by Guy Antibes
Ari chuckled before he disappeared.
“Lorton, I will leave Princess Glorie with you. I will speak with you from time to time as we go.”
“How will you speak with Lorton?” Princess Glorie asked.
“Telepathy,” Jack said.
She looked at Lorton with surprise. “You can do that?”
“If Jack initiates the conversation, I can.”
She threw her arms around Lorton. “That is wonderful!”
Jack grabbed a charm from a bag of them in the sitting room. “Have her put this on in a discreet place so no one will rip it off. Put one on Lin, Sera, and Oscar, and tie them up in case I was fooled.”
“I’ll do that first,” Lorton said, handing the charm to Glorie.
Jack fondled the Battlebone again as Penny did the same with her bone seer.
“Are you ready? You can start in the front,” Jack said, “And I will begin in the attic. Wait a minute.” Jack ran to the kitchen and returned with two large metal lids. “We don’t have time for armor.”
“A belated betrothal gift?” Penny asked.
“There was no betrothal,” Jack said.
“Oh,” Penny said, acting deflated.
“It’s time,” Jack said.
He waited for Penny to disappear before he did. Standing in the attic, Jack grasped the bone. He found the first Black Finger on a bed just below him. Jack pulled out the Serpent’s Orb copy and spread the liquid fire in a thin circle before stomping on it and falling to the floor below. He used a little levitation to cushion his fall and drew his sword.
“You!”
It was the same voice that spoke from Sera. Jack didn’t waste time killing an enemy. He found the next two Black Fingers in the library arguing over something. He didn’t waste time finding out what the issue was. The last one was in the back of the house with Penny. He teleported into the room, ready to save Penny, but he was too late.
“The man threatened to have Borigore come and kill us,” Penny said, shivering.
“Let’s check our bones again to make sure there are no Black Fingers in Bristone.”
“Something is wrong,” Penny said. “I am getting an image in the castle. It is a Black Finger, but the person has an odd aura.”
“Who?” Jack asked.
“The queen.”
“We have to return to the townhouse first,” Jack said.
They appeared in the foyer. Lin, Sera, and Oscar were bound, but sitting up.
“I decided to wait until you arrived before untying them,” Lorton said.
Jack grabbed his bone and couldn’t detect a possession. He had Penny do the same with the same result. “You can untie them.” Jack looked at Glorie. “Your sister is possessed by a Black Finger, or it is a Black Finger charmed to look like Queen Inez.”
“You want my permission to kill her?”
Jack shook his head. “I want your permission to put you in harm’s way. If I have to do something to the queen, I won’t do it alone.”
“You can’t be serious,” Lorton said.
“He is,” Penny said. “There is something wrong with the queen.”
Lorton put his arm around the princess. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“I live in the castle. If someone or something has possessed my sister, how can I go back?”
Jack reported the current state of affairs to Ari and to Fasher. Neither of them had an alternate way of solving the problem other than confrontation.
Have everyone wear armor, Fasher said.
I will. Jack and Lorton went to don their armor. Penny and Sera had enough bits and pieces for Glorie and Penny to wear.
“Are you comfortable being by yourselves again?” Jack asked Lin, Sera, and Oscar.
“More comfortable here than where you are going,” Lin said, holding up her braceleted wrist. “The Black Fingers were too powerful for us.”
Jack nodded. He couldn’t take them all to the castle, but he ferried Lorton, Penny, and Glorie to the lower-level gate. It was too much teleporting, and Jack’s stomach complained.
“I can’t do any more transporting for a while,” Jack said. He took a few deep breaths to feel a bit better.
“Mind if I join you?” Ari said, emerging from an alley before they followed Glorie into the castle.
As they passed the inhabitants, Jack was uncomfortable with the stares and glares heading in their direction by the guards, but they passed through the lower-level gate without being stopped once Princess Glorie had vouched for them.
Glorie took them upstairs to an area of the castle that none of them had been to except for, perhaps, Lorton. Jack recognized Terry Hortine, now dressed in uniform. The guard stopped them.
“May I ask what they are doing here?” Terry asked Princess Glorie. He nearly gave Lorton a smile.
“There is something wrong in the castle, and I am investigating it,” Glorie said.
“Investigating?” Terry said. He looked at Lorton, who nodded back.
“Are there any guards along the way that you trust?” Lorton said.
Glorie furrowed her brows. “You know this, man?” she asked.
“I do,” Lorton replied.
“There are a few. I will accompany you and collect them along the way if that is acceptable to the princess.”
“It is,” Glorie said, staring hard at Lorton. “What is going on?” she whispered in his ear, barely audible to Jack.
“I have made a few friends,” Lorton said.
Jack had a thought and touched the Battlebone in his pocket. He concentrated on Queen Inez and found her in another part of the castle, sitting by herself in a room that might have been locked.
“We need to see the queen, first,” Jack said.
“You know where she is?” Glorie asked.
“I do.” He looked at Terry. “Follow me. There might be action along the way.”
Jack was disappointed, if that was the proper term, that Borigore and the Black Fingers hadn’t come up with a different plan than the one they had used in Tesoria. They had replaced the queen, but it wouldn’t last any longer than in Tesoria. He had to reach the queen and have her guarded while they confronted the false queen.
Jack had to consult the bone several times, but they reached an impasse.
“You cannot enter,” a guard said, protecting a set of double doors. “This is the prime minister’s office.” The man looked at Princess Glorie. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, but that includes you.”
“Not acceptable,” Glorie said. Jack hadn’t seen the woman angry. “Step aside, or you will regret it. I have a member of the royal guard with me.”
Not to mention four wizards, Jack thought. The WWS-controlled prime minister had joined forces with the Double P, without a doubt. That confirmed that the kingdom was in extreme danger.
“I will warn you once more. Lay down your weapons.”
The men drew their swords.
“Disable them,” Glorie said.
Jack pulled out his sword, but Penny used her sword to pierce the men in their thighs as she touched the void. The men crumpled to the ground. “That was kind of you,” Jack said to Penny.
“I have more than my husband to protect today,” she said.
Lorton stepped forward and opened the door, his makeshift shield held in front of him. A wizard bolt spattered against the metal.
Jack’s sword was already out, and he sped through the opening, catching the wizard bolts, slowed down by his presence in the void. He ended the threat from three wizards, who evidently had some prior warning they were coming. They hadn’t exactly taken the quickest route to the prime minister’s office and had made no effort to conceal their paths.
Penny kept up with him, as Jack knew where the queen was kept. A few more wizards were downed before Jack unlocked the door to the room he had seen and threw it open.
Queen Inez stood. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Your sister was worried about
you.”
“Glorie?” Queen Inez looked past Jack.
The two sisters embraced. “How did you know I had been captured?”
Glorie looked at the four of them. “We have foreign friends,” she said.
Jack wouldn’t have put it that way. He looked at Terry. “Do you confirm that this is the queen?”
“Lieutenant Hortine. Are you with them?” The woman’s voice was almost as cold as Yvessa’s.
“I am now,” Terry said. “Please follow Jack Winder’s orders.”
“My orders are for you to stay here or move to a more secure place,” Jack said. “I can’t transport you, unfortunately.”
“But I can,” Ari said. “If you will wait a bit.”
The queen, her sister, and Penny were transported to the townhome. Ari returned. “Shall we be off?”
Terry had searched the offices and found that Payare Bellet wasn’t around. Jack pulled out the bone. “He is with Richard Raimon,” Jack said.
“I’m glad the queen didn’t hear that,” Terry said.
“She will.” Lorton looked at Jack. “Time for a confrontation?”
Jack nodded. “I would rather have Penny at my side, but she needs to protect the two women.”
“And Lin, Sera, and Oscar,” Lorton said, “will do some protecting too.”
Jack was also glad Penny was out of the fighting for now. He consulted his bone. The false queen was in the throne room. There were people with her.
“Be prepared for a fight,” Jack said. “If there are any of your loyal guards, get them to fight on our side.”
“I will do that,” Terry said.
“Do you know a direct route to the throne room?” Jack asked.
The formal way or the back way.”
“Whichever is faster.”
“Follow me.”
Ari stopped them for a moment. “I will get our local men started.”
Terry stared at Ari. “What did you just do?”
“Telepathy, my man. It is invaluable in a situation like this. Now,” Ari pushed Terry forward, “lead on.”
They were at a back door to the throne room.
“There should be a guard at this post,” Terry said.
Jack looked at the throne room again. “More people. I will grab the imposter and teleport here.”
“Be careful,” Ari said. “I can’t help in a fight.”
“You’ve helped enough,” Jack said. He took a deep breath and appeared behind the throne.
He reached out to touch the false queen, but the teleportation didn’t work. The queen turned to Jack.
“You are so bothersome,” Borigore’s force came from the queen’s mouth. Most of the courtiers and guards looked on in surprise.
“Borigore. I see you decided to invade Yvessa’s domain. I’m disappointed you tried to take over Antibeaux using the same strategy,” Jack said. “Have you no divine creativity?”
“You made it possible.” Borigore’s laugh made Jack shiver. “With Yvessa out of the way, it allowed me to become more involved.”
“And you have no compunction about killing humans?” Jack asked.
The people in the room looked horrified.
“None at all, and I will start with you!”
Jack touched the void and managed to evade a massive wizard bolt that shook the throne room when it hit the wall. Jack pulled out his copy of Takia’s Cup and let the fire consume the false queen’s body, to the cries of the courtiers. He also moved closer and used his orb add to the conflagration.
“You can’t do this again!” the god said as he screamed.
“If you can, I can,” Jack said. He was about to say he did the same to Yvessa, but there were too many people around.
The flames shot to the ceiling, but as Borigore left the body, it dropped to the floor. Jack used his red cuff to snuff out the rest of the fire with water from Eldora.
Jack looked on in horror as he recognized the partially burned face. “Enara Crabson!” Jack said. He couldn’t help notice the woman’s black fingernails.
“Where is the queen?” a courtier said.
“She is safe,” Terry Hortine said, walking into the room. His face was pale, and his voice shook a bit. “Jack Winder had her removed to a safe place.”
“We have been duped?”
Charl Masson charged up. “You were part of this charade, Winder. I demand the queen now, or you will be killed on the spot.”
“Not likely,” the queen said, walking out from the back door. “You and Payare Bellet have conspired to take over my throne,” she said pointing at the minister of the interior.
Jack was happy that Ari had thought quickly enough to retrieve the queen.
A knife was thrown from the crowd that hit the queen in the shoulder. Ari took the queen’s hand and teleported her away.
“The civil war is on, I suppose,” Jack said, as he caught the knife thrower. He pushed him toward a guard. “Arrest this man who attempted to assassinate the queen.”
There was more pushing and shoving, and eventually, fighting broke out in the throne room. “It is time for us to leave,” Ari said, tugging on Jack’s sleeve.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
~
A ri teleported Jack, Terry, and Lorton back to the townhouse.
“I thought you were as burnt out as I was,” Jack said.
Ari just shrugged and smiled. “I do have limitations, but not as restrictive as yours.”
“The war has begun,” Lorton said. He looked down at the queen. “How is she?”
Penny looked up with a grim face. “Jack?”
Jack bent down and gave the queen a full shot of his healing power. The woman fainted, but Penny nodded after feeling the queen’s pulse.
“We have an insurrection to put down,” Ari said. “Time to put on your general’s hat.”
Jack sighed. “Keep the doors locked and the sisters safe.”
Ari took Jack out to where Jamie’s soldiers were, minutes away from the northwestern gate.
“You can bring the locals to the other side of the gate?” Jack asked
“I will if they aren’t already there.” The wizard disappeared.
As they brought the troops closer, Jack shivered in the cool air. He hadn’t thought to bring a cloak. “Are you ready?”
“We are. You will fight with us?”
“To start,” Jack said. “Make sure everyone has their charm on.”
Jamie nodded to his commanders. Their strategy didn’t call for siege engines or ladders. As they walked toward the gate, Jack thought back to Borigore’s words. Yvessa’s power had kept Borigore from intruding into Antibeaux. The goddess had protected her land and still was intent on joining the Black Fingers. He had taken away her leverage with Borigore. If Jack’s life hadn’t been at risk, hurting her would have been an awful mistake. It still might be. Jack didn’t think Borigore would be as stupid the next time he showed up.
There was fighting on the walls, but the gate wasn’t opening. Arrows were sporadically shot from the ramparts. Jack looked at Jamie.
“Care to help your allies?”
“Me?”
“The two of us. We should be able to do some damage.”
“And I want to touch the void,” Jamie said with a grin.
“Get someone to lead the charge once we open the gate.”
Jack teleported with Jamie. They were in the midst of the fighting.
“Stop!” Jack yelled out, hoping beyond hope that would stop the fighting, but it didn’t change a thing. “Try not to kill,” Jack said as he touched the void.
Jack went one way, and Jamie went the other, slicing and pushing their way through the fighters, removing the archers and turning over the baskets of rocks that had been prepared to shower down on the attackers. They all were locals, Jack thought, and they would have to live together after the fighting, so he went as easy as he could on them.
He had gone through the fighting once and went through again
. He fought close to Jamie. “Time to get the gates open.” He grabbed Jamie’s hand, and they were on the ground level. Jack looked around for a winch or something.
“The winch is up there,” a local said. “How did you get down here anyway?”
“My mistake. If you will excuse us,” Jack said before he teleported Jamie back up to the ramparts. Jamie pointed to the shack that protected the gate’s winch. They fought off the guards as best they could and began to raise the gate. The Delancey army below shouted as they flooded through the gates.
“To the castle!” Jack yelled at them.
“Get us to the front,” Jamie said.
“I only have one more teleportation spell left in me,” Jack said.
They ended up at the front of Delancey’s men.
“To the castle!” Jamie said, echoing Jack’s words.
Men ran past Jack as he hobbled to the side and emptied the contents of his stomach. He wiped his face with one of his bracers. “Sorry, Eldora,” he said before he loped toward where the toughest fighting would be.
Jack felt better as he proceeded and made his way to Jamie at the front. He let him in on the alliance of the WWS and the Double P.
“They tried to kill the queen?”
Jack nodded. “After trying to install a fake queen, a Corandian at that.”
“They don’t deserve to live,” Jamie said.
“Don’t kill everyone,” Jack said. “You are fighting your countrymen, and you have to live with the families of those you slay.”
Jamie stopped and told his commanders the same thing. “Make sure you are merciful,” Jamie said to them at the end.
“Thank you for stopping me,” Jamie said. “I might have made a big mistake.”
“There are still mistakes to be made,” Jack said.
Ari popped next to Jack. “The locals are fighting in the lower levels. Bellet’s house is surrounded as is the entrance to the castle. We have most of them bottled up. Can you let this hulk take care of charging the castle?”
“I can’t make another jump,” Jack said. “Physically,” he said.
“I believe you,” Ari said. He held out his arm, and Jack was instantly in front of a lower-level house.
“This is the embassy,” Jack said.
“The ambassador and his wife were in the thick of it,” Ari said. “I just found that out. The archbishop is inside cowering with the ambassador and others. I think you need to talk to them.”