spy of my very own would be incredibly helpful.

*"the way is clear"*

I hadn't even see or heard the kitten return.  She was like smoke.

*"i like that name"*

I was concentrating so hard on what was ahead, I hadn't been listening to even my own thoughts, so it took me a moment to understand.  "Smoke?"

*"yes"*

We moved forward and through the opening, staying as quiet and as far into the shadows as we could.  It was easy to see which way Beso and the soldiers went, so I followed.  The way was lit by lanterns hanging at irregular intervals from hooks bolted to the walls.  I kept to the shadows between the lanterns as much as I could.

I couldn't help but notice that there were far more supports than I expected to find.  I had never been down in this section of the mines.  As far as I knew, nobody had.  The old sections of the mines had always been described as being death traps, with little or no ceiling support.  These were as close together, and as numerous as the supports in the public parts of the mine where I had just come from.

I stopped at one of the supports to get a closer look.  The construction looked recent, but not too recent.  There was dust and a few cobwebs clinging to the wood.  No point in loitering, I continued on.

After a short while, I started to hear voices from up ahead.  *"souls ahead"*  came a mental whisper from Smoke.  We kept to the shadows as much as we could and carefully made our way forward.  Ahead I saw the passage open into a natural cavern.  The cavern wasn't huge, but it was big enough for a row of jail cells along one wall, and still leave room for Beso and his men who looked to be searching around.  Probably for me.

"If she's here, I want her found!" Screeched Beso, "I have credible information that she will be leading a group of collaborators in an attack to rescue her Father and former Captain Zon!  If she isn't captured, I'll have the lot of you flogged!"

I managed to catch an angry look on one of the soldiers faces when Beso threatened flogging.  I didn't know what Beso thought he was doing, but his constant badgering of his men sure seemed to be distracting them more than spurring them on to work harder.

Smoke and I retreated back down the passage until we found a side passage.  The side passage looked a lot more like I was expecting this section of the mines to look like with rubble from the ceiling littering the floor, and thick dust everywhere.  I was a little scared but I considered that none of the rubble on the floor looked like it had fallen recently.  So I told myself that the ceiling had probably settled and surely it wouldn't fall on me.  I was careful not to leave a trail as I moved around a curve to wait.

My plan had failed.  Sure, I found my Father and Uncle Zon, but at the same time, I caused them to be surrounded by soldiers, making my job of springing them much much more difficult.