Edward groaned. “Can Alec and I switch? I’d really rather stay here and protect the king.”
“No. I can’t leave my second-in-command behind for such an important mission. You’ll have to suck it up and deal with flying.”
Damien conjured a chariot. “I promise to go as fast as I can so you won’t be in the air an instant longer than necessary.”
The prospect of flying really fast didn’t seem to cheer Edward at all. There was just no satisfying some people.
They all climbed aboard and Damien took off. Hopefully they’d arrive in time. He’d lost often enough to the duke and his minions. It was time to win one.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Jen allowed herself half a minute to enjoy the rush of speed and spray as Damien brought their transport in low and fast over the ocean. Since the Carmichael estate was supposed to be on the water he said an ocean approach would hopefully draw less attention than flying right over the city. Jen had her doubts given sorcerers’ ability to sense others’ soul force. Still, every tiny advantage they could get was helpful given the hundreds of Binder worshipers infesting Port Valcane.
“There it is,” Damien said.
Jen focused on the matter at hand. The mansion was built on a cliff and designed to look like a giant lighthouse. There was even a tower with a single glass room at the top. She shuddered to think how much that must have cost to build.
The chariot rattled and Damien shouted “Sorcerers! Brace yourselves!”
She crouched and scanned the sky. Three blue dots rained golden blasts down on them. Damien wove an erratic path that evaded most of the shots, and those that hit bounced off the invisible screen that protected them from the wind.
“I’ll hold these three off, you guys secure the duchess.” Damien let loose a blast of his own that scattered the enemy sorcerers.
Jen gave him a thumbs up. The chariot stopped twenty feet above the mansion grounds.
She leapt, strengthening her body as she fell. The impact sank her three inches into the soft grass, but Jen straightened, unharmed. The guys landed a few feet away, weapons drawn and ready.
“Edward, take Rhys and secure the ground floor. Talon and I will handle upstairs.”
They went to warlord speed and rushed to the front door. It was already open and beyond there were muddy footprints on the otherwise pristine white tile. Looked like they hadn’t arrived first.
Jen ran for the stairs, ignoring the fine decorations and focusing on listening for footsteps, heartbeats, or heavy breathing. Anything that would give her a moment’s warning.
Outside, explosions filled the air, reminding her that they didn’t have a lot of time to search. She didn’t know how many sorcerers the Binder cultists had among them, but every second gave them a chance to call for more reinforcements. Strong as he was, Jen doubted her brother could handle an entire company of sorcerers.
An especially powerful explosion shattered some windows downstairs. She turned to look, but Talon touched her arm. He pointed at the room ahead.
Jen studied it, but nothing drew her eye. Not that it mattered. If Talon caught something, then it was there.
They moved to stand on either side of the doorway. She nodded and Talon stepped back and kicked the door. It flew into the room and crashed into a dresser, smashing a mirror and falling to the floor.
They darted in, weapons leading. A blur of movement warned her a moment before a warlord in mail armor swung a heavy mace at her head.
Jen ducked and countered, her sword cracking across his armor.
A rapid series of clangs from her right indicated Talon had found an opponent of his own.
Her opponent’s backswing missed her nose by inches. She didn’t dare block for fear of shattering her sword.
She jackknifed out of the way of his next swipe and stepped in with a hard thrust.
The tip of her soul-forged blade pierced his armor and flesh, bursting out his back in a spray of blood and gore.
Jen spun in time to watch Talon finish off his opponent. Jen kicked the dead man over on his back. He was dressed in Carmichael’s livery. The son of a bitch was using his personal guards to assassinate his wife.
From deeper in the house came a high-pitched shriek.
“Did that sound like a noblewoman to you?” Talon asked.
“Yeah.”
They ran toward the scream. Three turns brought them to the base of the tower. A silver-haired matron cowered behind a man and a woman in blue uniforms who squared off against five others in the same colors. It was heartening to see at least a couple of the duke’s people knew right from wrong.
The female guard went down with a sword in her chest.
“I’ll get the duchess,” Jen said.
Talon glowered and sprinted into the melee. His swords moved like steel lightning bolts as they cut down Carmichael’s guards.
Jen appeared beside the duchess. She tried to flee, but Jen caught her wrist. “The king sent me to protect you. Are you able to move?”
“Yes, thank you.”
More guards appeared from deeper in the mansion. Jen counted six, two of which went to warlord speed.
“Talon, withdraw!” Jen kicked the door to the tower open and urged the duchess up with a gentle push.
Talon stopped beside her and they backed up the steps shoulder to shoulder. No one was getting past them.
Chapter Fifty-Four
The charred corpse of one of Damien’s opponents smoldered on the mansion lawn. Unfortunately, three more had arrived to take his place. None of the sorcerers warily circling him would have been marked as anything special at the Tower, but five of them was a pain and he didn’t dare unleash at full power for fear of damaging the mansion or the city beyond.
Nobody ever said being the strongest was easy.
“Isn’t that the truth.”
A blast rocked Damien a few feet to the right without penetrating his shield. He shifted and countered with an upward slash that sent a golden wave at the attacking sorcerer.
The woman avoided most of it, but her left leg caught the edge and was ripped off from the knee down. She screamed and plummeted to the earth.
One of the men dove to catch her and they flew off together. That was a bonus. Damien eyed the three nervous sorcerers facing him. Their hands clenched and relaxed as they tried to work up the nerve to do something.
Damien was content to let them think forever. As long as they weren’t trying to blast him or the mansion they could float out there until Jen found the duchess. After that he’d have to send them on their way. Assuming they didn’t come to their senses and flee on their own.
“I don’t suppose I can convince you guys to leave,” Damien said. “You can tell your master that you drove us off. We’ll be gone before anyone knows otherwise.”
Two them looked at each other, clearly intrigued by his offer. The third was equally clearly an idiot.
“We’ve got you outnumbered three to one,” the idiot said. “You should surrender to us.”
It would have been funny if he wasn’t serious. “You used to outnumber me six to one, but I dealt with half your force already. I know you’re only following orders, so I’m trying to be reasonable here. Most of you served the kingdom loyally before your patron got himself kicked out of Heaven, right? Consider this opportunity to escape a professional courtesy. Take it.”
Below him the glass room at the top of the tower shattered. He sensed Jen and Talon, along with a bunch of soul forces he didn’t recognize.
“Ahhh!” Rather than fleeing, the idiot dove at his sister.
Damien gave chase, catching him halfway to the tower.
The idiot turned just in time to lose his head to Lizzy’s impossibly sharp blade.
Damien continued on past the now falling corpse and landed behind Jen and next to a woman about sixty wearing a silk dress and gold necklace. Jen had found the duchess and she wasn’t hurt. Thank heaven. That was the first break they’d gotten in
far too long.
He sent lances of soul force streaking past Jen and into the enemy warriors, piercing them through the chest and head. A moment later the ruined tower was silent.
“Good timing, little brother,” Jen said. “It was tricky fighting while keeping the duchess behind us. Where are the sorcerers?”
“Gone or dead. What about the other half of your team?”
“They’re clearing the first floor. Talon, go get them. We’ll meet you on the front lawn.”
Talon vanished without a word.
“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Duchess Carmichael asked.
“I’d be delighted to,” Damien said. “As soon as we collect the rest of our companions and make good our escape. If you could bear with us until then, I’d be grateful.”
“Very well, young man. Since I seem to owe you all my life, a little patience is the least I can offer in return.”
A reasonable noble, how unique. Damien conjured a bubble around the three of them and flew down to the lawn in front of the main entrance. He concentrated on the mansion, but failed to get a solid fix on the others.
A moment later Talon, Edward, and Rhys smashed through the door, sending splinters flying. Four warlords of middling power appeared right on their tail.
With a thought Damien wrapped their cores in soul force, cutting off their access to their power and instantly slowing them to normal speed. A heartbeat later they lay in pieces.
“Come on, guys, we’re good to go,” Jen called.
They jogged over and Damien transformed the bubble into a chariot before taking off.
“About that explanation,” the duchess said.
“The short version is, the king sent us and your husband sent the dead guys,” Damien said.
“Bennett sent assassins after me?” Even obvious shock couldn’t put a tremor in her proper voice. “For heaven’s sake, why?”
“Because he’d rather be a murderer than a bigamist,” Jen said. “He plans to marry Princess Karrie as soon as you’re dead.”
She shook her head. “That can’t be right. He sent for Louis a few days ago. My son is marrying the princess, not Bennett.”
Damien caught his sister’s eye. Should they tell her or shouldn’t they?
“Maybe it would be best to let the king explain everything,” Jen said.
Not the bravest choice, but Damien let out a sigh of relief all the same. He doubted Uncle Andy would be pleased that they left the hardest part for him, but the king had more experience at this sort of thing than him or Jen.
Damien turned the chariot east and sped up. They may have won this battle, but the war was far from over.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Binder and four of his knights approached the port city of Sheng-Zen. The whole thing was clustered within half a mile of the water. A single tidal wave of even modest size would drown the entire city. Scores of ships of all sorts bobbed at the piers while tiny figures hurried back and forth unloading crates.
Ling had visited the city on a handful of occasions to trade and before he left explained that commerce was the true power in Sheng-Zen. Even more so than Lady Shiv, not that any of the merchants would dare tell her that. Her demands for tribute and protection money were treated like any other tax, just the price of doing business.
To Binder it sounded the people held little loyalty for Lady Shiv and would hold equally little loyalty to him. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about the whole population rising up to challenge his takeover. That was a good thing. Binder’s powers had a lot of uses, but suppressing an uprising without killing the people involved wasn’t one of them.
The largest structure in the city was a tall, stone building with a red tile roof. The lord’s fortress was the seat of government and Lady Shiv’s home when she visited port. If he was going to find her anywhere, it would be there.
Binder dove toward the fortress, his knights on either side. As he got closer, Binder saw figures lining the wall separating the fortress from Sheng-Zen proper. Bows came up and soul force gathered around outstretched hands.
They intended to resist, how unfortunate. Spinning chains appeared around Binder a moment ahead of the first arrow. It snapped on his barrier. Soon golden energy blasts joined the rain of arrows.
None of them slowed Binder’s descent in the least. He gestured and more chains appeared out of nowhere, impaling attackers through the chest and face, slicing and shredding flesh.
Whether brave or stupid, the assault didn’t slow the surviving defenders’ attacks at all. Binder’s knights got into the fight, conjuring soul force blades and falling on the soldiers without mercy.
Less than a minute after it began, the battle ended with Binder and his knights not showing a scratch. These weaklings couldn’t have been the ones that killed his knight.
He landed in the empty courtyard and glanced around at the gardens and ponds that resembled a crude imitation of those at the palace. No more defenders presented themselves for execution. Maybe they didn’t have any more. Binder hoped so. Senseless slaughter did nothing to advance his plans.
There were people inside, but none of them had great strength. “Let’s go.”
Binder marched to the main entrance and pushed the doors open. They were unlocked and swung smoothly on well-oiled hinges. A pair of servant girls just inside spotted them and hurried away. One of his knights took a step after them, but Binder stopped him with a thought. The staff weren’t his concern.
A long hall with a wide red carpet and lined with pillars led to another open door beyond which waited a large meeting hall. A single man sat at the head of a long table. The moment Binder entered he rose and walked towards the fallen angel.
Five paces away he dropped to the floor and touched his head to his hands. “Welcome to Shang-Zen. My name is Wan, caretaker for Lady Shiv. How may I be of service?”
Of all the possible greetings Binder had imagined, this didn’t even cross his mind, especially after what happened outside.
“Where is Lady Shiv?” Binder asked.
“Gone, I’m afraid. She left hours after your associate attempted to compel her to travel to the capital against her will.”
“I assume you don’t know where she was headed?”
Wan shook his head. “Lady Shiv isn’t in the habit of sharing her travel plans with me and even if she was, once she boards The Dire Consequences, she can sail anywhere she wishes.”
There was no lie in the man’s words. Fortunately for him. “If she’s not here and you obviously intend to cooperate with me, why the guards and pointless violence?”
“Lady Shiv has many spies in the city to assure that I carry out my orders. Should word reach her that I let you in without offering a proper defense, my life wouldn’t be worth a copper penny. There’s only us here now which allows for a bit more candor.”
This man could have been Qang’s cousin. He had all the spine of a jellyfish. “You won’t need to worry about Lady Shiv’s revenge once I’m finished with her.”
Wan bowed again. “I appreciate that, sir, truly I do, but I’ve seen Lady Shiv escape death more times than I care to remember. It’s not that I doubt you, certainly it’s not, but until she’s been dealt with I prefer to hedge my bets if you take my meaning.”
Binder understood perfectly. He was too big a coward to act until the results were a sure thing. “Can you tell me anything useful?”
“Her last known heading was northeast. If Lady Shiv wanted to hole up somewhere, my guess is she’d sail for her Obsidian Fortress. It’s built on a desolate island fifty miles out to sea. There’s no cover, nowhere to hide, and no way to approach without being seen from miles away. Please understand that’s just a guess. I may be totally mistaken.”
“Fair enough. It’s a place to start at least.”
Chapter Fifty-Six
Damien conjured a cushion of soul force an instant before Duchess Carmichael fainted. Considering Uncle Andy had just told her that he
r husband the duke had ordered her son killed, her reaction wasn’t wholly unexpected. It was inconvenient since they had much to discuss.
The rescue team had returned to the inn without a problem. Damien had plotted a roundabout route and checked their back trail multiple times to be sure they didn’t lead anyone to Uncle Andy. He and Jen had led the duchess upstairs where she had a surprisingly warm reunion with the king before he dropped the hammer on her.
He looked at his master. “Want me to wake her up?”
The archmage shook her head. “Better let me handle it. You don’t have the gentlest touch.”
Damien tapped his chest. “Who, me?”
“Yes, you. Now be quiet so I can concentrate.” A thin trickle of soul force leaked from the archmage’s fingers and swirled into the duchess’s head.
Damien moved over beside Uncle Andy and Jen. “Is she in a worse mood than usual?”
“It’s all the plotting,” Uncle Andy said. “I can’t get her away from those damned lists for more than an hour at a time. I can hardly sleep myself, but compared to Lidia I’m well rested.”
“I can still hear you,” the archmage said.
The duchess groaned, cutting off their banter. She slowly sat up, rubbing her head. “Louis.”
“I’m so sorry, Caroline,” Uncle Andy said.
She half groaned, half sobbed. “For a moment I hoped it was all a dream.”
Damien didn’t blame her for thinking that. Sometimes everything that had happened since he met Jen in the courtyard to witness her killer new move had been one long nightmare.
The duchess’s expression hardened. “If it’s the last thing I do I’ll see Bennett hang for this. How can I help?”
“How much do you know about your husband’s plans?” the archmage asked.
“Not much I’m afraid. I play along with his silly cult business, but the truth is I seldom pay attention to what they’re talking about. Usually it’s business or politics, both of which bore me to tears. A week or ten days ago something happened.”
On Blackened Wings Page 20