by Andrew Rowe
Lydia narrowed her eyes, pulling her arm away from Taelien and nodding to him, then looking back to War. “I’m not interested, but thank you for your concern. I will recover on my own, given time.”
“In part, at least. I could make you better than before – but that is not why you are here, at least for now. If you will not trade blows with me, a trade of questions, then?”
Holder took a breath, stepping away from the wall. “We do not negotiate with prisoners. And certainly not murderers.”
The Wandering War stepped back, leaning back against the barrier on the opposite side of his cell. “Murder is such a peculiar term. Humans use it to ascribe immorality to any form of killing they find personally inconvenient. I don’t make the distinction that you do, but nevertheless, I think it’s fair to say I haven’t murdered anyone.”
Lydia straightened her back, taking a breath. “That ties into my first question. What was your role in the deaths of Applicants Merrick and Laurent?”
War shook his head, closing his scarlet eyes. “You must offer me something. I am starving and this,” he gestured to the food, “Will not sate my appetite.”
Taelien tapped a fist against the invisible wall. “If you’re released, I’ll train with you.”
The copper-skinned man turned his gaze toward the ground. “I would prefer something now, but I suppose the promise of bloodshed will have to suffice.” He turned his head toward Lydia. “I saw them killed. It was quick, as betrayals often are. Eridus created a poisonous vapor, which they breathed. When they reported their sickness, Eridus played at healing Laurent while he shaped her blood into water. While Merrick watched the ‘healing’, Sterling stabbed him in the back of the neck.”
Gods, turning someone’s blood into water –
Taelien tightened his jaw.
The Wandering War spared him a glance. “Ah, good, that angers you. As well it should – there was no glory in it, no battle to be won. I would call their deaths worthless, but they did bring me to battle.”
“And to freedom from compulsion.” Taelien steepled his fingers together.
“Trading one set of chains for another is no great joy. And while this cell,” the copper-skin man stretched, “Is roomier than the last, it has provided fewer opportunities for entertainment. At least until now.”
Lydia reached up with her free hand to adjust her glasses. “Another question. What do you know about the death of Kalsiris Theas?”
The Wandering War put his left thumb to his chin, closing his eyes for a moment. “Ah, that was the one I was summoned to obfuscate. It was more tactically done than Sterling’s more recent gambit.”
The copper skinned man pushed himself away from the invisible wall, coming forward again. “Sterling brought me to this plane, bound me, and shrouded me in a cloak of sight sorcery. I was forced to walk a shallow path while Eridus followed, an assassin’s blade in hand. The building was impressively protected against bombardment and teleportation, but not against mere stealth. We followed a patrolling guard into the building and quickly found our target.”
Lydia’s eyes narrowed. “Continue.”
“It was quite simple after that – Sterling had shown me the plans to the building. I went to the correct room, Eridus followed. I noted to Eridus that the boy was shielded, and thus, he chose to poison the drink on the nearby table rather than test the knife. We did not wish to risk allowing the child to raise an alarm, and the liquid would bypass the ring’s protections. We waited for the child to wake and drink, thus ensuring the kill, before leaving the room.”
“How did Eridus poison the drink?” Lydia put both hands on her staff, leaning heavily against it.
“Core sorcery. It’s a simple thing to turn water into poison for one skilled in that art.”
The sorceress nodded. “And the dominion essence of poison we found at the ritual area?”
“Ah, you found that, did you? Just another deflection. Sterling placed it to divert any investigations toward poison sorcerers.”
“And you had no direct part in the poisoning, or in killing any of our paladin applicants or members?”
The Wandering War shrugged at that. “Nothing as direct as cutting someone apart, no. Although I certainly did try with this one.” He indicated Taelien with a gesture.
Taelien grimaced. “You’re not really helping the case for your freedom.”
“Is that what this is about?” The Wandering War laughed. “Oh, I suppose I should be playing at placation, then. But I don’t want to.”
Taelien glanced at Lydia. “I think you can see that he was just being coerced into helping Sterling.”
“Well, not precisely,” War mentioned. “I mean, yes, he bound me with sorcery, and I didn’t have a choice, but he was having me do things that served my dominion – redirecting blame to cause conflict isn’t my personal specialty, but it is one way to make war.”
Lydia glanced back at Taelien. “And, as you said, he’s really not helping his own case for freedom. He’s a being connected to war. He’s dangerous.”
“Extremely dangerous,” The Wandering War added cheerfully. “Terribly dangerous. Catastrophically, perhaps.”
Lydia shook her head, cracking a smile. “I’ll take your word on that. Another question – were you in any way involved in a second assault on House Theas?”
War made a scoffing noise. “What we did could hardly be called an assault. But to answer your question, no, I visited there only once.”
“Were you aware of any plans for a second attack?”
War shook his head. “No. A shame - infiltration is not to my tastes, but a direct attack on that compound...” He turned his head upward, inhaling a deep breath. “That would have been delightful.”
“Have you ever heard of someone called the ‘Shrouded One’?”
War shrugged. “Can’t say I have. Sounds like a name made for a calculated effect of mystery.”
That’s rather ironic, coming from him.
Lydia turned away from War, looking to Taelien and Holder. “I believe we’re done here.”
Taelien nodded to Lydia and looked toward Holder. “I’d like you to give the two us some time to talk privately.”
The lieutenant looked to Lydia, and then back to Taelien. “You want me to leave the two of you in here with him, with no way out?”
Taelien shook his head. “No, I meant just myself and War – you’d be taking Lydia with you.”
The sorceress stepped away from the barrier and gave Taelien a disapproving look. “Absolutely not.”
Holder breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Five minutes, that’s all. I have personal questions.” Taelien folded his arms. “I’ve earned that much, at least.”
“It’s not a question of earning anything. This entity is, by his own admission, ‘terribly dangerous’. I will consider allowing you to speak to him privately after I’ve had time to set up a way to view the cell remotely.”
Taelien sighed in resignation. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good.” Lydia turned toward the Wandering War. “One last thing, War.”
He raised an eyebrow at her quizzically. “Ask. I’m curious. But I do expect repayment for these boons I have granted you.”
“Would you like to fight a Vae’kes?”
A knife of a smile slid slowly across the copper-skinned man’s face.
“I would like that very much.”
Chapter XXVI – Lydia VII – Allies
Lydia forced her eyes shut as the next teleportation spell returned her to her chambers. Lieutenant Holder and Taelien stood beside her as she steadied herself with her walking staff.
Taking a breath, she turned to Lieutenant Holder first. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Please inform the colonel that we will proceed with the meeting with the next prisoner, and then return here.”
The grey-haired lieutenant saluted smartly. “Yes, ma’am.” He had an expression of relief as he departed her office.
Taelien leaned up against a nearby wall. She shook her head at him. “Applicant Taelien, your behavior in the interrogation was inappropriate.”
The swordsman blinked, pushing off from the wall and straightening his stance. “Apologies, ma’am. What do you mean?”
“That was neither an appropriate place nor the appropriate time to ask for permission to speak to the prisoner without supervision. You do realize that we’re in the middle of a murder investigation?”
He remained at attention. “Yes, ma’am.”
She waved her free hand dismissively. “You can put your arm down. At ease.”
He relaxed his shoulders and shifted to a more casual stance. “I’m sorry if I made you look bad.”
“It’s not about that. Your lack of professionalism is a part of the problem, but I’m more concerned about your lack of focus. What did you want to ask him about?”
Taelien scratched the back of his head. “During our fight, I was able to sense some of the dominions he was using – and, in one case, actually manipulate it. He called me ‘cousin’. I think he knows something about who – or what – I actually am.”
Lydia adjusted her glasses. “That is interesting. But as I said, it was not an appropriate time.”
Taelien sighed. “I understand. I just wasn’t sure if I’d get another opportunity. I thought you of all people would understand.”
“I do understand. After you told me you had met Erik Tarren, I wanted nothing more than to figure out exactly where he had gone and ask him about my father. And I do thank you for mentioning me to him – but his reaction, if you read it right, just leaves me with more questions. But do you see me throwing my resources at finding him right now? No, of course not. Because I’m in the middle of a murder investigation, Taelien, and so are you.”
He looked away. “Consider me thoroughly chastised.”
“Now come over here.”
He turned back toward her slowly, his expression dubious, and then stepped closer. She reached out and put a hand on his arm.
“Dominion of Knowledge –”
“Should you really be doing that? You just nearly fainted from your last spell.”
She ignored him. “I invoke you.”
Dominion of Metal.
Dominion of Flame.
Dominion of Stone.
Unidentified Dominion.
A wave of pain surged through Lydia’s mind as she reeled backward - only to be once again steadied by Taelien’s hand. She shut her eyes for several seconds, breathing heavily.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded silently, her mind still pounding. “Give me a moment.”
He maneuvered her to a chair, where she sat, keeping her eyes closed for a few minutes until the pain subsided to a tolerable level. “I’m not detecting any new dominions.”
“Interesting. That implies that I must have been sensing what War was doing through one of the dominions I already have access to.”
She nodded, keeping her eyes shut. “I can take a more detailed –”
“Not right now, Lydia. I’m interested, but you’re clearly not in the state to be –”
“I won’t let this beat me.” She tightened her hands into fists. “I won’t let that Vae’kes take everything I’ve worked so hard to build.” She brought in a sharp breath.
Taelien set his hand on her forehead. “You don’t have to push yourself so hard, Lydia. You’ll work your way back to your full strength – but you need to do it gradually, or you’ll just make things worse.”
She lowered her head. “I… I know that. I just can’t stop thinking about… I can’t stop picturing what it felt like. I thought I was going to die, Taelien. And I couldn’t do anything. He killed…he killed Garrick…right in front of me. And I was helpless. I don’t want to be helpless.”
Taelien stepped away from her for a moment. She turned to see him pushing the bar on her door into the locked position, and he knelt down behind where she was seated, putting his hands on her back and softly rubbing her shoulders.
She closed her eyes and, for a few moments, allowed herself to cry.
***
Lydia dismissed Taelien several minutes later, wiping away her tears. She was sitting behind her desk, some measure of her composure returned, when a knock sounded on her door.
“Come in.”
She had not expected to see Colonel Wyndam on the other side, but nevertheless, she instinctively rose and saluted her superior officer immediately.
The colonel returned her salute. “At ease, officer. Are you prepared to visit our next prisoner?”
She nodded hastily. Anything to get my mind back into focus. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. I will be accompanying you.” The colonel stepped into the room, revealing that Lieutenant Holder was standing behind her.
Lydia reached for her walking staff, grabbing it and using it to push herself back into a standing position. She limped to meet the others, reaching out with a hand to Lieutenant Holder. He took her hand with his right and Colonel Wyndham’s hand with his left. “Eratar, may your winds guide us safely on our journey. Dominion of Travel, carry us to the cell of Applicant Eridus.”
Lydia shut her eyes to avoid a fraction of the disorientation that accompanied the teleportation spell, opening them several moments later.
Eridus’ cell was nearly identical to the one in which The Wandering War had been held – it was a standard preparation for prisoners that were known to have sorcerous abilities.
The wards on the walls would disallow teleportation spells that were not cast with a specific Key – a Key that only specific paladin officers were aware of – and numerous other protections reinforced the stone and air against sorcerous manipulation.
In addition to those protections, Lydia noted two stone statues standing in the back corners of the room – constructs that could be controlled remotely by one of their sorcerers, similar to the ones that were used in the paladin tests. Since Eridus was a water sorcerer, stone defenders would be resilient against his sorcery, whereas any ordinary soldier was at risk of having their blood transmuted.
The Rethri in question was lying down, facing the ceiling. Unlike the Wandering War, he had eaten the food he had been given, but he had no books to keep him entertained.
“Applicant Eridus.” The colonel spoke almost immediately, folding her arms. “You are aware of the accusations against you?”
He didn’t move from his reclining position. Not even his eyes shifted. “Sure.”
“Excellent, that will expedite this process. Do you have anything to say in your defense?”
It wasn’t quite the process that Lydia would have gone through, but she waited patiently, preparing her own questions with what little concentration she could muster.
He tilted his head toward the group just slightly. “Nope.”
“You understand that if you are found guilty of killing two other paladin applicants, you’ll be executed?”
The Rethri gave her a half smile. “I doubt that.”
Colonel Wyndam narrowed her eyes. “And why is that?”
“I won’t be here for very much longer.”
He still thinks he can escape?
Colonel Wyndam laughed sharply, drawing confused looks from both Lydia and Lieutenant Holder. “Oh, no, no. You’re not going to be getting out of here – not intact, at least. Those applicants may not be full paladins yet, but they were my responsibility. My people. I do not allow someone to murder my people and walk free.”
“I’m sure you’ll find some way to live with your disappointment.” Eridus sat up. “Is that all you’re here for? Empty threats? I was hoping for something with a little more substance to break the tedium.”
The colonel turned to Lydia. “Major Hastings, I believe you had questions pertaining to your own investigation. Ask them while I check the integrity of the wards.”
Lydia nodded, turning to Eridus while the colonel moved to put a hand on the wall. The Rethri
clasped his hands in his lap, his expression neutral.
“Did you kill Kalsiris Theas?”
The Rethri raised both eyebrows. “Awfully direct. I like that. Yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, I killed him. Poisoned his drink, went out the window, and went on my merry way. Next question?”
“Were you involved in a second attack on the Theas manor?”
He cracked his knuckles. “Not directly, but I provided them with a variety of poisons.”
“Define ‘them’.”
“Oh, is that what this is about? You still haven’t put together a case against anyone for the second attack? That’s adorable. What are you going to offer me in exchange for that information?”
Lydia folded her arms. “Well, we could let you die by the sword, rather than being drawn and quartered.”
Eridus tightened his lips for a moment, and then flashed a grin. “No, don’t think so. You’re not going to kill me – not as long as you know that I know information you need. And I’ll be out of here long before you can force that information out of me.”
Lydia glanced at the colonel, but she still appeared to be distracted, whispering into the walls.
Turning her head back to Eridus, Lydia flexed her left hand in the air. “I can make your cell more comfortable.”
He nodded slowly. “That might get you a few words. What are you offering?”
“A bed. Pillows.”
“More.”
“Maybe some entertainment, if you provide us with sufficient information.”
“What kind of entertainment? Men, women?”
“Books.”
He shrugged. “Boring. But better than staring at the walls, I suppose. Fine – I’ll give you a bit.”
Lydia tensed her jaw. This is too easy – he’s toying with us. He’s just going to tell us what would be convenient for him. In spite of the stories, though, knowledge sorcery can’t read minds. I’d need a memory sorcerer to do that – and we don’t have any in the city.
But we do have Rialla Dianis.
I can make this work.
“Good.” She turned to Colonel Wyndam. “I need to retrieve someone to assist in this investigation. Shall we return here a bit later?”