by RJ Metcalf
“I’m also to remind you that you aren’t permitted anywhere in the city. And if you set foot on Doldran soil outside this property that you have been so graciously allowed to be on, there will be consequences.”
“And I thank Mistress Stohner for fighting on my behalf for me to visit my family here. She is a generous woman.”
Briar gripped his spoon as if it were a weapon, and Krista practically vibrated in her seat, her eyes narrowed at Nevin in a look of undisguised loathing. Jade’s freckles were almost invisible against the backdrop of her flushed cheeks. Ben straightened slowly in his seat as the tension in the room thickened.
Zak swallowed a mouthful before he turned to look at the overseer. “Anything else?”
Nevin adjusted his monocle and peered down his nose at Zak, his eyes hard. “And I personally feel the need to also remind you that Monomi are not permitted to train in any way within the city limits of Doldra—despite being on private property.” He sniffed. “And should you or any of your family be found in violation of the treaty, the consequences would be most dire for your clan.”
“It’s hard to forget such rules. We remember.”
“Excellent.” Nevin turned on his heel, causing the rubber to squeak. “I recommend you don’t plan to stay in Doldra long, Mister Monomi.”
Ben waited until the sound of footsteps receded before he let out a low whistle. “Who spit in his ale?”
Briar snorted. “That’s pretty typical for Nevin.” Briar cocked his head at Zak. “Was it just me, or was he less abrasive this time?”
“We’ve seen worse sides of him,” Zak muttered. He pushed away his bowl with a regretful shake of his head. “He couldn’t have waited until I finished dinner.”
Jade touched Zak’s arm, pulling his brooding gaze away from the table. “Is there anything I can get you while in town tomorrow?”
Zak’s shoulders relaxed as he considered her question, and Ben stirred his forgotten soup, hoping it hadn’t cooled too much. The quiet clank of metal on metal seemed to draw Zak’s attention, and he looked at Ben for an uncomfortably long moment, his gaze hardening. Zak pushed away from the table and adjusted his sword belt, his posture stiff. “You know my opinion of you going out.” He glanced at Jade from the corner of his eye, his jaw set. “Just watch your back while you’re away.” He stalked out of the room.
Awkward silence reigned in the room, and Ben lowered his spoon without letting it touch the bowl. Briar pinched the bridge of his wide nose. Jade sighed and rubbed her face in her hands before excusing herself with a quiet voice and a weak smile.
Ben stared at his bowl of soup and swallowed. What had that been about? Had he inadvertently done something? Clearly Zak hadn’t warmed up to him as much as he’d thought. And what did Nevin mean about a treaty and Zak not going into Doldra? What had Zak done?
Briar sighed. “Don’t read into it too much, Ben. Things always get ugly around here after Nevin comes by.”
“That’s an understatement.” Krista stood. “I’m going to go check on Jade.” A small smile graced her face as she stacked her dishes together. “We’ll be ready to go as soon as Jade’s done meeting with Ellie in the morning, so you may want to get some rest.” She gave a meaningful nod toward the door. “Because who knows what tomorrow will bring.”
Chapter Eleven
Slate
The brick pavers lining the path to his mother’s main office were new. Slate paused to inspect them while making sure his posse was following him through Stohner Shipping Yards. His mother had a knack for administration and used her money wisely, buying land and spreading out the business. Warehouses dotted the acres like mushrooms, each with its own particular type of goods to be stored and moved, and the two buildings closest to the office were reserved as a hostel for the various crews that stayed in Doldra on business.
Slate grimaced at the sight of the joyberry bushes blooming by the front step. True to form, their sweet scent set his sinuses on fire, and he sneezed.
He pulled out his handkerchief with watering eyes, and Jade giggled behind him. “Have I ever mentioned how glad I am that I did not inherit your allergies?”
“At least every other month, yes,” Slate replied wryly. He shot a look at his twin sister while he opened the door, and shook his head in mock grief. “And somehow, whichever month you don’t mention it, Garnet will.”
Garnet patted his back as she passed by. “What else is family for?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Love and support?”
“I think you’ll only find that with your mom,” Victor snarked as he hung his hat on the provided rack.
“Even from my own crew? Ouch.” Slate tugged Jade’s hand, and she turned to give him a quick hug. He tweaked the blue-and-black feathered fascinator resting amidst her braids. “Do you want to check on everyone else after we greet your grandmother?”
“Oh, you know it!” Jade’s eyes sparkled. “I’m curious if we can get Ben’s memory gears lubed enough to have him remember where he’s from.”
Slate snorted in amusement as he stepped down after Jade into Elinora’s meeting room. Lubed. What slang will the youth come up with next?
His mother stood just inside the doorway, greeting each of them with a warm smile. Her rich brown hair had faded over the years, giving way to streaks of gray and silver, and the light in her eyes now shone with the wisdom and patience that only experience and grief could grant. She hugged Garnet and Jade and cooed over their wardrobe choices, then kissed Slate on the cheek while Victor seated himself at the table.
Slate sank into a nearby chair with a small sigh. Elinora’s informal meeting room felt warm and cozy, with cream-colored wall paper, a molded ceiling, and family portraits that lined the walls. A genuine Antius-made secretary desk sat in the corner—the only distinctly practical concession to business that Elinora had in the room.
Initial pleasantries passed quickly, and Zebediah and Esther Monomi arrived soon after Jade had left to join her friends. Guilt and pleasure warred in Slate at the sight of the older couple. The years had not been easy for them, losing their eldest son to the duty of protecting the barrier, and losing their youngest to banishment. Yet strength and dignity radiated from the former Guardians as they joined Slate and the others at the glossy table.
Slate let a deep breath fill his lungs before breathing out some of his impatience to talk about the barrier. Some topics were just as important as the keystone. And whether they ever realized it or not, their familial status as lesser nobles was largely due to his actions so many years ago. He owed it to them. “How are things here for your family?”
Zebediah filled the wooden frame of the chair with little room to spare, and a shrug of his expansive shoulders made the entire seat creak. The lines around his eyes and forehead had deepened, and gray peppered his temples. “About the same as last time you were here.” His large hands cradled the fragile teacup that Elinora had provided for him. “If anything, Governor Bentley has gotten worse than before.”
Garnet scoffed from Slate’s right. “Worse? How is that even possible?”
Zebediah’s eyes darkened as he blew out a deep breath. “Small things, mostly. Blame-shifting, taking credit that isn’t his to take, so on and so forth. Standard politician.” His lips turned up at the corners. “But more people are starting to see him for what he really is, and they’re getting fed up with his way of running things.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.” Garnet smiled.
Esther nodded. “Indeed. Overseer Nevin has been relentless in watching our family and associates, waiting for us to do something that violates the treaty. I’m sure he’ll visit Zak sometime soon.” She leaned over the table, resting her black-sheathed elbows against the wood. “How is he?”
Slate shifted in his seat and side-eyed his sister. She looked at him and pressed her lips together, then twitched her head at him. Slate sighed quietly.
It was one thing to talk to Zak about everything when onboard the Sapphir
e, Garnet at his side. But to mention it to Zak’s parents when on Doldran soil? Slate’s stomach twisted, even though he knew they would agree with his and Garnet’s frank assessment and intervention.
“He’s doing well,” Slate hedged. “He’s extremely skilled in dragon combat, he’s a natural when it comes to security, and I have no real complaints.”
Zebediah lifted a black eyebrow in an eerily similar manner to his youngest child. “Any non-real complaints?”
Garnet puffed out her cheeks as she traced a finger along the rim of her porcelain cup. “We had to talk to him about boundaries with Jade,” she admitted with a small wince. “Nothing happened, but there was, still is”—she waved her hand at the semantics—”a noticeable attraction that we had to address.”
Victor snorted into his mug and raised a long-fingered hand to ward off Garnet’s concern. “Noticeable attraction to those who aren’t as perceptively challenged as your daughter, sir.” Slate’s first mate chuckled and shook his head. “As clear as it was to all of us, she didn’t notice anything until he started ignoring her. With great difficulty, I might add.”
Slate winced at the truth of Victor’s words. He and Garnet had had to talk to Zak right after the Perennial winter ball, and the next few days had been nothing short of painful. Zak’s awkwardness and brooding had been bad enough. But Jade’s confusion and hurt even now gnawed at Slate. Three months had eased some of the tension between the two. And it vacillated—some moments they returned to their normal banter and level of comfort. Other days, Zak remembered the boundaries better. It was for Jade’s own good—whether she knew it yet or not.
With the opening pleasantries and family matters discussed, he could focus on the question that burned in his mind. He sipped the last of his spicy tea and set the cup down with a gentle plink. He leaned forward, and the chair creaked. “How is the keystone holding up? Has anything changed?”
Zebediah and Esther exchanged grim looks.
Elinora answered. “From what I hear through the rumor mill, the time flux around the citadel is getting worse, though Bentley is trying to hide it.” His mother frowned, and she crossed her arms with a small huff of annoyance. “None of my men have been able to get close enough to confirm the reports. Void Born, stuffy governor and his goons don’t trust us.”
“I wonder why,” Slate replied dryly. He fell silent as he mulled over her news. If the time flux was worsening, then the keystone was weakening. And if the keystone failed, the barrier would fall. And if the barrier fell, all southern Terrene would be defenseless against the north. The northerners’ blood-bond and their desire to have everyone enslaved or dead would become a real threat.
Families would be separated and slaughtered. Slavery would run rampant.
Being controlled, ruled by pain, and under the whim of some ancient Elph wasn’t high on Slate’s list of things he wanted to also be responsible for—let alone experience.
Esther smiled grimly. She tucked a strand of silvered blonde hair behind her ear. “He doesn’t trust anyone who’s connected with us. Bentley has been trying to hide the problems at the citadel, and refuses to let any Monomi near it—even though we’re the only ones who have some understanding of the keystone and are the trained Guardians for it.”
Silence fell on the table as Garnet, Victor, and Slate absorbed the news. Grief punched the air out of Slate’s lungs, and he bowed his shoulders. He absently rubbed at the knobby scar over his eye. If only things had turned out differently that day. If only he had said, “no.” If only they had all lived. If only…He sighed. If regrets and wishes were currency, I’d be a rich man.
The world was too large, hiding away the one man he needed to find.
One of the alarms triggered by the keystone had given him a single clue: an Elph had been there. An Elph had masterminded the entire fall of the Doldras family, and whoever it was must have also been the one responsible for the near-collapse of the keystone and barrier—nearly dooming the entire southern Terrene population to slavery. And that man had murdered Zak’s brother Zane.
Slate clenched his fist. He would find the son of a whale. Eventually.
Wrongs had to be righted. Blood spilled in reparation. Vengeance.
Victor sighed. “So we’re no closer than we were before?”
“Not exactly.” Elinora pushed away from the table, and she ducked into the adjoining kitchen before returning with the kettle. She refilled Slate’s empty cup and topped off Garnet’s and Zebediah’s teacups before returning the pot. She sank back into her seat with her usual grace, straight-backed in her burnished brown-and-gold corset. “Haven’t you heard the rumors?”
“Rumors?” Slate stopped tracing the whorls in the tabletop with his finger and gave Ellie his full attention. “What rumors?”
Ellie tilted her head with a raised brow. “How have you not heard? There are stories circling of ghosts that came through the barrier, over by Loore’s Landing.”
Slate stared at her blankly, his brain trying to make sense of her words. Ghosts? Through the barrier? “How…how would there be ghosts? And through the barrier?”
Victor perked up. “Well, that’s an unusual sighting.”
“That’s why the rumor mill is going crazy,” Zebediah replied. He stared at his palms and frowned before meeting Slate’s eyes. “What else could go through the barrier, if not ghosts?”
Slate shivered. What, indeed? “I guess we’ll make our way over to Loore’s Landing,” Slate said as he leaned back in his chair. “Ask around, see what we can find.”
“I’m afraid that will have to wait,” Garnet replied, her tone regretful. “We still have that shipment that we need to deliver to Aerugo first.”
Ellie sighed and nodded. “I need you to focus on deliveries for a bit. We’re down two airships for repairs, and I need you to help keep things running smoothly in the meantime.”
Slate’s stomach clenched at the thought of putting off the lead, but loyalty and responsibility forced him to agree. “Soon, then.”
“Hopefully.” Ellie took a sip of her tea. “Anything else happen on your trip?”
Garnet lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “Well, we did find a dragon nest, and Ben.”
Slate rolled his eyes. “Yes, that’s true. We found trouble in the form of stalkers and terrors, and an amnesiac with no fashion sense.”
Amused curiosity arched Esther’s brow. “You found someone?”
Slate gently swirled the tea in his mug as he nodded. “Found a guy passed out by a herd of plodders. Jaxton is convinced Ben’s got memory loss, and in the meantime, Zak’s keeping a close eye on him.”
Esther accepted Slate’s news with serene interest. “I’m glad you found the poor soul.” Her eyes glinted. “And I’m even gladder to hear that you aren’t taking anything for granted, and keeping an eye on him, regardless of what the esteemed doctor says.”
“I’m not taking any chances. And I’m not giving up.” Slate stared at the grainy reflection in the table of the elder Monomi. The distortion and natural lighting made the man look younger somehow. Almost like Zane. Slate swallowed the lump in his throat and blinked away the moisture of sorrow. If regrets were wishes…
“Well, I’ll be returning to Aerugo within the week,” Elinora announced, tapping her fingers against her teacup. “And I’ll keep an ear out for any more rumors of interest.” She traced the handle with a manicured fingernail, her brow wrinkled. “I don’t know when I’ll be able to spare you to investigate all the way over there, but we can at least try to stay apprised.”
Slate nodded and set his jaw. “I’m going to restore our keystone to full strength, no matter how many years it takes me.” He looked up at Zebediah and allowed his determination to show through. “I’m not going to let so many lives continue to be endangered. And I’m going to fix my mistakes.”
Chapter Twelve
Jade
The brisk Fervar breeze sent a chill down Jade’s back, and she pulled her coat tight.
It would have been faster to take one of the streamtrans into the City Circle, but the group had ultimately decided to walk. Ben was clearly enraptured by the tall brick buildings and the billowing smoke from chimneys in High Doldra, and Krista and Briar didn’t mind a longer jaunt together away from the Sapphire. And maybe something would spark a memory for Ben.
What bothered Jade about the day trip was Zak’s attitude right before her group left the shipping yards. He’d returned to being distant, with a cool gaze and neutral words. No pleasant goodbye, just a simple “Don’t trust anyone,” as if he didn’t think she’d already heard that enough from him—or her father—after last night. And when she’d glanced back to her grandmother’s property, he’d been standing by the fence, a dark silhouette, with only his single hoop earring gleaming in the morning light.
Jade huffed and shook her head. Whatever had made their friendship start progressing to something more was gone. He was clear enough with his unspoken words—he only considered her a friend. If that. It was high time for her to accept it and move on. Somehow.
A patch of fog wafted in front of her, and she wrinkled her nose, waving her hand to try to dissipate it. Buildings towering on either side of them belched white steam and hazy smoke, causing currents and eddies in the brisk spring air as it mixed with the warm humidity. If only Doldra would adopt newer steam-tech. Like Piovant’s superior venting. The narrow street opened up far ahead, widening into the City Circle of shops, stores, and merchants.
Krista broke Jade’s reverie. “Remind me before we head back, I need to get a new hair potion.”
Jade glanced at Krista’s tight, dark curls. The hair potions they’d picked up in Aerugo hadn’t done Krista’s dry hair any favors. “I’d let you use what I have, if it worked for your hair type.”
“If only life were so simple.” Krista sighed dramatically. “What do we need to get for the ship before we can start our personal shopping?”