by Sarah Hawke
“A bruise?” she asked when her fingers touched a tender spot on my left flank. “How could possibly still have a bruise from the Deadlands? Or is this from last night?”
“Neither,” I said. “Vaylin had me fight Rhyssa in front of the acolytes today.”
“She actually scored a hit on you?” Charisse snorted. “The last time the two of you fought, you had her flat on her back in about ten seconds.”
“Vaylin didn’t allow me to use my sorcery,” I explained. “She wanted me to ‘show the acolytes how a Dragon Bride fights when she’s overmatched,’ but really they were both just pissed that the king chose me to replace Rhyssa on a mission. They wanted to humiliate me.”
“Those cunts,” Charisse growled. “Please tell me you at least got in a few hits.”
“More than a few,” I said with a dark grin. “She’ll be regenerating some teeth tonight.”
“Good, I hope it hurts.” Charisse scoffed and shook her head. “Unbelievable. I’ve always hated that bitch.”
I nodded. Rhyssa had overseen some of our training sessions when we had been on the verge of graduation. She had explicitly avoided fighting me for fear I would humiliate her. Charisse hadn’t been so lucky.
“Well, the thought of you beating her into a pulp has me hot again,” she said after a moment. “Why don’t you give me all the details while you fuck me?”
I snickered and glanced over at the expansive toy shelf along the wall. I had no idea where Jirrah had found half this stuff, but Charisse and I had experimented with almost everything at one point or another. Tonight I settled on something simple, however—I reached out with my power and telekinetically pulled one of the leather phalluses into my hand.
“Almost as good as the real thing,” Charisse said as she ran her fingers down the shaft. “I hope you remember how to use it.”
“I was only gone a few weeks,” I said with a grunt. “I still know where the tip goes.”
“Prove it,” she teased as she helped me lean up and attach the harness. “What mission did you replace Rhyssa on, anyway? It must have been important if she got that upset about it.”
I paused as I fiddled with the straps. “We can talk about it later.”
Charisse cocked a blonde eyebrow. “Not anymore. Now you’ve really got me interested.”
I sighed. Lysandre had specifically ordered me not to tell anyone about the mission, but that had never stopped me from spilling my guts to Charisse before. We didn’t keep secrets from one another. Besides, for all I knew I could be gone for weeks or months. She would never forgive me if I kept her in the dark that long.
“The Emperor is sending me to infiltrate the Vin Aetheri,” I said.
“Wait, what?” Charisse gasped, leaning back up. “How?”
“They’ve been recruiting heavily out of Vantriss the past few months,”’ I explained, reflexively keeping my voice down. Between the loud music, the jeering patrons, and the heavily insulation in the walls, the odds that anyone could hear us were practically zero. Nevertheless, I preferred to be cautious. “Lysandre believes she has a way to get me in.”
“Can you refuse?” Charisse asked.
“Why would I?”
“Because it’s bloody suicidal, that’s why. You’ve heard the stories—you know what will happen if you get caught.”
“That’s why I won’t get caught.” I said matter-of-factly. “But even if I do, I can handle myself. I took down Garaad in Last Hope—I can take down a few rebels.”
Charisse swore under her breath and shook her head. “You’re not invincible, Asha.”
“No, but I’m the strongest Bride in the city and the Emperor knows it.”
She stared at me for a moment, her brow furrowed. “This isn’t a game. I was just in Vantriss, remember? It’s even worse than the Council says. Half the city is in open rebellion, and Fourth Wife Zarona is a feckless rube.”
I frowned. “It’s really that bad?”
“Last Hope is a beacon of order by comparison. All the Deadlanders and refugees were scared enough of Garaad that they didn’t let their feuds spill out into the streets. There’s no central authority in Vantriss.”
“What about the army? General Seborim has—”
“Half the soldiers are in the pocket of the merchant houses, and the rest are bought off by the smuggling cartels. Aside from a few knights, Seborim doesn’t trust his own men. He’s been begging Lysandre to send more Brides into the city for months now.”
I shook my head. “So why hasn’t she?”
“Because Narthil is a big country, and we’re already spread way too thin.” Charisse grunted. “You saw what it was like in the north before you crossed the border. There are only a few hundred of us—we can’t spare more than a handful for each settlement. Five or six Dragon Brides can’t police a hundred thousand people. Honestly, half the reason Vantriss is still standing is because Prince Jorel was there for the past month, but now that he’s gone…”
“He was pushing hard for this mission,” I said. “He and his mother aren’t convinced we’ll ever get a better opportunity.”
“Maybe he’s right, but that doesn’t mean you have to be the one to take the risk.” Charisse shook her head. “Seriously, honey—tell Lysandre you’ve changed your mind.”
“The master chose me for this mission,” I reminded her. “I will not turn my back on him.”
She flopped back down on the couch and sighed. “You’re frustrating as hell sometimes, you know that?”
I pursed my lips. “If Vantriss is really is so bad, why hasn’t the Emperor taken action himself? He could crush every gang in the city and restore order overnight.”
Charisse stared at me for a long moment, her eyebrows arched in disbelief, but she finally grunted and rubbed at her forehead. “Sometimes I forget that you live in a different world than the rest of us.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Look, just forget it,” she murmured. “You were right—we can talk about this later. I want to feel you inside me.”
Charisse wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me closer. The phallus tickled her quim, but I didn’t thrust inside.
“I need to know,” I whispered. “What did you mean?”
She closed her eyes. “We’ve had this argument a thousand times. It’s nothing new.”
I slipped out of her embrace and paced away from the couch. We had fought about plenty of things growing up, of course—all friends did—but I knew exactly what she was talking about. While I had always been the believer, Charisse had always been the skeptic; while I memorized and repeated every word the Wives had taught us, Charisse had always questioned their wisdom and doubted their facts. She eventually learned to lie when necessary, but I knew that her faith in our husband wasn’t nearly as strong as mine.
“You still doubt him,” I said. “You think he’s ignoring Vantriss because he lacks the power to change it.”
“I think he lacks the power to change a lot of things,” Charisse whispered as she leaned up. “Honey, we both know that half of what they taught is in the academy is bullshit.”
I clenched my jaw. “Please, don’t say that.”
She sighed again. “Asha, if you’re going to try and infiltrate the Vin Aetheri, you need to pull your head out of your tits and look around. They’re gaining support because people are starting to realize they’re telling the truth.”
I whirled around and glared at her. “What?”
Charisse raised her hands defensively. “I’m not saying I support them—the master knows how many of those fuckers I’ve killed over the past year. I’m just saying that they’re not completely insane. I have no idea who or what this “Conduit” of theirs is, but honestly it doesn’t even matter. The point is that the Emperor isn’t the only source of magic in the world. We know it, the Vin Aetheri know it, the Council of Wives knows it…”
“That’s heresy,” I rasped.
“Oh, please,” she said,
rolling her eyes. “Honey, you know I’m loyal. Without the Emperor, my parents probably would have starved to death by now. And who knows, I might have been one of those girls sucking cocks downstairs. But just because we’re indebted to him doesn’t mean we have to close our eyes and stick our fingers in our ears. Kamir is a dragon, but so are King Sorokar and Queen Telsara and every other ruler of the Five Kingdoms. He’s powerful, yes, but he’s not any more of a god than the rest of them.”
I glanced away and tried to swallow the sudden wave of bile in my throat. If any of the Wives heard Charisse speaking like this, they would cut out her tongue and flay off her tits. If the master heard her speaking like this…I didn’t even want to imagine what he might do.
Lysandre had taught us the basic history of Varellon a thousand times over. Once, the Avetharri had ruled the entire continent, right up until the Dragon Gods had arrived and punished them for their wicked ways. As the new order had taken shape, the gods had divided Varellon into six kingdoms, each ruled by a different great wyrm. Now, centuries later, Kamir was the only true dragon who still lived. Sorokar and the others were half-breeds who had betrayed their parents. That was why our master had closed off Narthil from the rest of Varellon for the past few decades. The master was biding his time until he was prepared to strike and reclaim the Onyx Throne from the pretenders that surrounded him on all sides.
Charisse had never believed any of it. Or at least, none of the important parts about our master in particular. Talking about it had always made me sick. I didn’t understand how she could get through the day without faith…
“Asha, none of this matters right now,” she said. “The Vin Aetheri might be right about a few things, but they’re still monsters. We still need to destroy them, and we still need to unify Narthil. I’ve never once said that the master doesn’t deserve to rule. I just don’t understand why he insists on filling our heads with bullshit.”
I closed my eyes and forced myself to take a deep breath. “I wish you wouldn’t talk like this.”
Charisse stood and crept up behind me. Her hands wrapped around my waist and squeezed. “I’m sorry I brought it up,” she whispered. “I just, well, I’m worried about you. The Vin Aetheri are dangerous, especially this Soren Drell bastard. I’ve heard stories…he’s as brutal as a cartel boss but twice as smart.”
My eyes fluttered back open. “He’s also a sorcerer.”
She released her grip and backed away. “What?”
“He countered my sorcery in Last Hope,” I said, turning around to face her again. “It’s the only reason he escaped.”
Charisse bit down on her lip and nodded slowly. “Well, I suppose that makes sense. He’s supposed to be the Conduit’s right hand, and her whole claim to power is that she’s another source of magic.”
“When I told Lysandre, she deflected. She said he’d just found some kind of ancient Avetharri relic that absorbed magic.”
“Do you believe her?”
“No,” I admitted. “I’ve tried not to think about it, but…” I swallowed heavily. “How else could he possibly be a sorcerer if he hasn’t been imbued with the power of a true dragon?”
Charisse sighed again and touched my shoulders. “Look, honey…I don’t claim to know the truth of everything, but obviously there’s something else going on here. That’s why you shouldn’t take this mission. Let Rhyssa jump into the fire and see what happens.”
“No.”
Charisse stared at me for a long moment, her face unreadable, until she finally smiled tiredly and nodded. “All right,” she said. “I should have known better than to think I could talk you out of anything. You’d try and carve your way through a whole army if someone said you couldn’t.”
“I do enjoy a challenge.”
She snorted softly and kissed me. “I’m sorry I ruined the mood,” she said when she finally pulled away. “We could always head downstairs and gamble some or—”
Charisse yelped in surprise when I shoved her so hard she flew backwards and landed back on the couch. The confusion in her eyes was quickly replaced by lust when I pounced on top of her and wedged myself between her legs.
“You got me angry,” I said as I grabbed her wrists and pinned them behind her head. “I think that means I need to punish you.”
She smiled impishly. “Promise?”
I thrust the phallus inside her. I fucked her quim until she screamed my name and clawed open my back. And then, while she was still coming down and struggling to catch her breath, I flipped her over and fucked her ass. By the time I was finished with her, there was no way in the void she would have been able to walk back to the palace without her regenerative magic.
Charisse wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Chapter Six
I awoke in Charisse’s arms when the first rays of sunlight filtered in through my chamber window. We eventually stumbled into the communal basin and cleaned up, and we had just enough time to eat breakfast in the commissary before she had to suit up and report for duty on the other side of the city. I started my day in the First Wife’s office, and Lysandre provided me with a stack of reports on Vantriss, the Trelathi Corsairs, and all current known Vin Aether activity in the region.
Reading through the scrolls was enlightening if not particularly exciting, and I welcomed an afternoon training break. This time, Vaylin didn’t attempt to humiliate me. She did her job and taught me several different Luvani fighting styles, and together we were able to demonstrate proper footwork and fundamentals to her acolytes without relying on our sorcery.
I left the academy sweaty and satisfied with my performance, and after cleaning up a second time I spent the last few hours before dusk rifling through Lysandre’s reports. Committing the various people and places to memory wasn’t difficult; all Brides learned tricks to enhance our recall as part of our espionage training. I was confident I could pass any test Lysandre threw at me, and by nightfall I left my reading behind and traveled to the Velvet Shadow to meet up with Charisse.
“I figured you’d be back upstairs with that new retharri girl already,” I said. “Or did I wear you out?”
“Not even close, honey,” she said with a snort. “Before we get started, there’s someone else I want you to meet first.”
“A competitor for Rubis?”
“No.” Charisse glanced back and forth around the street as a new wave of patrons shuffled in the door. She tugged on my arm and led me further back into an adjacent alley. “I know there’s no way I can convince you to give up this mission, but I thought I might be able to help.”
I frowned beneath my mask. “You didn’t tell anyone, did you?”
“Of course not. But my patrol was easy today, and it gave me a lot of time to think.” She paused and lowered her voice even more. “You told me that Garaad and his thugs ambushed you in Last Hope. They knew you were coming.”
“That’s right. I still don’t know how.”
“I’m hoping we might be able to find out. I know a guy, a smuggler…if anyone knows who has been leaking information to the rebels, it will be him.”
I stared at her silhouette, wishing I could see past her mask. This wasn’t at all what I’d expected. She must have been even more concerned about me than she’d let on.
“Who is he?” I asked.
“Just someone I’ve done a little business with off and on for the past six months. It’s probably better if you don’t know the details.”
I blinked in disbelief. “You’re working with a smuggler?”
“Calm your tits, honey,” Charisse said, touching my arm. “He moves people, not weapons. I wouldn’t exactly call him a good person, but he’s a useful informant. And right now, that’s exactly what you need.”
I continued staring at her for a long moment, trapped somewhere between surprise and outright disbelief. Smugglers weren’t just another type of criminal in Narthil—they were an infestation. Ever since the Emperor’s decree that sealed the country’s borders
a few decades ago, smuggling cartels had popped up in every major port and city. They mostly brought in illegal foreign goods, but recently the Brides had been focused on stopping shipments of weapons and armor to the Vin Aetheri. His Majesty believed that the jealous rulers of the Five Kingdoms were attempting to equip the rebels to do their dirty work for them.
“I assume Lysandre has no idea you’re in contact with this man,” I said after a moment.
“Of course not,” Charisse replied. “Look, you need to relax. All I want to do is ask him some questions, and if you’re with me it will make things even easier, all right?”
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “You really think he’ll know something?”
“I think it’s worth a try. Wouldn’t you rather know if you’re about to walk into another trap?”
The answer was “yes,” of course, but that didn’t actually make me feel better. I had never enjoyed her casual disregard for the rules, not even when it had just been sneaking out of our chambers and stealing cookies as children. But the risks were manageable, and if there was even a chance this man knew who had betrayed me to Garaad and the Vin Aetheri…
“All right,” I said. “We’ll do it your way.”
“We’ll be fine, trust me,” Charisse soothed. “And we’ll still have plenty of time for fun afterwards. I was thinking we should invite Jirrah into the room with us.”
I snorted. “You really are one of a kind.”
“Because I always have the best ideas?”
“Because you can go from being serious to ridiculous in the span of one sentence.” I almost touched her arm but resisted the obvious show of affection in public. “I still don’t know how you do it.”
“I just like to remind myself what’s actually important in life. Like a pretty pair of glowing Avetharri eyes looking up over your mound while she eats your quim.” Charisse bumped into me with her shoulder. “Even better if my best friend is fucking her ass at the same time.”
I sighed. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
She led me to a warehouse on the northernmost side of the docks, the so-called “Iron District” where dozens of smelters transformed the raw metal from the Skyshear Mountains into useable ingots. The heat was often more oppressive than the smell, and after a few minutes I wanted nothing more than to climb on up onto the roof just to feel the cool night air on my skin.