Rexi and Talon

By Onyx Tao

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20. Rexi

The halfling broke the wax seal on the envelope he'd found by his bed. That had disturbed him; Rexi's nephew Hillard was supposed to be watching over the sleeping chambers, and his niece Sassy was supposed to be watching the half-orc. Discretely, of course. According to Hillard, nobody had gone into or out of Rexi's room, and the bar on the door was fastened, just the way Rexi had left it when he'd gone to sleep. According to Sassy, Zackton had spent the entire afternoon with his half-elf. Rexi had been a little afraid for Talon at first, but ... it was clear now that Zackton didn't plan to hurt him physically. Rexi still wasn't sure about mentally; the half-elf was young for all that he was thirty-plus years old, and the half-orc ... seemed determined to ... do ... something to him. Well. If Zackton wanted to get laid, better Talon than any of Rexi's family.

Zackton was nearly seven feet tall, well over two-hundred pounds, and green. Somehow, he'd gotten past Sassy, into the slip quarters - which were sized for halflings; the ceilings were a mere five feet high! - and then past Hillard as well, to leave the envelope by his bed. And Rexi was a light sleeper, too.

A very light sleeper.

My Dear Rexi:

Given the proof of your competence, feel free to delegate any of the house business you wish to capable hands. The priorities remain much the same. However, there is one task I wish you to assume at the highest of importance.

The run-down pavilion in the center of the thicket of roses (once the rose garden) was a consecrated shrine to the Lady of Art, and I do not know that it was ever _de_consecrated. I have contacted the Temple, and requested they send out a priestess to determine what, if anything, will be required to resume its function. This shrine must again be dedicate to the Goddess, and the sooner, the better. Please understand that there is no task of higher importance.

First. The thicket must be tamed; the roses must be pruned, and the pavilion must again be easily accessed. See the Second and Fourth items, as well.

Second. I have seen the pavilion; there is some structural damage. Tiles are missing, the frescoies are cracked, and the mosaics are damaged. As the thirteen mosaics depict the thirteen varieties of rose originally planted in the rose garden, these heritage roses must be carefully conserved - if they all survive. See the Fourth item, as well.

Worst of all the statuary has vanished. The eight missing statues must be found and returned; I attach a written description of them. Do not bother looking through our art inventory; they are not present there. I now suspect they were stolen, given away, or sold - and it is here your connections will be of use. Hunt through the house books and archives for the sales receipts. Find them. Recover them by any legal method; if they cannot be recovered, let me know immediately and I will attempt that myself. The site cannot be reconsecrated without these statues; they must be found and retrieved so they can be cleaned and readied!

Third. The fountain must be cleaned, filled, and tuned.

Fourth. A garden party now seems like a simpler goal than opening the house for a general event. A priest with plant-magics might seem an extravagant expense, but the time saved will be well worth the investment, and may well hasten the taming and catalog of the surviving roses as well.

Given your previous accomplishments, I've no doubt I'll be astounded by your progress on these matters. Delegate where you think best to achieve progress, of course.

Zackton Silvercane

Rexi let his breath out very slowly. There was nothing here that really was all that dangerous, the references to the real business of his family oblique and invisible, to one unaware of them. In all, a perfectly safe letter. There was no need for it to appear in his bedroom like that ... No, that was another message. If you play with fire, you will burn. Until Rexi knew how Zackton had done it - and perhaps even after he knew how Zackton had done it - he wouldn't dare to move against the half-orc. It had seemed like a bad idea to start with, but now ... Except, Rexi thought, there was a third message. He rescanned the letter.

Yes. Delegate. Zackton had put that in twice, and he was certain it hadn't been accidental. Put all of those things together, and Zackton's real message was clear. I trust you because I can.

That wouldn't stop him from finding out just who this 'Zackton Silvercane' was, of course. Or stop him from figuring out how this damned letter got into his room in the first place. Maybe one of the hobgoblins?

And meanwhile, he'd need to look into some additional gardeners!