Kingdom

by Kyle West

  Nabea nodded. “Castle Tower. It’s the tallest one in the center. That’s where my family stays.”

  “Where should we land?”

  “There should be a field on the south side,” Nabea said. “There should be enough space, but only if you drop directly down from above. The streets are too narrow for you to approach directly.”

  “I understand.”

  I veered the ship upward, edging closer to the towers. A good third of the city was either on fire or belching black smoke into the air. We passed through a thick, dark cloud, and by the time we emerged, we were very close to the first tower.

  I readjusted the thrusters to climb in altitude until we were above the highest one—or Castle Tower, as Nabea had called it. I edged forward until I was in the middle of all the towers. I changed the display screen to show the landing camera, adjusted Odin until I was directly above the field below. I could see people far below, running this way and that. I had to trust they were smart enough to clear out before I landed.

  I eased up on the thrust until Odin was lowering. As I thought, people began to clear the space below. Hopefully, the sight of the spaceship wouldn’t send them into a renewed panic.

  “They’ll need to see you first, Nabea, so they don’t think we’re attacking them.”

  “I’ll be first off the ship,” he said. “You’ll need me to get into the tower.”

  Within the minute, we had landed lightly on the green turf. I unstrapped myself, everyone following me out of the flight deck and into the wardroom.

  Once everyone was gathered, I made my address.

  “We’ve landed in Atlantea. You haven’t seen the devastation, but trust me, it’s bad. We’re going out there to check on Nabea’s family and see what we can do to help. We’re also here for information. Then, it’s onto tracking down the swarm.”

  “Who’s staying and who’s going?” Ret asked.

  “Everyone is going,” I said. “Except Pallos and Mia. They stay behind to guard the ship. We need to be careful out there. The dragons may be gone, but there may still be enemies around.”

  Nabea was impatient to be off, his feet pointed right at the door.

  “Let’s move,” I said.

  He headed for the blast door first and pressed the exit button. The door slid open, revealing what appeared to be a garden or courtyard filled with trees.

  The air outside was warm and humid and filled with the smell of smoke. Cinders floated on the wind. There were no fires visible, but I could smell them. We were surrounded by the tall Old World buildings, effectively blocking our view of the rest of the city. People in fine, flowing garments were running and screaming, while others were packing carts attached to horses and mules to flee the chaos. There were other, more shabbily dressed people running in and out of the buildings, bearing more items. There seemed to be as much looting going on in the panic as there were people trying to escape. There were no guards or soldiers to keep the peace, even here.

  It wasn’t a good sign.

  But Nabea was blind to it all. He ran in the direction of Castle Tower, the only building which had a guard posted out front.

  “Protect the Prince!” I ordered.

  All of us ran after him, flanking him to make sure he didn’t come to harm.

  When we reached the steps of the building, Nabea approached one of the guards. “Stand aside for your prince.”

  It took a moment for the guard to recognize who he was speaking to, and he was a bit slower in obeying than I would have liked.

  “Of course, Prince Nabea. Your parents are within.”

  “All of you, come on,” he said to us.

  We filed past the guards and entered the vast, open lobby of the building. Two grand staircases curved from the bottom marble floor up into a second, where another wide staircase led to a third. Not since the Cloud Palace of my vision had I seen such opulence. The place was kept lit by gargantuan hanging chandeliers and blazing sconces set along the walls.

  “Does all of your family live here?” Samal asked. “You must have a hundred brothers and sisters to fill this place up.”

  “It’s for all retainers, the court, administrators, and personal guards,” Nabea said. “There is reason Atlantea is called the Southern Jewel. After tonight, perhaps no longer.”

  “Where will your parents be?” I asked.

  “Perhaps the throne room.”

  Nabea ran toward the right-hand staircase. We followed him up to the top where there were a pair of finely carved wooden doors thrown wide open, revealing a grand hall almost as large as the lobby itself.

  When we entered the vast space, the throne across the room stood high on the dais, empty. Compared to the chaos outside, it was dead quiet in here. We walked forward, Nabea pausing in the middle of the cavernous area.

  “Mother? Mother, are you here?”

  “She isn’t here, child. Is there something I can help you with?”

  Stepping from the shadows behind the throne stood a robed man. The dim light failed to illumine his features, but something about his manner made me reach for my sword.

  “Kachar?” Nabea stepped forward. “Where is my queen mother?”

  Something about the man didn’t strike me right, even if Nabea seemed to know him. Judging from Tellor’s stiffness, he felt the same way.

  “She is gone.”

  “Gone? Gone where? Speak!”

  The man smiled as I stepped forward with a hand on the hilt of my blade. “Answer his question, Kachar. Your prince gave you a command.”

  The man sniffed. “Such insolence. Don’t you see that it is done, dear Prince? Atlantea has fallen. You are too late.”

  The man sounded almost gleeful about it.

  Nabea was quiet for a long while, his face darkening. “What do you know about this? What have you done with my parents?”

  The old man cackled. “Now!”

  It was a signal. The doors in the back of the throne room slammed open, men armed with pikes and long-barreled guns marched inside. All of us at once raised our weapons, surrounding the prince. But the men just kept coming out, until about thirty of them surrounding us.

  “What is this?” Nabea asked. “You betrayed the kingdom. Kachar . . . why?”

  “Long have I seen this kingdom suffer from your parents’ foolishness. The city and all it controls are now mine. Any loyal to your father have long fled the city.” Kachar cackled again. “Things have changed. That this city wasn’t abjectly destroyed is a mercy, something only I was able to stop. Your parents refused to submit to Lord Isaru, and this was the price. Had they but sense, Atlantea would have been completely free of the dragons’ wrath. But a lesson had to be taught.”

  “You will pay, Kachar,” Nabea said. “You may think you have the upper hand here with all these guards, but we have been Sanctum-trained.”

  “Yes,” Kachar said, eyeing Isandru most of all. “I see you there, Elder Prophet. Do not think I have missed you.”

  “Set aside this nonsense, Prophet Kachar. It is not the place of a Seeker to rule a kingdom.”

  My eyes widened at that. Prophet Kachar? “You know each other?”

  Kachar turned to me. “Yes, girl. I was once Elder Isandru’s pupil.” His eyes went to Elder Tellor. “Hail, Tellor. By your robes, I see you have been raised to Elder Champion. Allow me to offer my belated congratulations.”

  “I see you have been busy with your stewardship of the Atlantean kingdom,” Tellor said.

  Kachar chuckled. “You would not be wrong in that.”

  “And you would be a fool to attack us,” the Elder Champion said. “Though your men outnumber us, a few of us would survive to cut you down.”

  “But I am not your objective, Elder Tellor,” Kachar said. “I know Lord Isaru is the one you’re after.” His eyes went to me. “Ah. Shanti, is it? I have heard much about you.”

  I decided to take the bait. “Anything interesting?”

  “Yes. That you are a false prophetess pr
oclaiming yourself Annara Reborn. Though last I heard, the Covenant dogs have yet to be driven from the Holy City, as predicted by your prophecy.”

  “All things in their due time, Kachar. You’re the only dog I want to drive from any city for now.”

  Kachar’s eyes widened, not at the provocation, but at what I had suggested. “So, you are proclaiming yourself as Annara?” He chuckled. “Lord Isaru told me to expect such trickery.”

  “Why would you believe him over me? Just because he gives you the city?” I stared hard at him. “You’re wrong, you know.”

  “I have my own reasons, false prophet,” Kachar said. “I have seen visions of Earth’s destruction at the hands of the Radaskim. They have made a bargain for anyone willing to listen and help them. A place has been guaranteed for me within their Xenofold if I help them in stopping you or anyone who seeks to challenge Lord Isaru’s authority.”

  “You’re a coward, then,” I said. I looked at the guards enforcing Kachar’s authority. “And so are all of you!”

  “The situation is far more complicated than that, girl. The father of your noble prince here is a tyrant. People are long fed up with his rule and wish to join someone who can provide for them. If we join Lord Isaru, it guarantees the city’s prosperity. It guarantees the former eminence that Atlantea enjoyed in days long past.”

  “The city burning is your definition of that?” Nabea called out. “There’s only more of that to come, and worse, if you listen to this madman! Take your weapons and point them at Kachar, the traitor, and whatever he’s promised you, I promise double, along with clemency for your crimes!”

  Some of the men shifted their feet at that.

  “Perhaps you were forced into it,” Nabea went on. “Perhaps your commanders were bought off and you’re just following orders. Perhaps you were wishing there was another way.” Nabea looked around the room at them all. “Do what I ask, and you will be well-rewarded.”

  “They will earn their reward with me, Prince,” Kachar said. “Last I checked, I control the royal treasury, not you.” The prophet glowered. “Enough talk. It’s time to end this!”

  Despite his words, no man made a move.

  “We do not want to fight,” I said. “But many will die here today if it comes to blows. However, killing Kachar means only one man has to die.”

  “Wrong,” Kachar said. He lifted a long gun, which had previously been hidden in the shadow of the throne. He pointed its end right at me.

  “Do you think I would have allowed you to come in here if I didn’t think I could win this exchange?” Kachar cackled again. “My officers are similarly armed, and one step will see you all blown to the ground.”

  “Kachar,” Isandru said, “you are as likely to kill your own men with those weapons. Why do you think the Seekers still prefer to use swords?”

  “You’re wrong,” Kachar said, “and it shows how backward your antiquated society is. Great advancements have been made in the last five years alone with firearms. I guarantee so long as they are pointed in the right direction, the rounds will find their marks.”

  “Last chance, Kachar,” I said. “Lay down your weapons or be destroyed.”

  Despite these words, Kachar was not willing to make the first move. I could sense that he wanted to avoid bloodshed, if possible.

  “I’ll give you one chance,” Kachar said to break the silence. “You can leave, but the prince must remain.”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “I will stay.” Nabea lowered his sword, turning to me.

  “No,” I said.

  Nabea spoke loud enough for only us to hear. “He has us surrounded, Shanti. I couldn’t have known this would happen; he led us right into his trap. If we fight, all of us will die.” Then, more quietly, “If you die . . . then there is no hope for any of us.”

  “I’m not letting you stay,” I said.

  Deep down, though, I knew Nabea was right. But I couldn’t just let him stay here, either as a hostage or to be executed. As someone who had almost faced a similar fate . . . I just couldn’t.

  There had to be another way.

  If Kachar was a prophet, then he was also Elekai. If he was Elekai, perhaps I could do what I had done when Mithras’ had taken over the priests.

  But it had to be quick. And I couldn’t fail.

  “What will it be?” Kachar shouted. “You have three seconds to decide.”

  I wouldn’t even need three. I gripped Silence as quickly as I had ever done, allowing the Xenofold to fill me. I sought all the power I could hold, a dangerous torrent.

  And I directed its entirety toward Kachar’s mind, still unguarded, still unsuspecting.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  BY THE TIME I REACHED his mind, I felt his state of psychic shock. An internal scream ripped through my mind, a scream that was not mine, but his. I silenced it with the dark flood, inundating him with the Xenofold.

  I could see the world through his eyes, could see myself staring him down with glowing, white eyes. His consciousness was sinking. I was getting smaller and smaller in his sight as the darkness swallowed him. I kept channeling the energy until there was not a drop left.

  The connection was broken once I had expended my strength. The dark tide ended, and the world and its light came rushing back. I opened my eyes and stumbled forward, hardly able to stand. I was supported on either side, and when I opened my eyes, I could see that Kachar was on the ground, either knocked out cold or dead.

  “Lay down your arms!” Nabea shouted, strutting forward. “He is dead! Kachar is dead. Anyone who lays down their weapons will be spared.”

  A few men in their shock hesitated, but some began laying down their weapons. People were looking at me in fear, as if I would kill them, too.

  “Any man who doesn’t, dies!” Nabea shouted.

  The stragglers laid down their arms at last. My crew was already gathering the dropped weapons, sliding them one by one toward the center of the throne room across the slick marble floor. The hall had broken out into murmurs, the guards pronouncing their apologies and making their excuses.

  My head swam. I couldn’t focus on anything. I only had the energy to draw breath.

  “Are you all right, Shanti?” Isa asked. “Can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” I managed. “Secure Kachar. Make sure he’s really a goner.”

  “Tellor is doing that already,” she said. “Just try to relax.”

  I looked to my left to see that it was Ret that had come to my other side. I nodded my thanks.

  As Isa said, Isandru and Tellor had personally seen to Kachar, dragging him by the hands toward the center. I didn’t think I had killed him. The part that was him was buried somewhere, and might soon become unburied. As soon as it did, the control we held over his guards might completely slip away.

  Nabea was talking to one of the guards, flanked by Samal, with Ret joining him now that I was standing on my own.

  “Nabea!” I called. “Can I have a moment?”

  Nabea excused himself and came running over, along with Samal and Ret.

  “What is it?” the prince asked.

  “He’s alive,” Tellor said. “I can sense the presence of his mind, however weak.”

  “Alive?” Nabea asked, looking at me. “I thought you . . .”

  “I just knocked him out good,” I said. “I’m not sure how deeply. He could wake up in a few minutes . . . or never.” I looked back down at Prophet Kachar. “We must decide what to do with him, and quickly before the guards start suspecting he’s alive.”

  “Let’s just end it now,” Nabea said. “Kill him.”

  “He might know things, though,” Shara said. “Things about Isaru, even the location of your parents.”

  “We could take him back to Odin,” Fiona said. “Lock him in one of the cabins.”

  “We’d have to devote manpower to security,” Tellor said. “In a bad situation, he might be able to take advantage. Normally, I would return him to the Sanctum
for judgment. But seeing what terms we have with the Sanctum, I say we pronounce our own judgment here. He is a traitor, and he would have killed us all. Certainly, he is in league with Rakhim Shal and the Radaskim. Unless we wish to keep him for information, I say Prince Nabea is right.”

  “It is within his rights as prince to decide,” Isandru said. “Letting him leave might project weakness. Killing him now would leave no doubt as to who is in charge.”

  “All that about my parents fleeing . . . that cannot be true. The guards out front themselves said my parents were here; even if they had tricked me into coming in here, they couldn’t have known I was coming to tell a lie. Besides, running is not something my father would have done. He would be out there fighting. Either he is here in the castle, or he is . . .” Nabea trailed off, not wanting to admit the alternative.

  Kachar’s eyes began to flutter and his eyes became half-lidded.

  “My parents,” Nabea said. “They’re here, aren’t they?”

  “You . . .” Kachar rasped, “will never find them . . . not unless I live.”

  “Enough tricks,” Nabea said stepping on Kachar’s throat. “You tell me where they are, now, or you get a very slow, very painful death.”

  Kachar sputtered. “I give . . . my soul . . . to Odium. Die, wretched Elekai. Die.”

  Nabea looked up at me before putting his full weight on Kachar’s exposed neck. There was a sickening crunch as he twisted his boot. When I looked down, Kachar’s face was a sickly gray.

  The men watching were now dead quiet and weaponless.

  When Kachar was dead, Nabea turned to face the traitorous guards. “You are relieved of your posts and your commands. Any man who can bring me news of my family will be given lighter treatment. But only one.”

  Almost instantly, there was a chorus. “Prince Nabea, please . . . they’re on the top floor . . . locked in their chambers . . . the Prophet wanted them to see the city burn . . .”

  It went on and on and on. Nabea nodded darkly, holding up a hand for silence. Instantly, there was quiet.

  “What am I to do with these men?” he asked.

  “Lock them up for now,” Tellor said. “Deal with them later. We can help you do that.”