by Mark Albany
Aliana came in behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist, pulling me in closer to her and standing up on her tip-toes to place a light kiss at the nape of my neck, sending chills running down my spine.
“Don’t worry about me, handsome,” she whispered, her lips still close enough to my skin that I could feel them moving. “After last night, I’m pretty sure that I could tear a hole in reality and we could all stroll through it and into the Imperial City.”
I turned around to face her, tilting my head.
“Not that I could, of course,” Aliana grinned up at me, pulling herself back up to place a light peck on my lips. “That’s just how it feels.”
“Please don’t push yourself too hard,” I whispered, toying with her horns gently and returning her pecked kiss.
“I know my limits, Grant,” she replied with a cheeky smirk, stepping away from me and toward where the rest of our team was assembled, waiting for us. I shook my head, wondering if she really did, but who was I to tell her what she could and couldn’t do?
Quickly shouldering my pack, I broke out into a jog to catch up with them. Our little group had grown by two members, and last night have been the incorporation of the more recent addition. I could feel a bond with Faye already, and there was something different about it. Something to be expected, I supposed from a being as… unpredictable as she was, but it was still something to be delved into later on.
She seemed to guess that I was thinking of her, and she winked provocatively at me as we joined together with Aliana, who was fully focused on creating a portal and didn’t appear to notice the interaction as we all gathered in close together, connecting ourselves to Aliana as she started opening the portal. The smell of ozone and the rising of the hairs on the back of my neck made me grit my teeth, mentally steeling myself for what was about to come.
With my eyes closed, I couldn’t see but I could feel the way that my body was dragged into the portal, bending and squeezing so as to fit along with the other five in our party. My stomach twisted and churned, threating to throw my morning meal back up. I had never vomited in one of these portals, but I couldn’t imagine the result being particularly pretty. And I didn’t want this one to be the first either.
The release from the portal was as sudden as our entry into it, and I was sent stumbling a few steps, coughing and blinking before I crashed into a solid surface. I turned to see what I was leaning against, finding that it was a wall. Well, a wall attached to a house, really, and one made out of stones and mortar. I tilted my head before looking up to see more of the world around me.
We weren’t in a forest anymore, and honestly, I could have made my way through the streets that we had dropped down onto with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back. I knew this place better than I knew the back of my hand.
The Imperial City. There wasn’t a place like it in the world. I assumed, anyway. My own experience in what the rest of the world looked like was rather limited, but I could say with some certainty that no place would feel like home the way this place did.
“You did it,” I chuckled, looking around to Aliana, who still appeared to be a little dazed from the trip.
She still had the strength to smile over to me. “Was there ever any doubt?”
Aliana sounded a little winded, but through the bond I could sense her power returning to her slowly as Norel stepped in next to her, whispering something in elfish – probably asking if she was alright, from Aliana’s nod as a response – and the two stuck together as we started to walk through the streets.
The suspiciously empty streets, I realized. “It’s the middle of the morning in the Merchant district,” I pointed out, looking around us as we strolled across the cobbles. “This place should be teeming with life at this point, but not a single person around.”
Norel looked around as well, being the only person in our party who had lived in the city longer than I had. “He’s right,” she said softly. “This place would be packed with carts and stalls at this time of day. Though I can hear voices near the gates. A great many voices.”
I looked around. “So… everyone can hear those voices except for me?”
Braire grinned and nudged me in the ribs. “Don’t worry, Grant, you have other skills that more than make up for your poor hearing.”
“That doesn’t make feel any better,” I grumbled but I didn’t mean it as I nudged Braire right back.
There was a reason for the levity, of course. We were all on edge here, waiting for something to happen. We’d strolled into a trap the day before and had only escaped through powers that we had no control over, thanks to Faye. I really hoped that we were avoiding that in this case, but we still needed to be careful.
As we moved toward the newly erected gates, I could hear the voices swelling up to meet us the way that Norel had described them. There were a lot of people gathered, enough that the city emptying wasn’t that odd of a sight. I couldn’t tell what had led them to all be gathered near the gates, but I supposed that was why we were heading that way ourselves, to investigate.
My hand remained on my sword as we stepped out into the square outside the gate, giving us all a full view of the sheer number of people that were gathered together. The place was packed to the point where we wouldn’t be able to step inside ourselves. The closer we got, though, the more people seemed to notice us. It wasn’t me that they were staring at, but rather Aliana, Norel, Braire, and Lyth. Even Faye was attracting a few odd looks, though her appearance matched a human’s more closely than the other three. The way that the people were staring and pointing made me uncomfortable. There was a hostility in their glares that made me grip my sword a little tighter, just begging for an excuse to draw it.
I tapped Norel’s shoulder, indicating for her to follow me to some stairs that were leading up to a terrace that gave a rather good view of the place while still far enough away that we wouldn’t be in clear view of the people crowding the square. I felt that was the safe choice, climbing around the tall building to reach the terrace. I didn’t want to risk any of the violence that felt imminent to my mind attracting any attention from people that we wanted to remain hidden from for the moment. I wasn’t sure who those people were, but I wanted to know who they were before they found us. That just felt like the prudent course of action.
What we could see was something that I’d never been present for in my life, though I didn’t want to express my admiration for the view to those that probably had seen something similar in the past.
Thousands of people in the square were being corralled by almost an equal number of lancers, visible due to the sunlight reflecting off their newly polished suits of armor. There were banners hanging from the walls as well, depicting a phoenix in gold, also reflecting the sunlight, displayed in a split field of red and black.
“The Emperor’s colors,” Norel said, tilting her head. “They haven’t displayed those since the man himself left the city.”
“Which means that the Emperor already arrived,” I said with a soft shake of my head.
“Not technically,” Norel said. “They raise the banners in expectation of the Emperor’s arrival, not necessarily when he’s already present. I’d say, from what is displayed in front of us, that his arrival is expected soon.”
I nodded. That did make more sense. So many people gathered did lend itself to the thought that they were waiting for their ruler to arrive, not celebrating the fact that he already had. I could see that the merchants weren’t losing out on the opportunity presented by the whole city being present in one place, and had arrived in force, selling their wares. Nothing in the world would change that about them, I supposed. The world could be ending, and there would still be a need for people to keep everyone fed, watered, and entertained until such a time arrived.
Not a bad thing, I supposed, but still an interesting phenomenon. I wondered if it was reflected in elves and fae.
“What do we do next?” Braire asked, looking around to us
. “I don’t know if you lot have noticed, but there aren’t any elves in that crowd below us. And did you see how the humans present were watching us, staring at us? Chances are that word of our arrival has already started to spread, which will limit our options if our intention is to surprise our enemies.”
Lyth nodded, idly toying with her new sword. “True. We need to find a way into the palace without being seen, and without word being spread that we are there. Powerful though we might be, we can’t fight off an army under Abarat’s command. Not alone.”
I looked around. “We can’t stay here. We need to find somewhere that we can stay to start gathering intelligence. Find out when the Emperor is going to arrive, and how. And then we can start plotting a plan of attack.”
I was only stating our next logical steps, but the rest of them seemed to quiet down, listening, and when I was finished, nodding and starting to head back to the stairs that we’d taken up. If bringing a bit of focus to our actions was all the wisdom that I could offer, I would take it, and we were already on the move. Norel appeared to have an idea of where we could go to hide, and she took the lead in our group, with the rest of us following closely behind.
As we reached the ground again, I turned to see that one of the nearby shop owners was speaking to a group of Lancers, apparently doing their rounds. As soon as the man saw us, he immediately began to gesticulate, pointing the Lancers over to where we were walking. We were far enough away that Norel could guide us out of sight of the men before they could get a good look, but from what I could hear of their heavy boots moving over the cobbles they weren’t going to be far behind.
“We can’t afford a battle out in the open like this,” Aliana warned, shaking her head. I doubted that she had enough power left over to be able to open another portal for us. If it came down to it, I wasn’t against finishing a fight that these men appeared to be starting, but there was something to be said about not having this fight out in the open. Let them follow us somewhere that we could keep the fighting hidden from anyone else that might want to find and attack us.
Norel guided us back into the Merchant’s section of the city, guiding us through the buildings that still appeared to be abandoned for the moment. Whether that was because people were just starting to populate the location again, or if they were all in the square, waiting for the Emperor, I wasn’t sure, and honestly didn’t care. We needed to get off the streets now.
Norel guided us into one of the buildings that had an unlocked door, and we quickly slipped inside, waiting for the men to pass us by as I quietly closed the door behind us. I gripped the sword in my hand a little tighter, expecting them to have been able to track us, expecting to have to use it.
But as the seconds ticked by, the boots passed us by and kept on receding into the street. I looked around, narrowing my eyes, but the reason became clear as I could see Norel quickly performing one of Aliana’s perception spells while pressing her fingers into the wall of the house that we had entered. I wasn’t sure how she could do it, but she appeared to be making the house itself invisible to the men that there standing outside.
No, not invisible, I recalled, just difficult to see. There was a difference in there somewhere, but I didn’t want to have to consider it at the moment.
“I think we’re in the clear, for now,” Norel said, finally breaking the spell to turn and peer at the rest of us. “We should probably be keeping our heads low for the moment.”
“Why are they coming after us?” Aliana asked, looking around. “And where are all the elves?”
“Well, those seem like the kind of questions that an investigation could solve,” I growled. “An investigation that we can’t conduct while keeping our heads low.”
“Aren’t you all forgetting something?” Faye asked, and when we all turned to look at her, she had changed her appearance again. Nothing dramatic, of course, but the change was rather visible. Her silver hair had turned back to something more toned to gold, with her features altered and changed to make her look more how she had when we’d first seen her as a human and Official to the Emperor.
“Oh… right,” I said, tilting my head. “Well, I suppose that an Official might be able to get to the bottom of the matter rather quickly, if knowledge of you changing sides hasn’t begun to spread.”
“I doubt that anyone other than maybe Abarat suspect a thing,” Faye said with a grin, flicking her long curls to one side and then the other, trying to get the appearance just right, running her hands down her curvaceous body, changing the look of her clothes back to something a little more human. “And if I am discovered, I can just change my appearance again to something less official, and more human, and still keep looking around. I’m resourceful like that.”
Aliana was grinning at the woman, and even I couldn’t help but be infected by her sudden dose of optimism.
“Should I be joining you?” I asked, taking a step forward. “I do still have a position of some sort, don’t you?”
“That would be unwise,” Faye said, shaking her head. “Word was quickly spread among the ranks of the Lancers how four betrayed the Emperor and are wanted for treason. I… may have given that order myself.”
I nodded. That did make sense. If she had been working for Abarat the whole time, it would have been an intelligent move to make sure that our position was compromised with the Empire, should we have escaped the attack that was in the making for us.
It just didn’t feel right to be pushed aside like this. I wanted to help, and the sensation was shared between the bond with Aliana, Norel, and Braire. Faye was on the receiving end of it all, apparently, and she seemed untouched. If I needed to guess, she was actually rather excited to be involved in the group as much as she was.
“I’ll be back in a few hours,” she said with a last flip of her hair and smiling brilliantly at me. “How do I look?”
I turned to the rest of them, trying to see if they knew what kind of answer that Faye was looking for. Norel stepped forward, smiling as she stepped forward.
“You look gorgeous,” she said, leaning in to press a light kiss to the woman’s cheek before she turned around and left.
“What do we do while she’s gone?” Aliana asked, looking around to the rest of us.
Lyth sighed, rolling her shoulders and looking around our current accommodations. “What is this place?” she asked, indicating how empty the place was. It looked like it had been slapped together and not given a single item to make it look like an actual home. Not even windows.
“I’d say that it was put together to make the area look a little nicer,” Aliana grumbled, pacing the area. “I know that they were putting the city together after the battle, but at this point I’m thinking that they were just trying to put superficial fixes to make the place look less like it hadn’t just been the site of a battle.”
“That would be the idea,” I whispered, unbuckling my sword and laying it on my lap as I sat down on the ground near the door.
15
The hours passed with us stuck in the room. Lyth had slipped out for some astral projection, and she didn’t appear to be in the mood to help me slip into the state with her. The three sisters were talking amongst themselves, possibly preparing for the fight that we were anticipating, leaving me to keep a watch over the door and be the first to meet the poor unfortunate soul that would break in on a room filled with some of the most powerful mages in the known world.
And me, I thought with a little smirk, leaning back against the wall, letting my fingers play over the runes on the blade. The bond with Faye was still a little weak and overpowered mostly by my connection to the other three, but I could still feel a mix of emotions coming from the woman, making me wonder what the hell she was on about out there.
I was the first on my feet when I felt her approaching, with the rest only realizing it due to my reaction. I still gripped the blade at seeing her stepping through the door. There was still something about that human appearance of hers that rais
ed the hairs on the back of my neck. A reaction that she seemed to appreciate as she almost immediately switched back to her truer appearance, though she had never said if the appearance was her true form.
I was still curious. When we had the opportunity later, I would ask her about it. There was a feeling of comfort between us at this point, I thought, all things considered.
“How did it go?” Aliana asked, moving over to Faye and wrapping her up in a tight embrace before letting the woman answer.
“Well, there is some news, none of it really good, but not bad either, I suppose,” Faye said, rolling her shoulders, pulling the sword from her back. She’d turned it back into a spear for her trip, but it quickly altered back to the sword that the woman appeared to prefer.
“Well, I suppose you should start with the bad news,” I said with a small smile, dropping back down to my seat on the ground, laying my sword across my lap again.
“Well, I should start with the news that the Emperor made camp outside the city,” Faye said, her voice a little more somber than I would have preferred. “There was interest in him passing through the gates at dawn. There were a variety of reasons why, but they remain outside the city, and have given orders to no allow anyone near to the camp.”
“Well, that gives us until tomorrow to find a way into the Palace, yes?” Norel asked, looking around.
“Why don’t we just get to him in the streets?” Braire asked. “That would be where he is the least protected, out in the open like that.”
“We’re not trying to kill him, remember?” Aliana said, patting Braire on the shoulder. “We would be stuck out in the open with him as well, trying to break Abarat’s control over him while every Lancer in the city is converging on our position. We wouldn’t last five minutes.”
Braire nodded. “Point taken. So why is the Palace any better than out in the open? There would have to be just as many of the bastards in there as there are out here.”