As a fortnight passed, Quinn and Henri began training daily at the Guild Hall, and Henri continued to compose verse in honor of the fair lieutenant. He also consulted with a cobbler concerning the construction of shoes with firmer instep and tighter lacing to enable Consuelo Basquez to walk with greater facility. Word arrived, along with a crate of books, from Noble Bernard's that Journal d' un Traître had already gone through several printings, and was quite popular now both in San Cristobal and in Vaticine City. There were plans for shipment to Barcino soon, as well. Finally, the message came that the Heroes should visit the livery stables to inspect new horses that had arrived in Tarago.
Shown to Don Octavio's office, they learned that their contact was ready in Pasiega, and that they could leave immediately to rendezvous with him at the inn El Caballo del Mar. Their contact, Thomas du Paix, would have papers, uniforms, and such information as they would need for the remainder of the mission into Barcino. He would take the current alcalde's place there, and the Heroes would transport the man he would replace back to Tarago for questioning. They said their farewells, and Henri offered to Don Octavio the crate of books in his rooms for the Don's use, at his discretion.
As the carriage got underway for Pasiega, the passengers discovered many new features. A second compartment now opened, matching the first money cache that had originally been found. Also, one of the seats could now be lifted, revealing a compartment perhaps large enough for a rather uncomfortable man, with a minimum of ventilation from outside. The upholstery was quite nice, as was the stitched cloth above the passengers heads-- which turned out to conceal several slim throwing knives should need arise.
At that evening's camp, Henri felt the tickle of an item being Handed Off to him. Tearing a hole, he withdrew a letter from his older brother Reynard. While Reynard had met with several glaziers, all had agreed that Vaticine City had the best. Further, a much clearer description, and ideally a painting, of the eye to be matched would be required. Anything less would leave the wearer of the glass eye looking quite inelegant and asymmetrical. With a sigh, Henri wrote and returned his thanks.
The next day saw the Heroes in Pasiega, and soon in rooms. This town was considerably quieter than Tarago, and considerably less merry. No musicians, few people celebrating, a table or two of soldiers and a few more of sailors was all the company the inn could boast. Wine was even less up to standards, as only Castillian was available, and that of but middling quality. The rest watched with some interest and no little amusement as Henri sampled a glass and composed his features.
"This wine," he deadpanned, "is a credit to your town... "
As he had been doing for the past few weeks, Cecil continued practicing the Montaigne phrases with which Henri had been schooling him, and Asgard ran a disappointed eye over the company of the main room. At his third, and mostly acceptable recital of "I would not feed this to a dog," Cecil looked up to find a soldier eyeing him blearily.
"My frien' over there says you look like a damned Montaigne."
Cecil shrugged.
"You callin' my frien' a liar or somethin'?"
The sailors began whispering to one another and snickering. Chairs began to be pushed back slightly, and soon fists were flying. Cecil was giving back as good as he was getting, as the rest of the soldiers ran to join their comrade. Henri stood, drawing his sword to dissuade them from interfering. Quinn vaulted from tabletop, over the heads of two soldiers, crashing down onto a third. One of the ruffians charged up, knocking the table over onto the floor, and sending the remains of the meal and drinks onto Asgard's clothes. With an angry cry, she pulled her great blade, twisted it a quarter turn, then leapt over the table and brought the flat of her blade squarely down on the head of the unfortunate fool who'd soiled her. He crumpled as Henri slashed the air in front of his opponent's swinging fists.
Quinn continued to pummel his foe then drove the fellow to absolute distraction by turning his back on him, and downing the man's drink before his eyes. Swinging wildly, the fellow simply could not connect. Meanwhile, more soldiers went down in a heap, and the remaining combatants began to think of retreat.
Henri caught his opponent's eye.
"Before you run off, I believe you owe the lady an apology."
Mumbles of "I'm sorry," together with abortive attempts to buy the lady a drink in compensation, saw the soldiers exiting to the laughter of the sailors. Wagers were settled, and money changed hands. As the Heroes decided to retire for the night, Asgard found a single red rose on her pillow, with a note.
I see your reputations are well deserved. We shall meet in the morning to discuss plans. Thomas.
At breakfast, a well-dressed Castillian greeted the Heroes, who joined him in the meal. He insisted they leave within the hour, and rather boldly ordered them to have their gear ready to go. Henri found Luis already readying the coach, and the group was soon underway. Thomas du Paix had supervised the loading of his trunk with minute instructions and not a little arrogance, and this trait was borne out in the conversation that followed as they traveled. The route would take them by ferry across the river then north along the road through Caballos Nuevos del Ramos, then on into Barcino.
At the ferry, the first cart to leave hung its wheels up briefly on the ramp, requiring several careful maneuvers to debark safely. As it pitched forward for the first time, Quinn overheard a grumbled merde from its blond driver. Reporting this to Henri, the Montaigne stepped to the edge of the barge to see what the delay was. Shaking his head in disgust, he muttered under his breath in his own native tongue.
"Clumsy Montaigne peasant... "
Quinn saw the fellow stiffen and look around him with concern, then drive on. As the Heroes re-entered their carriage and made their way north, they pondered the meaning of this ominous visitor silently. Stopping the carriage for lunch, Thomas announced that they would be changing clothes for the journey now, taking up the robes of Vaticine priests. As Asgard exploded with laughter, Thomas looked at them with dismay and contempt, for it became rapidly clear that none of the Heroes were familiar enough with the Vaticine church in Castille to attempt the impersonation with much conviction. Nevertheless, the clothes were donned, and Thomas began to proclaim the remaining orders to an increasingly nettled group.
"We'll travel undercover in this clothing as far as Caballos Nuevos. There, we'll put on Montaigne uniforms, and continue so to Barcino. Then, as we near Barcino, we'll have to start looking more... Montaigne... "
Henri, losing patience with the man, prodded.
"What? As in, we'll buy decent clothes and you'll actually wash that hair of yours?"
Thomas demanded to know exactly what Henri meant to imply. Henri countered that he had meant no more insult than Thomas had. Thomas chose to proclaim ignorance of what Henri could possibly mean, and the matter was dropped for the time being.
The carriage of clergy spent several days travelling, sighting the blond driver again in Caballos Nuevos. Henri noted the cart, hoping that the man did not penetrate their disguises, for if so he would have to help the man along the way to Paradise. Fortunately, the red robes of the priests had rendered them all but invisible, and he did not recognize the Heroes. Thomas ordered the cart searched, and late that night Cecil eventually turned up a small compartment under the driver's seat. Removing a small pouch of gold and a small message, he puzzled over a series of seemingly random letters. Handing it to Quinn, he heard the Knight pronounce it a cipher of his Order.
"The Artifact is to be delivered to Don Luis in Tarago," he read, and cocked an eyebrow.
The pouch was replaced, and Quinn joined the driver for breakfast in the morning. The blond man was a driver from Buché, across the river from Barcino, on an errand for the Vilskap Company, a Vendel Trading concern. He complained about the long trips and niggling contracts, to which the Vendel held him, but seemed harmless enough. Father Joaquin blessed the man, said his farewell, and the Heroes continued north. They puzzled a bit over the news of the night, deciding that he likely knew nothing of his cargo, and would be transporting the item back from either Barcino or Buché, and that Don Luis' business was not theirs. A Syrneth artifact appeared to be involved, but this would no doubt be a weapon for use in the defense of Tarago and Castille, and thus no cause for concern.
The uniforms were passed around that afternoon, and new papers issued. Cecil became Jules Le Beau; Asgard, Victoire La Belle; Quinn, Denis Leveque; and Henri chose the family of his former thorn, becoming Martin Riche du Paroisse. Thomas kept his own name, anonymous and unremarkable as that was. The clothes were poorly fitted, and even with Henri's assistance the group was quite lackluster. Only Asgard, with appropriate assistance, showed off her new clothing to any advantage. Henri mused that it would be hard for her not to shine in whatever apparel she chose, and looked forward with increased longing to reaching a real tailor and the acquisition of a wardrobe of quality once more, and with that thought uppermost in his mind, he rejoiced to see the lights of Barcino in the distance.