by David Wells
Alexander slept in a chair beside Isabel. He didn’t want to move her from the couch because the healing draught was still doing its work and he wasn’t about to leave her alone. It was a restless night. He woke often and had trouble getting back to sleep when he did. His worry for her seemed to ebb and flow like a tide, sometimes receding into manageable concern, other times spiking into a mixture of panic and despair that threatened to overwhelm him.
Chapter 39
He was at her side when she awakened. Chloe was curled up on the back of the couch and woke the moment Isabel did.
“Hi,” Alexander said, taking her hand gently. “You saved me again.”
She smiled up at him, but her smile turned to a frown when she saw the worry in his eyes. “How bad?”
“Bad. Lucky made this for you.” He held up the potion. “You were poisoned. He said this will keep the poison from killing you for a month or so, but then . . .” His voice broke into a sob. She squeezed his hand.
“Alexander, I wouldn’t do a thing differently,” she said. “If I’m your wife, then I’m the Queen of Ruatha and I have a great duty to our people. Part of that duty is protecting you so you can protect us all.” She was so strong and brave, but he could see the fear in her aura.
Alexander shook his head. “I don’t care about any of that right now. I need you, Isabel. You can’t die. I’m not strong enough to survive losing you,” he said through his tears.
“Yes you are!” she said, firmly holding his eyes with hers. “Alexander, you have to promise me that you’ll see this through even if I die. Too many people are counting on you. You can’t fail them because of me. I won’t allow it.” She gave him a stern look. “Promise me, Alexander. Swear on your love for me that you will not give up, no matter what happens to me.”
He nodded but couldn’t form any words past the lump in his throat.
“I need you to say it, Alexander,” she said.
He nodded again as tears slid down his face. “I promise,” he said through a sob and then put his forehead on her stomach and cried softly for several minutes.
After he regained his composure, he helped her sit up to drink the potion. Her arm was still sore but she felt well enough to get up for breakfast.
Kevin woke when she sat up, and he smiled over at his sister. “How’re you feeling, Sis?”
“I’ve been better,” she said with a wince at the pain in her shoulder.
One by one everyone else trickled out of the sleeping chambers that surrounded the large sitting room. They treated Isabel gently, timidly asking how she felt and looking at her with sorrow—until she stood up with her green eyes flashing.
“I’m not dead yet!” she said. “Stop looking at me like I am!”
Alexander actually smiled. Even in the face of doom she had a fire in her that awed him. “All right, Isabel, but I think we should change our plans and head for Blackstone Keep right away. If anyone can help you, the wizards can.”
“No!” she said firmly. “We have a mission to complete and I intend to help you do that until I can’t. We’re going to the Reishi Keep and we should leave today.”
“Still as bossy as ever, I see,” Kevin said to his sister with a sad smile.
“More. I am a Queen, you know,” Isabel said with mock haughtiness. “Now let’s go get breakfast. I’m starving.”
Alexander didn’t press the issue. She seemed to be feeling well enough and she was in good spirits, so he decided to set aside his desire to drop everything else and find a way to save her, although he fully intended to come back to it. He wasn’t going to give up on her, no matter what she said.
When they emerged from their suite of rooms, there was an ordinary-looking man waiting for them in the hall. He bowed formally with a practiced but empty smile. “I am Administrator Crandall, at your service, My Lord. If I may, I would like to discuss the transition of power that will result from Regent Landon’s death.”
Alexander saw in a glance that he was a courtier who viewed words as tools of manipulation and valued power over all else.
He didn’t really want to deal with such things but he knew Kevin would need a few people around him who understood the workings of the court, so he motioned for the man to follow them as they made their way to the dining room. The halls of the keep were patrolled by Rangers who took no chances. Isabel was one of their own and she’d been harmed by an assassin who was still on the loose. Kevin’s Second had deftly managed to insinuate the Rangers into every facet of keep operations literally overnight. The young man looked like he hadn’t slept a wink but he was steady on his feet and offered Kevin a detailed report on the status of the defenses and the extent of their coordination with the city guard.
Administrator Crandall looked a little nervous as they walked over the blood-stained section of the carpet where Landon and his guard force had been slain the night before. Alexander pretended he didn’t notice the dark stains.
“Administrator Crandall, are you well versed in the workings of Southport?” Alexander asked while they walked.
“Yes, My Lord. I have served in court for many years.”
“Good. I’ve appointed Kevin Alaric as the new Regent,” Alexander said. Isabel gave him a sidelong glance. She hadn’t heard that her brother had been assigned the responsibility of running a territory. “I expect you to provide him with honest and forthright advice about the operations of the city. He will require your experience and assistance.”
“As you wish, Lord Alexander, but this is most unusual,” Crandall said smoothly. “The nobles will expect to be consulted in the selection of a new regent and will be most resistant otherwise.”
“I imagine,” Alexander said, “but nonetheless, they will support and obey Regent Alaric or I will impose consequences on them and their holdings. We are at war. For the time being, I require a regent in Southport whom I know and trust.
“At my earliest convenience, I will consult with them regarding the selection of a permanent territorial governor. Until then, Regent Alaric is the Master of Southport. Your first task will be to help him secure the petty nobles’ oaths of loyalty and to coordinate with each landholder to provide a steady flow of supplies to our forces in the south.”
Clearly this wasn’t going as Crandall had planned. His colors gave away his discomfort over the sudden disruption of politics as usual. Without his second sight, Alexander would have been totally unable to read the man; his face revealed nothing.
They reached the dining hall and Alexander stopped to face Crandall. “In fact, I’d like you to summon the petty nobles to a council meeting today so that Regent Alaric can introduce himself and explain to them the new political reality of Southport. That will be all.” Alexander hated dealing with people like Crandall and he had far more important things on his mind than the concerns of courtiers.
Breakfast was lavish bordering on wasteful, but it was also delicious. The long banquet table was set with eggs, toasted bread, fluffy biscuits, sausages, bacon, sliced ham, potatoes fried with onions and peppers, six kinds of jam, butter, milk, hot tea, and three types of juice. The servants were attentive to the point of annoyance. Clearly, Landon liked to be pampered and waited on hand and foot.
Once they had finished eating, Alexander again tried to broach the subject of returning to Blackstone Keep.
“Isabel, I want to take you back to the Keep so the wizards can try to extract the poison.”
She shook her head adamantly. “Absolutely not. The Sovereign Stone is too important. Look, we can make it to the Reishi Keep in a week, then sail to Northport and be back to Blackstone Keep within three weeks at the outside. You said you already sent a message to the wizards to start looking for a cure. What difference does it make if I’m there or not?”
“I don’t know if it makes a difference, but I know I don’t want to take the chance. What if we get delayed?”
She smiled softly but with determination. She’d made up her mind and Alexander could see in her
green eyes that he wasn’t going to change it. “If we get delayed, then I will spend my last days with the man that I love trying to save a world worth saving.”
“Don’t be so stubborn, Isabel,” Kevin said. “Can’t you see he’s trying to save you? Please, just let him.” He was of a similar mind. The world be damned—Isabel came first.
She shook her head slowly. “I’ve made up my mind. I’m going with Alexander and that’s that.”
Kevin sighed, “I know, but I had to try.”
By afternoon they were sailing away from Southport aboard the Angellica. She was the flagship of the Southport navy, a big man-o-war with three masts and dozens of sails. She also had two banks of oars and a crew of rowers capable of making good speed even when the air was still. She was armed with catapults fore and aft as well as three heavy ballistae on each side.
The Angellica was built for war and had quarters for a platoon of marines in addition to a full crew complement. Alexander brought thirty Rangers selected by Kevin for their skill and experience. They were armed to the teeth with swords, spears, and composite bows. Alexander was confident that they were as well prepared as they could be for any enemy they happened to encounter.
Captain Targa commanded the ship with crisp and clear orders that were obeyed with speed and precision. He was clearly a man of experience, both with the ocean and with military matters. He was no-nonsense and plainspoken. Alexander decided he liked the man.
When Alexander boarded, Captain Targa was waiting for him at the top of the gangplank. He appraised Alexander openly before nodding permission to come aboard.
“Lord Alexander, you are the King of Ruatha, but I am master of this boat. While we’re at sea I expect you and your people to obey my orders without question or hesitation. There are forces greater than the whim and will of political leaders in this world and one of those forces happens to be the ocean. It doesn’t care if you’re a King, it’ll drown you just the same.”
Alexander smiled broadly and nodded, offering the captain his hand. “I wouldn’t have it any other way, Captain. I suspect we’ll get along just fine.”
He spent the first hour of the journey standing on the bow of the ship with Isabel and Chloe, talking quietly and enjoying the ocean air. Once they were well underway, a deckhand found them and invited them to the captain’s mess.
As Alexander entered the room, he had to catch himself on the doorframe as the boat rolled over a wave. The captain smiled a little at that. The mess was a small room with a table just big enough to seat three on a side and one at either end. It was made of stout, rough-cut boards coated with several layers of lacquer, and the entire thing was bolted to the floor. The benches and chairs were bolted down as well.
The cupboards were closed and latched and the counters on either side of the room were bare and clean. Captain Targa stood when they entered and motioned for them to sit.
“We’re underway and well out of port,” Captain Targa said. “What’s our destination?”
Alexander had deliberately withheld that information from the people in Southport. With the exception of Kevin, there was no one in the city he trusted and he didn’t want to risk Commander P’Tal discovering his intentions, although he worried that Phane already knew where he was going. The Reishi Prince seemed to have access to information in a way that made Alexander wonder if he didn’t have some means of clairvoyance as well.
He had played the message delivered to Landon by Kludge over and over in his mind, trying to find some reasonable explanation for why Phane had changed his orders to allow Alexander safe passage. The only thing that made sense was that Phane knew Alexander had the ability to retrieve the Sovereign Stone, and he was planning on taking it from him the moment it was back in the world of time and substance.
He fixed the captain with his golden eyes. “We’re going to the Reishi Isle.”
Captain Targa looked at him incredulously with his mouth agape. “No, we’re not.” he said firmly. “That’s suicide and I won’t risk my crew or this ship in those waters.” He stood as if to leave, but Alexander grabbed him by the wrist and fixed him with his now glittering eyes.
“Sit down, Captain,” Alexander said quietly. “You will take me to the Reishi Isle because the future depends on it.”
Captain Targa’s face contorted with anger but also with curiosity. He sat down without looking away from Alexander. “Anyone who’s spent any time on the water knows that ships don’t return from that island. It’s guarded by those cursed wyvern riders and they don’t bargain or ask questions. They just sink any ship that wanders into the shallows.”
“Be that as it may, Captain, that’s where we’re going,” Alexander said. “Tell me more about these wyvern riders.”
Captain Targa took a deep breath and let it out with a huff. “Wyverns are like dragons, only smaller and without the fire. They fly out of one of the fortress islands that ring the Reishi Isle. Legend says those fortresses were called up out of the ocean and carved with magic to provide the Reishi Isle with a defensive line against any naval attack. For as long as men have been sailing, those wyverns and their riders have patrolled the skies around the Reishi Isle and attacked any ship foolish enough to get too close.”
Alexander looked over at Isabel and shook his head. “It’s never easy.”
She smiled and put her hand on his across the table. “Captain, what do you know about the riders themselves?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Not much, I’m afraid. They don’t make small talk. When they see a ship in the shallows, they attack. If you stay out in the deep ocean and hold your course around the island, they leave you alone.”
“So they’re not wanton killers. They have a purpose,” Alexander mused.
Chloe buzzed into existence and came to rest standing in the middle of the table. Captain Targa’s eyes went wide. Alexander had asked Chloe to remain out of sight but clearly she thought the captain could be trusted or she wouldn’t have revealed herself.
“I know of the wyverns, My Love,” she said. “Or at least I know of their origins. I cannot speak to their current purpose. They were bred by the Reishi to provide a defense against attack from the ocean or air. At the end of the Reishi War, there were thousands of them. They swarmed the skies and sank any craft that didn’t have the permission of the Reishi Sovereign to be in his waters.”
Alexander smiled at Chloe and the look she was getting from Captain Targa. “Captain, I’d like to introduce Chloe.”
She curtsied formally and smiled at the look of awe and wonder on the captain’s face.
“I’ve seen a great many things on the open ocean, but in all my years I never imagined I would see a fairy,” Captain Targa said reverently. “I always thought that fairies were just a myth or the legend of a long-dead race of enchanted beings that had faded from the world.”
“We are quite real,” Chloe said as she flew up and tapped him on the nose.
He backed up, a little startled at how quickly she could move and at the fact that she was actually real, and then a smile grew across his face.
“Lady Chloe, it is a privilege and an honor to meet you. You are most welcome aboard the Angellica.”
“Thank you, Captain. You have a beautiful vessel. I have inspected your defenses and it appears that you are very well armed,” Chloe said.
“We are, but not against those wyverns. They attack from the sky with their spiked tails, and some of the riders wield magic.” Captain Targa shook his head. “We might be able to defend against a patrol of two, but the moment we pose a real threat, they’ll come back with a dozen or more and then we’re sunk, literally.”
“Is it safe to assume that the riders command the wyverns?” Isabel asked.
Captain Targa nodded. “Wyverns aren’t terribly smart. Don’t get me wrong, they’re cunning and clever but they can’t speak like a dragon. It’s said that in the first moments after a wyvern hatches, it will bond to a rider for life. And they’re protective
and obedient.”
Alexander and Isabel shared a look. “It would help to know why the riders guard the isle. If we knew their reasoning, maybe we could strike a bargain,” Isabel said.
“That would require a conversation,” Captain Targa said. “I’ve never heard of them stopping to chat. Either they’re high overhead watching your course or they’re attacking your boat.”
“It sounds like we need to prepare for a battle then,” Alexander said.
Captain Targa harrumphed. “Let’s just say we get in past them and you get to shore. Then what? They aren’t going to stop trying to kill you just because you made landfall. And what of my ship then? I can turn and run. Maybe I make it, but even if I do, you’re stranded on the deadliest scrap of dirt in the world. If the stories of the wyverns aren’t enough to keep ships away, then the myths and rumors of the things that haunt the Reishi Isle certainly are. That place is said to be home to unspeakable creatures, dark beasts that have no business in the world of the living.”
Alexander and Isabel shared another look—this time they were thinking of the Nether Gate and wondering if it was somewhere on the Reishi Isle. In the back of Alexander’s mind he knew time was running out. He needed to get to the Reishi Keep and then back to Blackstone Keep as quickly as possible, both to save Isabel and to put the Sovereign Stone in the Bloodvault where it would be permanently out of Phane’s reach.
Then a thought struck him like a lightning bolt. There was a shade with Jataan P’Tal. If the commander of the Reishi Protectorate knew where Alexander was going, the shade would probably make the journey with him. If the Nether Gate was on the Reishi Isle, then the shade would be one very large step closer to unleashing a flood of darkness into the world.