Van did not sleep. Most of the time, in fact, he only slept if he had to regenerate a limb or heal damage from a serious battle. Instead of sleep then, as the night wore on, Van prepared his keep for a small incursion. The invaders would probably take a ground route - he'd been the only one crazy enough to scale the cliff, and he'd seen the results of those who had attempted to fly at the castle. Their charred remains were scattered on the grounds and left where they lay.

But he wasn't all that interested in keeping them out. Of late, Mad King Van had been bored. He went out into the city and scared people with his presence, he would have to remember that they scattered when he was around. It would be interesting to see if these new adventurers would get through any of the already-present defenses the place had.

They'd been around for centuries. There were probably some that Van was forgetting. He went to a room buried deep within the castle's cliffside area, and found maps of the place. The oldest map had been preserved with magic, the newest was made entirely by hand and embellished with small figures and horses here and there. He rather liked that one, if he wanted to, he could enchant it to move.

But there were many changes between that first old map and the new one. Yes, the city had grown a lot since he got there. Slowly, but surely. Their roads were maintained well, the walls of the city were guarded by things that no man could see.

Van smiled to himself. His city had thrived, and he was proud of it. He was also remarkably posessive of it. While this group were hardly anything that the rest of the city had to worry about, Van wondered... Word couldn't get out if they did succeed. They would surely spread information if they left the city again.

That had to be avoided. At what cost?

Adae slept fitfully. She dreamed of sneaking around in dark places, and then had a scare when her pleasant dream turned to a nightmare of dangling off a high precipice and dropping to the stone forest below.

She sat up with a jolt, holding in a gasp and shuddering. She hadn't worken the others, they all slept well enough. If it wasn't Dag's mindless humming - thankfully absent during his sleep - it was Bendek's snoring. He had such a small nose, how could he have such a wide mouth?

Adae curled her knees up under her chin, hugging her legs. She stared out of the window. Their third story room was expensive, but the king and queen had offered them a large sum of gold even to start their work. They were promised more, on demand, if they remained in the city of the Mad King. As needed, then, couriers would come with aid.

How long would they be here? How long would it take for them to figure out where the tapestry was, and get it out?

Adae's breathing turned gentle, and she slept with her back against the headboard of the bed.

***

In the morning, everyone but Adae was rested and felt like exploring the city. She complained of neck pain, and went off to locate a hot bath. Luckily, the town had several quality bath houses, and she suggested that the men take a little time to clean themselves up. If they were to be here for any length of time, they might as well fit in.

It was mostly merchants at the bath house that Dag, Oraldo and Bendek found. But they were mainly local, and so the trio listened in on conversations that were probably best left private.

They learned of a parade that would be coming around, a local or country-side carnival that practiced in the hills during the winter months and returned to their trips during summer. They would be making a production of it, apparently, so the merchants were going to be gearing up to sell and trade that day as well. Might as well make it an event.

Of course, all the men could think of was 'distraction!' Though whether it would work was another thing entirely.

They got more information about this event from another merchant, outside. They all seemed to know about it, and the men posed a bit as two merchants and their burly bodyguard. Where could they find stalls, how much would it cost to get cloth banners... They played their roles well.

Then they went back to their inn and discussed this with Adae. She had gone to the city wall after her relaxing bath, and found that there were children who played in the dark corridors below the surface. The walls were, as she hoped they'd be, hollow and fit for troops to walk through. They were somewhat neglected, though, as the troops usually just walked through the streets.

With the news that there would be a big parade and all, though, Adae's grin spread to a broad smile. "They'll be unable to walk very easily through the crowds," She said. "But they're also going to have some trouble with the tunnels. Since they're not in full repair, they would be slowed down."

"If we were to be on the other side of this parade route, toward the castle," Dag said, leaving the rest of his sentance unspoken. It was going to work. They would get in.

Then what?

They had two weeks to formulate the rest of their plan, get any supplies they needed, and figure out exactly what to do once they were inside the castle.

Van watched the tapestry the next morning, leisurely decoding a key word and adding some complexity to the enchantment. He touched it with his long, strong fingers, and said, "Kerem mutasson nekem hitsuyo hen egy."

To his surprise, what he asked for took a moment for the magic to detect. He felt it reach out to him, first, then sweep out of the castle. Where did it go? What was it looking for? Van was just as curious about this request and how it would be implimented, as much as the results of the search.

He'd asked it to show him his great need. Something that he needed. He wasn't even sure what it was he would see. When the tapestry went into motion, the fine weave of silken threads mixing into new colors and patterns as though they were alive, they formed several odd pictures.

One was a strange looking creature, as a dragon of legend. They had been all but wiped out on this world for millennia, though it was said that dragons still roamed in distant uninhabited lands. Why would he need a dragon?

The other thing, most prominent on the tapestry, was a young woman's face. She was lovely, with a heart shaped face and a strong nose, brilliant yellow hair in a braid that fell to her waist. She looked strong, healthy, lithe. She ... Was with three men, men that Van recognized from the edge of the tapestry the night before. She was to come for the tapestry?

And he needed her. That could mean several things, but any of them immediately made a lump form in his throat. The last thing he needed was a woman like her. The very last thing. He didn't want to hurt her like he'd hurt every one else.

His wounded eyes turned away, face more sad than angry at the results of a foolish request.

"Kodulni tomeru." He said, and the tapestry faded to its neutral colors.

She would come here, he knew that. She would come into his life whether he wanted her to or not. And he would fall in love with her.

And she would probably die a horrible death. Was that what the dragon meant? Was there to be a dragon involved in this?

It was messy, this strange enchantment had confused him and that was never good.

Van went to the balcony and looked at his city to try and clear his head. The breeze was warm, it would be a warm summer, and the spring had just barely left the land with a coating of bright flowers.

All he could think of was whether she liked flowers and what sort of smell she would bring with her.

With a sack full of cloth and tailoring equipment, Adae was ready to work on their 'costumes'. They would need to blend in, at least for a while, and if merchants they were playing then merchants they would be. If the clothing was inexpert in design, it was hardly less than masterful in execution. The seams were sound, there was talent in her hands.

Dag commented to her that she could have had a reputable career as a seamstress. Adae told him that was how she got into thievery in the first place, by sewing clothing for the local guild. She continued to work and he hummed as he always did.

Oraldo and Bendek worked out more of their plans. Posing as merchants gave them a wide range of people to talk to in the city. They could speak with city planners, builders, workers, other merchants, and finally they were bold enough to actually approach the city guard.

"I get the feeling that this is a good location," Bendek said, as he waved his arm at one building. It was uninhabited, apparently the result of a family feud that left the place on neither side of the family's good list. "But it's a bit cramped in the back. Where would we bring carts with supplies?"

The guard was meant to over hear this, and he did so dutifully. "If I may sirs," the young guard said, "there is a gate on the north side. It isn't used right now."

"You know a bit about the place then?" Asked Oraldo.

"I do sir, it's been almost a year since anyone's been in it, it used to be a wood crafts shop. What is it that you'd be bringing in?" He suddenly realized how presumptive that had been and straightened up, "if you choose to buy the property of course."

"Of course," Oraldo said, and turned to his short friend.

"We've got cloth interests, tailoring, dress making. And it has a nice flat at the top, doesn't it?" Bendek tried to sway the conversation. It worked.

For the next hour or so, the pair discussed the way that the street was laid out, how easy it would be to transport things if the tree overgrowth on the north side was removed. In fact, if the tree was removed entirely there would be a good line directly to the castle.

"Or from the castle, eh?" Oraldo said with a consipiratorial grin, and the guard chuckled nervously.

"Well, yes," he said. "Our king is known to stare."

Whatever that meant, it probably went over the men's heads. It was a local thing. They should have taken it literally.

The King was pacing, chewing on a piece of roast and clearly going over something in his head, when one of the castle attendants came to his chamber. "Sire? More news from the innkeeper," the man said.

Van nodded, waved his hand for the man to come in, but he didn't stop pacing around. He reminded the attendant of one of the steeds below - pawing at the ground, impatient for something, and unable to reach it.

"They've paid for another month in the inn," the man said. "And he said that they've had three couriers all from Nelband, my source said that they were given a reasonable amount of gold. Enough to fund whatever they are doing."

Mad Van nodded, still not looking toward the attendant. "Go on, is there anything else?"

"No, sire. But the men have been seen through the city. They seem to be doing a good job of blending in. Our spy had a hard time finding them yesterday."

"Then leave them to me, now. Call the spy off, and pay the innkeeper. I'll take it from here."

Wordlessly, the attendant bowed and exited the room. There was never any question that he'd do what the King had asked him. Every once in a while someone would raise an eyebrow, try and argue some other course of action. At dinners - when there were people to visit - sometimes one of them would pipe up about guarding this or that and why didn't they have archers, and what was this nonsense about magic? No one did magic any more.

Well here they didn't because Mad King Van didn't want them to. He knew that the mage in the little party had tried to use a scrye spell already, which failed.

But the questions that would be asked of Mad King Van when he was entertaining? One time, not too long ago, a little under forty years back, he'd killed and eaten someone who questioned his reasoning behind some course of action. That pretty much shut everyone else up who had any dissent.

It also cleared Van's entertainment schedule for the next decade right out.

Sometimes he felt like working on that. But then most of the time, he realized that no matter what he did, he was not going to be happy. He would have to settle for powerful.

And he was.

A week later, the group had bought the property and settled in there. The inn was no longer needed. Of course they had to field the endless questions by locals - when are you going to be open? Can we start comissioning pieces now? What about for the kids? Do you do children's sizes? Can you import that colorful cloth from the west?

Adae had to keep a civil tongue in her mouth. It was hard. She was a good tailor, she wasn't that hot at anything fancy. She also wasn't that hot at interacting with people who had money. She was apt to want to slit their throat and take that money.

They had to invent some story about her being a bit addled from a fever, anything to keep people from pestering them.

At night, though, as the city went more quiet and dark, Adae sat in the tree that blocked their gate. She could in fact see right up into the castle's main ... well, whatever it was, it was a large well lit chamber. The building they bought was perhaps a quarter mile from the courtyard to the castle.

The castle itself was oddly built both on and in the stone of the great cliff that towered over the city. The place had been built in the lee of this grand half-hill, there was a river that swept through the place from west to east. On the east side of the city, were large fields and many farms. Their goods went both into the town and further east, to other smaller townships and finally off to other countries. This country was small, but vital to trade, it had to be dealt with by many who wished to move their goods farther west. Into the hills on the west, mining communities and abrupt difficult to traverse rivers led to a prosperous set of countries, one of which was Nelband.

Their little group had actually come from several other towns and countries. Put together over the course of four years, they had disovered that it was easier to get through goblin territory with a good fighter at your back, but a thief could swiftly carry you through a dense city. Oraldo was the one who suggested they travel together. At first, there was another fighter - a female half-ogre with a heart of gold and a taste for more spice than any human tongue could handle. She had died in a major battle the fall before this, and was replaced with-

"Dag, could you get the spy glass for me?" Adae said, into the window. He simply passed it out with a confident hand, whatever they were doing in there was taking more concentration than he wanted to spare her. Adae placed herself in the crook of three branches, and leaned back. She could get a better view if she just...

Adjusting the focus on the spy glass, she wasn't sure what she'd be seeing.

She wasn't expecting this.

"What in the world..." She breathed. Was he just standing there posing or what? How queer was that?

But she didn't put the glass down. Instead, she watched as Mad King Van moved up and down the carpeted main hall, muttering to himself. She wanted to know what he was saying, but either it was in another language, or he was just making up words - she could read lips fairly well even at this distance with a spy glass.

He was incanting something, but she didn't know that. Adae wasn't sure what to think now. She knew that they called him Mad King Van, but she wasn't up until that point positive of why. Not a native, of course, how could she know?

He was Mad, he was their King, and his name was Van. Why not?