She told them about the Kasten ship and its predominant role in the empire’s founding. She told them about its legacy and how the last of the imperial bloodline chosen to man such a ship had been none other than Maradian. Then she told them about what lay below its decks, as much as she knew anyway, and she opened up the floor to questions.
And there were certainly plenty of those.
By the end of their conversation, Vana and Christian were quite energized while Meres looked quietly thoughtful. When she had managed to get a word in between the two, Ciardis learned that Vana wanted Christian to take up her tasks.
“To go where?” Christian asked quietly. His eyes sparked with interest.
Vana said, “To do what I couldn’t do. Track down the origin of that mage orb, see its ties to the Kasten ship, and then see said ship off with its new owner.”
When Ciardis quickly objected, saying that he was a healer not a fighter, she learned quite well where and when her voice was welcome in that room and it wasn’t then.
The look the koreische gave her could have pierced bone.
Apparently trying to protect a friend from being eviscerated and murdered is a crime against humanity these days, she thought sourly.
“I didn’t get across the empire twice alone by relying on my pretty nose,” Christian said with a cross look. “I’ve got my wits about me, knowledge of a blade to back it up, and a deadly power if either of those don’t work well enough.”
“Yes,” Vana said with a pleased smile. “I do believe you’ll do quite nicely in my place.”
Ciardis shut her trap after that dressing down.
As Vana and Christian got to work, Ciardis quietly left the room to find the man who was putting their plans to action. She knew the daemoni prince wouldn’t be back for another night, she wished it was sooner, as they were running against the clock and had no time to lose, but perfection took time and there was no one she trusted more than Thanar to get the job done. They had only been given five days and five nights. She was going to do her best to make those worth the effort. So she went to see the other man in her life.
17
Ciardis leaned against the pillar and stared at Sebastian for a long time. It hadn’t really hit her until now that she stood in the presence of the Emperor of Algardis. No quibbles. No reservations. As he stood in front of his court and addressed the legions sent to serve him, some of whom waited in the ranks just to defy him, she felt a sense of calm come over her as never before.
For his part, Sebastian seemed to not even notice her presence. So she watched his movements, his facial expressions, and his mannerisms. She watched him calm a frantic mother who had been searching for her child for two days, simply with a look.
But he did more than just look. He stepped down from his dais and approached the woman. Ciardis wasn’t close enough to hear his exact words, but she saw them conversing animatedly. She wished that Sebastian had elected to keep projecting his voice on mage waves that vibrated across the entire room, but she understood why he didn’t as well. He was weaving a spell.
Oh, not a magic one, she thought. One more delicate and built on gossamer waves.
It was a spell of love and devotion and Sebastian was weaving it around this entire room with just his actions and his voice. By speaking to the distraught mother one-on-one, he showed his people he cared. By making their conversation intimate, between him, her, and the guard he waved over, he showed that he considered her thoughts important.
Sebastian is a master at making everyone feeling like they’re the center of his world, she thought with a dry smile. Even me. Especially me.
She didn’t resent him for it. She admired his tactics. That is what it would take to win the hearts and minds of the court he would rule for the rest of his days, after all. So still she watched from her corner. She watched as he stepped back and the mother, now with hopeful light shining in her eyes, never took her gaze from him with a look that said he had her entire well-being in his hands. And that was true in so far as the fact that her child was her life. For Sebastian to aid in her search would transcend anything that woman would have hoped for when she had entered this room—Ciardis was certain of it.
And if she had any prior dealings with the former Emperor of Algardis, then this woman, this mother, would also well know to expect no help and even hindrance from the ruling family of the empire.
Though there was no reason she should have, Ciardis thought with a discerning glance at her ragged attire and char-strewn boots.
It was true, the woman could have been dirtied by digging through the rubble of the palace in search of her child, but the damage to her attire was of a long-term nature.
She has to be a blacksmith or ironworker of some sort, Ciardis concluded.
Then Sebastian spoke and the entire court listened.
“We will bring your child home,” he proclaimed as he raised his hands and spread them wide. As he did lightning formed between his fingers. Beautiful red arcs that spread across the dais in wondrous displays of light.
And where the fingers of lightning met, little holes appeared. Each holding steady until so many had formed that they were forced to merge into one.
Even she was surprised as she watched the boy, the mother’s son, step through the newly formed window whole and unharmed. Then there was a loud sob. Half feral cry, half heartrending name. The woman raced to the steps to meet her son and he raced down from the dais to fly into her grip.
Mother and son were reunited and Sebastian Athanos Algardis’s work was done.
He collapsed the small false-gate smoothly and sat back onto the throne with a satisfied smile. Ciardis thought she saw a hint of weariness in his eyes, but she couldn’t tell from this far away.
After the mother had finished her gushing pleas of gratitude and the throne chamberlain had led her away with the child, another petitioner stepped forward. And then another. And then another. He answered request after request. When such a request required magic, and not just diplomatic negotiation, he stepped forward with no hesitation. His power was unimaginable. In her eyes and in theirs. As the crowds died down and a new person went away with a miracle, they would excitedly tell the next. She had watched as his fame grew with each new petitioner. There couldn’t have been more than a half a dozen individuals, but each person would tell ten more of the miracle they had received. Ciardis would have been astonished if the tales hadn’t spread across the empire like wildfire from this day forth.
She finally looked at him in understanding. It made sense why he exuded confidence now. He wasn’t trying to control the land; the land was him. What he wanted, it did. Its power and its structure was his to will. Before long the court audience was over and Sebastian had dismissed everyone from his presence. He had been speaking to petitioner after petitioner without break. Every person getting equitable time in his presence—depending on the nature of their query. He had saved children’s lives and negotiated disputes. All without being fazed.
It’s almost like this power transfer has made him more than a man, Ciardis thought as she waited in the empty grand room.
For his part Sebastian still sat on his throne. Not moving. His head was down and his arms rested on his legs. When he looked up at her as she walked down the carpeted pathway to the front of the throne, she saw that he had let his face slip. He was no longer the invincible ruler. He was the young man with dark circles under his eyes and circlet in place of a crown that was tilting just a bit to the left.
She felt her lips twitch into a smile that she couldn’t release. Not yet.
Because Ciardis Weathervane still had one more question, and she wanted to know if he could answer it seriously.
Seeing her concern, Sebastian stood up and stepped down from his throne and into her embrace.
As he did, she asked a hesitant question phrased as a comment. “Power corrupts.”
He sighed and rested the top of his chin on her head, tucked in to his neck. “I know it does.”
/> “But not you?” she said as she finally asked what she wanted to know.
He said fiercely—both a promise to her and a demand of himself— “Not me.”
She punched him in the shoulder. “It’d better not. As your wife, I’d have some choice words for you.”
He laughed as he replied, “I just bet you would.”
Hands shaking as she stepped back from Sebastian’s embrace, Ciardis said, “Could Maradian harness this as well?”
He didn’t hesitate. He knew exactly what she meant even with an abrupt change of subject.
Sebastian gave her a beatific and self-satisfied smile. “I don’t know how I know this, but I am completely certain this is true—he was emperor in name only. Just as the Landwight would have nothing to do with him, the land never recognized him.”
Ciardis blinked. “Then how…how did he rule for so long?”
“You’ve known for awhile that he was sapping away my own mage strength,” Sebastian said simply. “But quite frankly he didn’t even need that to cow the courts. His most effective weapons were proclamation and political will.”
She shook her head. “I thought the land and its defenses demanded a blood connection. Demanded perfection.”
Sebastian tilted her head up. “Why do you think so much has gone so wrong in the empire for so long? Maradian cheated the land of its proper connection, he allowed usurpers to invade our lands by wing and by gate just to keep his deception going, he allowed our people to suffer so he would not go without.”
Ciardis shook her head sadly. “And we have to correct all of this?”
It was a question, but also it was a statement of declaration.
“And we will,” Sebastian promised.
Heart at ease, but now her mind running with a million different scenarios, Ciardis groaned and laid her head against his shoulder. “This ruler thing just keeps getting more and more complicated.”
Sebastian threw back his head and laughed joyously. “And yet it comes with the territory.”
Ciardis muttered something uncomplimentary into his brocade jacket.
“What was that?” Sebastian asked, amused.
She leaned back and pushed her hair out of her face impatiently with a grimace. “Never mind that. I do have something to ask you.”
Sebastian shrugged and moved his hands to her waist as he eyed her thoughtfully. “Go ahead.”
She said with completely sincerity, “Are you absolutely sure you want to have me as your wife? I mean, I know we signed the marriage contract…but those can be undone and I think…no, I know you’ll need someone who can manage an empire by your side. I hardly think a washerwoman’s experience counts.”
Sebastian stared at her solemnly for a moment and then said, “I wouldn’t have anyone else by my side. I can’t have anyone else by my side. Not because of your powers, although they are formidable. Not because of our bond, though it is unbreakable. And not because of your beauty, though it is desirable.”
In a small voice, Ciardis looked down and fiddled with a button on his jacket. “Then what?”
He tilted her head up with a gentle lift of his finger. “Because there is no one else I trust more.”
Ciardis felt her lip tremble as she tried to hold in a happy sob.
Instead, she said in a conflicted voice, “Well, that’s good then. Because I’m not sure I could stand seeing someone else stand by your side.”
“I’m not sure the Companions’ Guild would let me have anyone else by my side,” he retorted as they shared a good laugh.
Squeezing her waist a bit, Sebastian asked playfully, “Feeling better? All your worries assuaged?”
“Not all,” she hurried to say. “But a good amount. So yes, my Emperor, I am in your debt.”
Sebastian said jokingly, “I have more money than anyone could ever give. I don’t want your debt.”
She tilted her head coquettishly. “Then what do you want?”
He snorted and pulled her close—this time for the kiss that Ciardis had been anticipating from the start. And they didn’t come up for a breath of air for quite a long while after that. Which was just what she needed.
It was hours later and a brand-new day when Ciardis was standing alone on the terrace. Sebastian had gone off to do the myriad of things required of an emperor when he wasn’t convening a war council. She could have been doing a thousand things herself, but for now she was thinking.
Of what was to come.
Of what had passed.
She sighed the sigh of someone who had lived a thousand souls and wanted not a single one now.
Deciding that she had had enough self-pity, Ciardis at least decided to get one task done. And she knew just the one. Raisa had to be seen off with her prized Kasten ship, but no one had ever said anything about her sailing off into the sunset alone. After all, how would she command such a ship by herself in either form?
She couldn’t.
She needed a crew.
And Ciardis Weathervane had a bright idea of just the partial crew to send.
She sent one messenger to a part of the city that she rarely visited.
She sent another group of individuals, including two merchant mages, one fabricator and one wind mage, to another location.
Her instructions were clear. When they had completed their tasks, they were all to meet her where the ocean meets the sand at the foot of the Companions’ Guild castle. Highly visible and well-known throughout the city of Sandrin as the sprawling palace built of sparkling pink marble, a gift from a queen who had been the first companion and, until Ciardis, the only companion, to rise to the status of imperial consort. It was funny that back then they’d labeled their female consorts with the titles of a dragon ruler, but Ciardis supposed they had a reason. Just as the first companion imperial consort, Margie, had had a reason to bequeath an entire palace to the Companions’ Guild as a token of her esteem.
It was hours later and she still wasn’t sure that this was the right thing to do, but at the moment they had very few other choices, so she straightened her shoulders and walked into the stables like a woman on a mission.
As she rode her horse in a canter by the sea, she reined in to watch her orders come to fruition.
Ciardis threw up a hand in the bright noonday sun and squinted her eyes at the ship on the horizon.
Turning back to her entourage, she commanded, “Stay here.”
There were mostly division guards assigned to protect the emperor’s most prized companion. Ciardis Weathervane knew very well that even if she did need protection, they’d be more hindrance than they would be help. So she left them behind and walked the beach alone, overseeing the skeletal crew she’d commanded to appear this morning with pride as they followed her instructions to the letter.
As she oversaw them while standing on the sand, the wind mage shrewdly manipulated the specialty floating barge made by the fabricator in less than an hour’s time. On top of the barge was the piece of the puzzle that had caused many a sleepless night.
That is, before they had taken out Maradian.
Without him, the ship was less a chess piece in the internecine struggle of the Algardis family bloodline and more the strategic prize shuttled between empires. If she conveniently forgot that someone within the empire had killed Vana for its secrets. But as much as she wanted to focus on that now, the investigation into her death was up to Vana and Christian—when he came aboard. For now if this token brought goodwill to Algardis from Sahalia, as a voluntary submission before a more powerful empire, then all the better.
Let the dragons think whatever they wanted.
Ciardis Weathervane had her own plans.
18
As a small group pulled up on horseback less than a half-hour later, Ciardis had to brace herself from being thrown into the sand.
Not by an attack or a runaway horse, but by a young girl so excited to see her that she barreled into Ciardis’s chest—protocol be damned.
But
Ciardis didn’t mind, because the little girl was an old friend, and so was the militant-like man following close behind her.
Ciardis smiled up at Jason SaAlgardis as she hugged his daughter tight.
“It’s good to see you,” she said quietly. “It’s been too long.”
“Far too long, and we all have the new scars to prove it,” he agreed in a rumble.
Ciardis looked down at the girl and said with genuine mischievousness, “My, you’ve grown!”
“So have you!” Xera shouted back. “I mean, your power is humongous now.”
Ciardis raised an eyebrow, impressed. “You can sense that?”
“Oh yeah,” the girl said confidently. “I can sense everything.”
“Xera, hush,” said her father.
“She’s not being a bother,” Ciardis assured him.
He pierced her with an unreadable look.
Before the two adults could say more, the girl squealed, “Whose ship is that?”
Ciardis smiled. “It’s mine, but I actually want to talk to your father about that.”
Xera’s eyes lit up. “Can I go aboard?”
Ciardis smiled widely. “Go right ahead, just don’t get in the mages’ way. We’ll be joining you shortly.”
Ciardis turned to Jason then.
While keeping a wary eye on his daughter, he dog-whistled to two of his men. With a jerk of his thumb, he ordered them to follow the girl, who was already halfway up the gangplank.
They followed behind at a speedy clip, and he finally turned his full attention to Ciardis Weathervane.
“You said there was something you wanted to discuss, Lady Companion,” Jason SaAlgadis ventured.
“Yes,” Ciardis said. “I want you to take my ship across the seas.”
He studied the ship nonchalantly. “What kind of ship is it? And where across the seas?”
Ciardis smiled. “It’s a Kasten ship, and straight to Sahalia’s doorstep, if you please.”
He turned newly sharp eyes to her. “The kind of Kasten ship that gets prince heirs killed and sends empires into wars.”
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