Jester Leaps In: A Medieval Mystery Read Online Free Page A

chagrin when he finds out those weren’t the real letters. I never did trust that girl.”
    “Where did you leave them?”
    “Celia’s is under her pillow. Mark’s is on his chessboard. He’ll have it before Perun gets back.”
    “How do you think he’ll react?”
    “He loved his father, but he loves you, too. I think he’ll like the idea, even though he won’t be able to admit it officially. And by the time we get back, he’ll no longer have a regent telling him what he can and cannot do.”
    We forded the stream that marked the southern boundary of Orsino’s domains.
    “Which way now?” she asked.
    “We’ll follow the coast to Durazzo, then cross along the Via Egnatia to Thessaloniki.”
    “Why not just cut west over the mountains? Wouldn’t that be quicker?”
    “Not necessarily, and certainly more dangerous. There’s all manner of bandits and rogue soldiers up in the mountains. If we stick to the main road, we’ll be able to go from town to town in daylight, and spend the night under a roof. With luck, we may fall in with a group making a pilgrimage.”
    She looked up through the canopy of leaves at the blue skyand breathed deeply. “I don’t need a roof, you know. I’m a fool’s apprentice. I practiced last night.”
    “How?”
    “I slept on the cold, hard floor.”
    “Completely incorrect, Apprentice. A fool never turns down the chance at a bed when one’s available. There will be all too many opportunities to sleep on the ground.”
    The first arose that night, as it turned out. The road down the coast was relatively deserted, so we found a comfortable spot in a stand of pine, hobbled the horses, and ate. We didn’t bother making a fire. The food we had was fresh from the town, but we had laid in enough dried meat and biscuit to tide us over should we find ourselves far from taverns and hostels.
    We spread out our bedrolls and settled down as the moon came up. Viola nestled into me. The nestling gave way to snuggling, which in turn led to an actual worrying. Finally, gasping, I gave in.
    “But please, I beg of you,” I panted. “Take off the damn beard.”
     
    Reality set in the next morning in the form of a rainstorm, but it failed to dampen our spirits in the least. I can’t say that the horses shared our happiness. Maybe we should have hobbled them closer together, but I took no responsibility for Zeus’s love life.
    It was a new sensation, this feeling of contentment. A jester’s life tends toward melancholy abetted by drunkenness, and I had been a prime example in my time. Yet here I traveled with a loving companion in the middle of spring, singing as we rode, and I could think of nothing in the world that I’d rather be doing, including the events of the previous night.
    The singing was by way of instruction, of course. While you can’t practice juggling on a horse—well, actually, I can, but nevertheless—itwas ideal for teaching her songs and dialogues, switching languages at a moment’s notice. Viola dropped her singing voice down to the low end of its range. I thought in a pinch that we could pass her off as a castrato, although the beard might present problems.
    When we came to any decent-sized town, we set up in the market, and I entertained while she watched the horses and passed the hat. A short routine without tumbling, as I was still working my leg back into shape. After a few such performances, she picked up my lute and started accompanying me. I added improvisational composition to my growing list of her skills.
    “You don’t seem to be in a particular rush to reach our destination,” she observed after lunch one day as we practiced some four-handed juggling.
    “There’s no great urgency,” I replied. “Whatever happened to my colleagues happened six months before the Guild decided to send me. It will be eight months by the time we get there. I’m going there to find out what happened, not to save anybody in the nick of time.”
    She looked at me