“Please forgive us, Empress Evelyn.”
Chapter 11 - Aldrust
Sampson
“Goodnight,” I said and hung up.
I sat back and stared up at the black sky, lonelier than I’d been in a very long time. I used to could spend days without talking or feeling the need to be around other people, but now I was drowning without Eris by my side. A couple of days, and we’ll be back together. I can deal with things for a couple days.
Though I didn’t actually believe that.
I fingered my teeth, running my fingers over them for the hundredth time. Still can’t wrap my head around them. Fucking hell, Aspect!
It just laughed and sent a wave of cold dripping down my spine. I shivered and took another drink of whiskey, trying to banish its lingering whisper inside.
It was late, and I needed sleep, but Raven had already turned in after the episode with my teeth, and I wasn’t ready to share a tent with her just yet.
So I settled for drinking.
We’d reach Aldrust tomorrow, and I’d get a refill, so I polished off the rest of the flask in an hour, and when I was suitably drunk enough to stomach the thought of sleeping next to Raven, I turned in myself.
Raven was out like a light in the left corner of the tent. She curled over on her side and was wearing only a pair of black satin panties and nothing else. The pale of her back was to me, her toned muscles rising and falling with each breath. Her midnight hair covered her torso like a blanket. I put my back to her and climbed into my sleeping bag.
I bunched my pillow under my elbow and forced myself to sleep.
Rustling from beside me woke me what must’ve been only minutes after I’d fallen asleep, but daylight streamed through the seams in the tent, basking the small room in early twilight.
“Morning,” Raven called from beside me.
I rolled over to find her right next to me, sitting cross-legged, still naked from the waist up. Raven had light pink nipples surrounded by a perky, full bust that jostled as she roughly gathered up her hair with a tie stuck in her mouth.
I averted my gaze with a chuckle. “What’s with the women in my life and exhibitionism?”
“It’s more comfortable sleeping like this,” she said, deadpan, as she pulled the tie from her mouth and wrapped it around her mess of black hair.
“You and my wife would get along well,” I said, climbing to my feet. “Just get dressed and meet me outside.”
I left the tent and began packing our supplies. By the time I was done, Raven had dressed in her leather armor and was ready to go. I broke down the tent, and we set off as soon as it was done.
Raven shifted, and we took to the skies. Even on the second day, it was still exhilarating flying, and I loved it as we soared high above the desert.
We flew for a couple of hours and only slowed when the desert gave way to tufts of greenery and trees. The beating heat of the desert faded to lush grasslands for an hour or two until we reached the edge of Aldrust’s territory. A huge wall made of dirt and rock rose up thirty feet in a circle, covering the entirety of the territory of Aldrust. Though ninety percent was underground, there was a standing force on the surface to guard the wall and maintain a few small farms.
“That’s a big wall,” Raven said as we got close.
“Yeah, but keep away from it, unless you want to get shot down.”
“Good point.”
Though I couldn’t see them from this high up, I knew there were guards stationed around the wall, ready to engage with anything that threatened them.
Raven dipped low, and we landed about a mile away from the entrance to the city. She shifted back into her human form, and we started walking. I was grateful for the exercise. Sitting atop Raven for hours at a time wasn’t the most comfortable thing I’d ever done, and from the way she was walking, the same could be said of letting me fly on her.
“Let me do the talking when we get to the gate,” I said.
Raven turned and looked at me. Her blood-red eyes bored into mine, and she shook her head. “We’re a married couple coming to see an old friend. Magnus has already made all the arrangements.”
I sighed and tried very hard not to growl at her. It wasn’t her fault she was pissing me off.
“We could just eat her, her flesh looks tantalizing,” The Aspect whispered.
Oh, shut up.
“How about you just eat her, then, no biting involved? She has a fantastic body, and I bet she tastes delicious.”
You’re awfully chatty now that we’re away from Aliria.
“I’m thankful to be away from her. She’s terrifying.”
Well, I wish you’d go back to the silent treatment.
I ignored the snide laughter of the Aspect and kept walking.
“So why are you doing this?” Raven asked after about five minutes of silence.
“Doing what?”
“This, all of it,” Raven said, throwing her hands up. “You don’t seem like the following orders type.”
“Well, I’m not, but something big is going on, and I don’t really have a choice in the matter anymore. I’ve got to figure out what’s going on with the world and help stop it, even if that means working with Magnus.”
“Even if it means doing bad things to good people?”
I snorted. “I’ve done a lot worse for much less. At least this time, I’m helping.”
Raven didn’t respond. Instead, she clammed up and wore a contemplative expression across her face while we reached the entrance to Aldrust.
The massive wall of stone, earth, and grass towered above us, casting us into shadow as we stepped under its gaze. The wall was smooth, completely without blemish as it circled around the territory of Aldrust. Nearly a dozen soldiers stood by the entrance, which was only an entrance if the guards allowed passage—otherwise, it was just another part of the wall.
We got in line behind nearly a hundred others all trying to enter Aldrust. Most of them were dwarves, but a few humans stood above the heads of the others. Time passed as Raven and I inched closer to the gate, and then it was finally our turn.
The gate guard, a taller dwarf male with more muscle than hair, leered at us, calm and collected.
“State your business,” he said, his voice rough and graveled.
“We’re─“ I began, but Raven held up a hand and cut me off.
“We’re here on our honeymoon, visiting an old friend. Orryn Drell,” she said with a smile.
The gate guard nodded. “Tax is two silver,” he said and held out his hand.
Raven pulled out a few gold coins and dropped them into his palm. And even the stony-faced guard’s eyes widened at the money. He turned, held out his empty hand, and spoke a short rolling incantation in Script.
His hand glowed a light brown as the Script circle popped into existence and swirled, ethereal, around his palm. When he finished speaking, the circle faded away, and a thick slab of stone opened in the wall.
The gate guard waved us through, and as soon as we were inside, the door slammed shut behind us. Inside the wall was a long passageway made of stone and lined with torches that flickered every couple of feet.
Before we’d taken a single step, I whirled on Raven and shoved her against the wall. My finger pressed against her cheek.
“Don’t ever speak for me again, you understand?”
She nodded, a smile pressing at her lips. “I understand.”
“Good,” I said and backed off her, turning and walking down the hall.
Raven followed, her steps clacking quickly behind me as she caught up. We walked in silence, but there was a pep in Raven’s step that hadn’t been there before.
“Excited?” I asked.
“What?” she asked, her face flushing scarlet. “I mean, a little.”
“Well, we’ve got some time to kill today. We can look around—it’ll be beneficial to get the lay of the land regardless.”
“Oh, yes. The city, of course,” she said, tur
ning away from me for a moment.
I left the quirky shifter to her own devices and stepped through the heavy wrought-iron door that led to the upper farmland.
The sun was high in the sky overhead, and after being in the cool shadows for an hour, I welcomed the heat. Dozens of large natural stone buildings were all around us, along with an abundance of farmland. The earthy scent of freshly tilled dirt and vegetation permeated every inch. Dwarves toiled away at their farms with smiles on their faces as they worked. And they had good reason for those smiles.
“Why is everyone so thrilled to be doing manual labor?” Raven asked, confused.
“Because each and every one of the dwarves working are Aldrust’s best. High nobility, war heroes, Lachrymal’s chosen disciples. They’ve all done something of great importance to have earned their farms.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Their reward for hard work is more work?”
“Essentially, but the farms are more than just farms. They’re status symbols to the dwarves.”
She chuckled, shaking her head, but I let her be. It didn’t really make sense to me either when I first came here.
We passed by the farmlands and walked to the entrance to Aldrust. It was basically a gigantic elevator that lowered us down to the city, but it was powered by teams of dwarves and their earth magic. We stepped on it, and after some words in Script, we descended.
Elevators didn’t bother me, but for someone like Raven who hadn’t ever been on one before, she was having a blast. Her head darted around as the stone block we were on grumbled and shook as we went deeper into the earth.
When we stopped at the lower level, Raven’s excitement abated, but it surged right back up as we stepped into the city.
Even after seeing it dozens of times, I never really got over its majesty. Everything was carved out of stone. Stone houses and manors rose from the very earth itself. Carved stone formed everything, from the streets and stairways to the lamp posts that held shining blue mana crystals as they lined the winding roads in all directions.
Aldrust was a never-ending maze spreading like the roots of a tree in all directions. All with the level of detail and craftsmanship that would put even the most skilled human hands to shame.
High above us, nestled into the rocky ceiling, stood the largest cluster of mana crystals in the world. The cluster was the size of Castle Gloom-Harbor and pulsed with radiant blue light, creating a facsimile of a sun underground.
“Wow, I’ve never seen anything like it before!” Raven exclaimed, grabbing my arm.
I nodded. It was always something to behold. I let Raven take in the sights for a long moment while I tried to see through the chaos of the streets.
“All right, enough gawking. Let’s get to walking. It’s changed since I’ve been here last, and I want to get a feel for the place.”
Raven nodded. “We’ve got time. Our meeting isn’t supposed to be for this evening, so we can sightsee as much as you want.”
Well, if that’s the case, might as well go visit Thrayl, since I have time. “I want to stop by a friend’s shop. It’s in Silver Midtown.”
She held her hand out. “Lead the way.”
While technically, we were already in Midtown, Thrayl’s shop would be a couple miles further down. It would take a little navigating to get there. But there was always a pattern with the way the dwarves laid out the city. Even when they remodeled it every couple years, there was always a reason for it.
The streets were filled with hundreds of dwarves going about their day, the men headed to the mines or manual labor jobs while the women minded the shops. We stepped around a dwarf woman with long red hair, carrying a basket of produce. She nimbly wound around us with a wave of apology.
If the women weren’t so short, they’d actually be very attractive.
I was careful not to run into anyone and grabbed Raven’s hand as we crossed a few streets and wound up at one of the stretches of market.
Thick stone stalls lined the streets with merchants peddling anything we could ever need. There wasn’t anything I needed at the moment, so I pulled Raven along and tried to disengage us from the throng of patrons and sellers.
After some careful maneuvering, we’d gotten off Merchant Street and hit the stairs that wound down the city.
“This place is packed,” Raven said, sticking close to me.
“Well, despite the size of this place, dwarves like sticking close to one another. I think it has something to do with safety in numbers.”
“In case of cave-ins, things like that?”
“Most likely.” I shrugged and stepped down the second flight of stairs. Dwarves never made much sense to me, but I didn’t bother questioning some of their quirks. They made the best weapons and armor on Nexus, and that was good enough for me.
It took around half an hour to reach Thrayl’s shop. I had to do some asking around, and an elderly dwarf pointed us in the right direction.
Thrayl’s shop hadn’t changed since the last I’d been there. The outside was stone, with wide bay windows on each wall. Even from here, the heat was intense; heavy smoke curled around the gray trim and floated skyward. An attached storehouse contained every tool or instrument involved in crafting, and each hung in neat order along the walls and in specific spots on the shelves.
I crept up to the window, where loud clanging sounded from just inside.
Thrayl sat banging away at a long hunk of metal on an anvil. He was tall for a dwarf, around five feet, and skinnier than most, but wiry cords of muscle clung unevenly to his frame. He had a thin, scarred face from years of metal work and thick blond hair that’d been pulled back into an intricate braid that matched the pattern of his long beard.
“Thrayl!” I shouted between hammer strikes.
He stopped mid-swing and turned, squinting. “Duran?”
“Yep.”
Thrayl hopped up from his seat a wide smile across his face. “How’s my favorite human?”
“Busy, you got a few minutes?” I asked.
He looked back at his project and to me. “For you, always.” He waved me in.
Raven and I went around to the door, a smooth portion of the wall. The door slid under the ground without so much as a scrape and Thrayl stood in the doorway, still smiling.
He took one look at me, and his smile fell.
“You go back to robbin’?” he asked, scratching his head.
“Not that I’m aware of, why?”
He pointed at me with all five of his fingers. “Then how the hell did you come by a set of Arryn Mora armor?”
My jaw dropped. I looked down and back at Thrayl. “No way.”
“I’d know his craft anywhere,” he said, craning his neck past me to look at Raven. “Good on ya’ for settlin’ down. Was worried you’d die before you found someone to put up wit’ ya’.
“But where’re me manners, come in. There’s a story here I want told.”
We entered his cramped home. My head barely missed hitting the top of the doorframe. Inside his home wasn’t much better, and I resorted to a high crouch to avoid bashing my skull against the ceiling. Thrayl led us to his living room and offered us a chair.
While made of stone, the chair was rather comfortable, and the thick woolen cover kept us from freezing.
“So how’d you manage to land such a lovely young woman?” he asked, glancing at Raven.
“Oh, we’re─”
“It’s a long story,” Raven said, interrupting me. “Took too long for me to convince him we were meant to be, but I’m persistent.”
“Ha! Good on ye’. He’s a stubborn one, but not bad folk, all things considered.” Thrayl laughed and slapped his knee. “Let me go grab us a drink, I’ll be right back.”
As soon as Thrayl left the room, I glared death at Raven. “I thought I told you never to speak for me.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” she hissed at me. “We’re supposed to be a couple, that’s the cover story. Or did you f
orget what you’re trying to do here?”
I gripped my knee, digging my fingernails hard into the leather, trying not to lash out at her. “Fine.”
By the time Thrayl got back with three glasses of dwarven whiskey, I’d calmed myself.
He handed me my glass, and I downed the three fingers in one gulp.
“Still like your drink, eh? Never met a human who could drink a dwarf under the table before I met you.” Thrayl laughed. “So if you ain’t runnin’ with the clans again, how’d you get the armor? You can barely afford mine, and Arryn’s is a hundred times more expensive.”
I was about to explain when Raven turned to me. “Clans? You used to be a bandit?” She frowned, her mouth set in a hard line.
“Long time ago.”
She glanced at her untouched drink on the table, grabbed it, slammed it back and stood. Raven walked out of the house without a word.
“What’s tha’ about?”
“No clue,” I said.
I didn’t much know or care about what was going on with Raven. It wasn’t my concern. Instead, I turned back to Thrayl, and we caught up.
He told me about the day to day comings and goings in Aldrust. I hoped for some usable intel, but it turned out to be nothing but gossip, nothing that would help during the heist. I told him about recent events, leaving out certain key aspects to avoid confusion. I couldn’t tell him about Eris because of the cover story, but I told him about Magnus, leaving out his name, and passing him off as just a rich nobleman.
After about an hour of polite conversation, I checked the time and made my excuses.
“Well, why don’t you and ye’ girl have dinner with me an’ the missus before you leave? Della would love to see ya again.”
“Could never miss a chance to have more of her cave mushroom soup.”
We shook hands, and Thrayl clapped me on the back. “Damn good to see ya again, Duran. Oh! Before I forget, wait right here.”
Thrayl disappeared back into his home for a long minute. A few soft curses followed some clamoring of boxes and things being moved around. He came back a short minute later and held out his hand.
Hive Queen Page 17