Lady Dalpha’s body was sprawled on the dais like a tragic sacrifice, the odassi blade pinning her to the rock. Her clear pink blood ran through the dark red of the dead, as rivers through tilled farm fields under a colorful sunset.
Shivering, Duke stood over her body. With his head bowed, bleeding from dozens of wounds, he mumbled, “How many more, Lothia? How many more?”
Lady Lothia was nowhere to be seen.
Cundia and Orahda approached him, supporting each other, their own blood adding to the deep pools of spent life.
Orahda shook his head, unbelieving. “My Lord, I believe I was incorrect in my estimate of when I needed to start wearing armor for our sparring.”
Chapter 3
Fires That Burn
Electra
Emotions flooded Electra in an uncontrollable tidal wave. She felt nauseated, and her heart beat a painful, staccato pulse. Each broke down a different reinforcement she had built to hold back the guilt from ordering the attack on Hisuru Amajoo.
Although the attack had failed, she still had nightmares of what could have been: hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children burned to ash in the rain of fire from the sky.
She turned away from the console showing her love, Lord Dohma, being cheered by the remaining warriors for forcing Shar-Lumen to retreat. Her emotions didn’t let her see the other displays showing the fighting ending in and around Gracia as the remaining Nhia-Samri retreated through their gates. She started to cry, both in the virtual world and in reality.
Vesta appeared next to her, crouching down. “What’s wrong, Electra? Dohma lives, and Gracia has been saved.”
“I killed her,” she sobbed, wrapping her arms around her knees.
Vesta looked over the monitors, her brows furrowing. “Dalpha? No, you didn’t. That was Shar-Lumen’s madness. Dear child, you are not to blame.”
Electra whimpered, “Yes I am,” and shook her head in disagreement. Her emotions boiled over, and she lost all control, falling out of her seat to the ground. She cried into her knees, trying to squeeze herself tighter and smaller.
“Let the world swallow me forever,” she wailed into her knees. “He should have killed me! Why Dalpha? What had Dalpha done to anyone that caused her to deserve anything but love? Dalpha served everyone equally, healing and caring for the lost and forgotten.”
Vesta sat down cross-legged next to Electra and placed a hand on her shoulder. She began to sing. Electra didn’t comprehend the words; or maybe her mind was so wrapped in sorrow that she couldn’t understand language. But she knew the songs that Vesta sang spoke in tones and music of losses and regrets. Vesta’s own tones wavered, and without looking, Electra knew she was crying, too.
Marks later, Electra sobbed and uncurled. Pushing herself up, she saw that Vesta had bloodshot eyes, and her face was as wet as Electra’s. It didn’t matter that Vesta was a creation of technology. She had regrets, and Electra was sure there were far more than she knew of. Vesta’s voice quivered on the last forlorn note of a song, and they sat, looking into each other’s eyes.
Something inside of her felt changed. Her mind had cleared slightly, and the edge of the guilt dulled as well.
Electra leaned over and pulled Vesta into a hug. They sat that way for an eternity, the soft hum of the city around them as they cried silently together.
Arkady’s soft voice was a shock. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you’re about to be under attack.”
Vesta squeezed Electra one time, hard, and then stood up. “What do you mean?”
Electra wiped her face, and yet it still felt wet. It took her a few moments to realize it was from her real face, not the virtual one, that the sensation of wet tears was coming. She had forgotten that only her mind was here. She returned to her body and sat up, wiping away the tears.
I wonder if Vesta did something to me. She said that many problems living beings had could be eased and addressed. Maybe there was magic in those songs she sang.
“That bad?” Mandy asked.
Electra stiffened, recalling that she wasn’t alone in her room. The idea of telling anyone the news caused her throat to tighten. She sniffled, and the tears started again. Looking at Mandy and the other two Daggers, she decided they needed to know. She took a deep breath to steady herself. “Gracia stands. The assembly was attacked. I don’t know how many leaders still live. Lord Dohma is alive.”
Mandy crouched in front of her and put a hand on her knee. “That’s not what your face and tears say. Something else has happened. What?”
She took another breath.
I can’t tell them everything.
“Shar-Lumen killed Dalpha, Lady of Light, in the assembly hall battle.” Tears flowed from her eyes, and her throat tightened, making it impossible to say anything else. The guilt flared less than before, yet it still hurt.
Mandy rolled backwards off her feet to sit on the floor. Her eyes darted back and forth, from one of Electra’s to the other. Finally she got out, “Why would he kill Dalpha? Was she fighting him?”
With her head down, Electra sobbed. “He.... He killed her because he believed the Gods attacked him and his people.”
“Did they?”
She tried to swallow a few times and looked up at the ceiling for an answer. “No, they wouldn’t have failed,” she said, just above a whisper.
When she looked down, Mandy had one eyebrow raised and one side of her mouth was curled up.
She knows I know something more.
Just then, they heard a knock. One of the girls by the door turned and listened without opening it. When she turned around, her face was grim. “An army is approaching. The city has been sealed, and the regents request that you join them in the throne room.”
Her mind was moving slowly, and there was a pressure in her temples as if her head was packed with cotton.
At least I can function.
Electra stood and put all of the gear away. After strapping on her sword belt, she followed her guards to the throne room. She saw that several nobles were present. However, instead of wearing the normal fine clothing, everyone was dressed in armor of one type or another.
A large table now stood in front of the regents’ thrones, covered with maps, papers, and small figures. A palace officer was placing the figures on a map of the city as he spoke.
Electra tapped her fingers together in a quick pattern, activating her recently enhanced hearing device. The audio processors under her covert control easily locked onto and amplified the officer’s report for her as she walked across the room. “...burnt and fell. The city’s defenses seem to be keeping them at bay. We’ve added a dozen additional perimeter patrols on the walls. So far, I’m reasonably sure they haven’t entered the city.”
Regent Bayion, Dohma’s brother and co-ruler of the Kingdom of Aelargo, tapped the map near the eastern docks. “What about that fight in the Blue Dolphin that was reported earlier?”
The officer consulted a small paper booklet. “The final report lists twenty-three Daggers killed, eleven Nhia-Samri dead, ten Nhia-Samri thugs, possibly hired locally, dead, and one combatant escaped. Another dozen surviving Daggers, heavily wounded, are at Dalpha’s temple now. The most notable point is that the clash included a unique group: Ticca, Duke’s Dagger General on special assignment; Lebuin, a Guild mage; and an elite group of eleven including some well-known Daggers. Ticca, Lebuin, and six Daggers raced out of the city on expedition-packed horses heading west before the battle ended. Four other Daggers in the fight left immediately after, also heading westward on expedition-packed horses. We have positive confirmation Ticca is heavily wounded. The others had visible wounds as well. One of the dead at the inn is Tuage, a senior engineering Dagger who was part of Ticca’s strike team.”
Regent Ellua, Dohma’s sister and the third co-ruler of Aelargo, look
ed concerned. “So Ticca escaped with most of her team. Do we have any knowledge of what they’re up to?”
“We only have a vague report about investigating some stronghold for intelligence.”
“You said one Nhia-Samri is missing?” Ellua asked.
“Yes, the area is well-lit,” he said, head down, staring at the little notebook. Flipping the page, he continued, “We have quite a few eye witnesses, including four senior Daggers. They describe a dark-skinned, middle-aged woman, possibly Rhonian. She’s roughly seventeen hands tall, thin build, with medium-length brown hair. More distinguishing is that she didn’t have a cloak, and appeared badly burned on the left side of her face. The Daggers suggest she’s a mage, due to claims of lightning shooting around behind the Dolphin by the stables, which is where she fled from just after Ticca’s team left. That could explain the burned face. The upper rooms across the stable alley from the Dolphin had charring on the windowsill and curtains. Two of the dead Nhia-Samri were in the alley under that window, one decapitated.”
Bayion exchanged glances with Ellua. “Have you reported this to the Guild?”
“Yes, m’Lord, and they’ve provided two strong mages to magically protect the palace. They say they were given some special instructions for facing Nhia-Samri mages by Lebuin the day he returned to Llino. We’re advised to not engage directly. They’ll let us know if they have any news about this rogue mage.”
Electra took out a mirror compact and pulled on her left earlobe. Holding the compact before her, she opened it and covered her mouth as she looked into the mirror, dabbing the edges of her eyes, removing some of the evidence of her recent trauma. She whispered, “Rainbow, there’s a rogue mage in Llino. Check the last minute of data for details.”
“Okay, checking the records. Stand by.” Vesta’s voice was as loud as anyone else in the room, and Electra scanned the chamber, confirming she was the only one who heard it. No one else appeared to notice.
Have to remember to thank Arkady for pointing out the imperial spy implants like the middle-ear audio processor Vesta assembled with the nanobots in my ear.
Feeling like she was getting back to working order, she returned the compact to her belt pouch. When she looked up, Bayion was glaring directly at her. She tried to not appear guilty, and nodded to him.
Bayion put a hand on Ellua’s arm, stopping her from what she was going to say next. Ellua glanced at Bayion, then at what he was eyeing, which meant Electra was being watched by the two co-rulers of the kingdom.
She bowed formally. “You called for me?”
“You’ve been crying,” Bayion said. “Is everything okay, Countess?”
Oh, he thought I was trying to hide that I was crying. Thank goodness, he didn’t hear what I said.
“I’ll be fine. I can explain later.”
Bayion and Ellua exchanged a glance, and Ellua took over. “Countess, we’ve received a warning that the Alliance is at war. We were given specific instructions from Duke on what we should do. Have you received any new instructions from the Alliance?”
“We have a means of communication. However, I haven’t received any specific instructions yet.” Glancing sideways at Mandy, she saw her look of surprise, which she quickly hid. But Electra was sure Bayion saw it, too.
That man is far too observant. Normally I’d be pleased, but this is going to be difficult.
“A large force is approaching,” Ellua said to the nobles, officers, and Daggers. “There have already been attempts to breach our defenses. Don’t hesitate to bring any news to us, no matter the time. As of this moment, we’re declaring martial law. All judicial functions are suspended. Everyone in this room is ordered to be on twenty-four-mark call. Rooms are being prepared here in the palace for you all. The library’s conversion into a war room will be finished today. We all live and work here till the end of this conflict is declared.”
A chill ran down Electra’s spine at the pronouncement. It wasn’t out of line, but in saying the words, Ellua cemented the situation and its importance in the minds of all present.
A soft chime in her ear made her jump. Bayion looked over with a raised eyebrow as Vesta’s voice came to her. “The rogue mage is close to the palace. Do you need precise coordinates?”
Electra gave him a quick “I’m fine” smile. How can I do this with Bayion watching me?
She moved aside, looking around for somewhere private. Everyone’s attention was on setting up protocols for work, sleep, and other mundane tasks involved with shifting into a military mode of operation. She spotted a regular guardswoman and walked over and mumbled, “Is there a toilet close by?”
The guard nodded and gave her the location. Moving quickly, with her six Daggers following close behind, she ducked into the restroom. Closing the door, she whispered. “Rainbow, how can you know that so fast?”
“She’s wounded, and the nanobots reported in.”
Oh, my Lady! The nanobots in the city water.
The nanobots were one of the most interesting things Electra had learned about. It was a long-known fact that visiting the ancient Imperial cities was a curative for many diseases and made wounds heal faster. That knowledge fueled a large health spa trade in those cities. There were even special hostels for pregnant women, staffed with midwives, as elder-city born children usually grew to be healthy and vibrant.
Electra, as many others, had noted years ago that all of the same health benefits were present down river for about a mile from the cities. Many also noted that the first thing done in any healing temple of Dalpha was to clean wounds with temple water and if possible, have the patient drink some temple water. Most believed all this was because the Gods had dwelled in them in ancient times and their blessings continued in the waters.
Now Electra knew the truth. The ancient cities had vast armies of machines called nanobots, so small they could only be seen with powerful microscopes. The cities pumped nanobots into the water for the city’s population. These miraculous machines worked constantly to improve health, repair damage, fight diseases, and correct minor genetic defects during pregnancy.
The nanobots were a part of the city systems and part of Vesta, Arkady, and the other sentient machines. In spite of the sentient machines being forced into an eternal slumber, their systems continued to work, just as people continued to breathe while asleep.
Nanobots weren’t perfect, and they had limits. Still, they were a testimony to the powers once wielded by the ancestors of Niya-Yur. A major problem the nanobots could not cope with on their own was mages. Magic didn’t interact well with some ancient Imperial technologies; it easily interrupted or burned mundane technologies and organisms. Heavy use of magic rapidly wore nanobots down, as magic continuously burned the users. Hence, nanobots in a mage were under constant attack and forced to work harder repairing the damage caused by magic.
If someone was seriously injured, the nanobots called for reinforcements. Since Vesta was awake, she could review the reports from all of the nanobots in the city. In this case, the person they were looking for was a mage who had been burnt, meaning the list of possibilities had to be small.
The problem was how to draw attention to the rogue mage without tipping anyone else off.
I wish we’d started recruiting people sooner. I know Vesta wants only me to know about her; still, we need a way to get our information to the authorities without sounding alarms that could be noticed by the assembly or Duke.
“Give me her location.”
“She’s staying at the Lion’s Gate Inn two blocks north of the palace. She’s currently in a second-story room. I have a few of my little friends nearby watching. When you need an update, say, ‘The mage was last seen....’ If you pause, I’ll tell you what to say.”
Electra exited the restroom. As she walked back into the war room, she studied everyone with a crit
ical eye.
Who can I trust? And how can we get this news to the guards without revealing that we have a miraculous source of information?
That was when an idea hit her. She glanced back at Mandy and the other five Dagger guards. Mandy caught the motion and stared back as if she could read Electra’s mind. She stood taller and nodded with a clear “you can trust me” expression.
Electra stepped into one of the side rooms, which had been turned into a meeting room. It had a second set of doors, but they were closed. She motioned to Mandy to step in with her and to come close.
“Yes, m’Lady?”
“Mandy, who assigned you and the others to me?”
“Not exactly sure. We were in Fox Squad, and our squad commander told us we were assigned as your personal guards until further notice. I didn’t think to ask for the source of the order.”
“I’ve trusted you with some Imperial secrets. I’m lost, and I don’t know what to do.”
Mandy gave a hand sign, and the other five Daggers moved. Three stepped back, out to the throne room, and closed the doors. Two went through the other doors, closing them as well.
Mandy held out her hand. “Tell me what you need.”
“I haven’t had time to set up lines of communication. I need to get information to the guards or the regents in such a way that they don’t know I’m the source. If I’m discovered, I could be killed.”
“Surely you’re exaggerating m’Lady. Political games aside, intel is intel.”
Appearing as earnest as she could, Electra said, “Not this. This you would not believe, and if you did, you would likely be killed, too.”
“Okay, I can play cloak and dagger for you.” Mandy smiled at her own jest.
Electra put a hand on Mandy’s shoulder. “I’m not joking or exaggerating. If discovered, you will be killed as a traitor to the Alliance.”
Thread Skein (Golden Threads Trilogy Book 3) Page 8