“The very same,” Ciardis acknowledged. “But this one is special. This one I want to use to broker peace.”
Ciardis nodded and gestured to the ship. “Walk with me? Bring your men, please.”
He did as she asked. They followed in the steps of his daughter, although at a bit more sedate pace.
“So this is the Kasten ship,” Jason mused as he stepped aboard.
“And you want us to do what with it?” he asked, turning to pin her with a frank and appraising gaze.
Ciardis appreciated that. No dancing around the subject. No distractions. Just straight talk.
So she responded in kind. “We owe the Ambassador of Sahalia a debt. A debt that is paid in the form of this ship. She will take possession of it, and you will be on board to sail it.”
“To Sahalia?” he asked in a low rumble.
Ciardis nodded.
The stalwart soldier raised an iron-gray eyebrow. “That’s some debt.”
Ciardis smiled. “This is some ship.”
He looked around. “A mage ship needs a mage navigator.”
“You’ll have one,” she assured him.
“And its own crew,” Jason said in a leading voice.
“Of your own selection,” she continued—playing along with the subtly laid-out demands.
He nodded and fingered through his beard. “I have a family to take care of—”
“You’ll be well compensated,” Ciardis hurried to say.
He flashed her a grin. “I have no doubt. I wouldn’t do this for anything less than my full worth, considering what you’re asking of me, but that isn’t what I planned on addressing.”
Ciardis said diplomatically, “Then by all means—continue.”
His gaze turned toward his little girl. “She’s my family. She’s my life. I’ve led this rebellion quietly and behind the scenes for years on end, but lately I’ve questioned if this is any way to raise a child.”
Ciardis looked around him, at the girl who was currently experimenting with ship’s knots and holding a fast-and-loose conversation with her griffin friend who had shown up seemingly from nowhere.
She finally nodded in understanding. “And she is part of the reason I’ve chosen you for this adventure.”
Wariness entered his eyes, but he didn’t speak yet. He held his peace.
Encouraged, Ciardis forged on, “Kasten ships are unique artifacts. Forged to be a link point between the blood of Algardis and the mages. This ship allows us to do what many mundane ships cannot: traverse the high seas freely without hindrance.”
“So I’ve heard,” he said.
“But you’re wondering what this has to do with your girl?” she guessed.
“That I am,” he replied.
Ciardis nodded. “I won’t take you for a fool and say that the dragon lands are any place that I would call particularly safe for humans, but they are far safer than the empire she was born in at the moment.”
He mused, “Some would say choosing between enduring war and being eaten alive isn’t much of a choice at all.”
Ciardis responded, “At least if they try to eat you, you only have one opponent at a time.”
She could see he wasn’t convinced.
Finally Ciardis sighed and said, “Look, I can’t order you to go. I don’t have that authority…yet.”
There remained the question of whether she would order him and his daughter to board a ship and sail for days on end without guarantees of safety on the other side, even if she could, but she didn’t need to tell him that.
Ciardis knew what she did, in fact, have to tell him, though.
Kicking a bit of dirt up as dockhands hurried to make the ship presentable in an absurd amount of time around them, Ciardis muttered, “I trust you… I don’t have many living people I can say that about.”
“What was that?” SaAlgardis asked.
He clearly hadn’t heard her. That was all right, she barely heard herself, but she was sure she had made the right choice then.
“What was that?” SaAlgardis asked again.
Ciardis looked up. Steel in her eyes.
In a raised voice, Ciardis said, “You may face death by jaws in Sahalia, but your daughter for certain will have to face worse here. And there’s one more thing.”
“What?” asked the seasoned warrior in a forthright manner, while keeping a careful watch over his daughter, who was already darting between barrels with avid interest. The rest of the crew watched her with amusement but were also busy preparing the ship to set sail at sea when it hadn’t been touched by an ocean’s wave in decades.
A lot had to be done. Even on a ship reinforced by magic, that meant replacing rotted rope and hoisting up new sails. The planks that kept the ship whole and the nails that bound them together, however, would last forever. Thanks to residual magic.
“Below decks,” Ciardis said. “There’s something you need to see.”
They quickly went down below with Jason ordering his daughter to stay topside.
When they made their way down the stairs in search of the floating green orb, it was just where Ciardis had remembered.
The round orb, though, had one noticeable difference. Instead of being the size of her head, it had shrunk, and its far-smaller size could not be attributed to the tiny sample Ciardis had seen Vana take from it. So it was interacting with its environment somehow…or the environment was interacting with it.
At the moment, though, it wasn’t exploding, for which she was grateful. It was shoulder high and reminded her of a mage light…except bigger and bright green, with sparks shooting out of it.
Ciardis frowned. “This looks wrong.”
Jason SaAlgardis said nothing as he studied the magical object with a skeptical eye.
Ciardis walked around it nervously, looking for it to do anything more. She didn’t really want to send them sailing off with a mysterious object in their hold, but she also didn’t see herself as having much choice.
Vana had hinted at the fact that she knew what it was and that she needed to confirm that speculation with the sample. But before she could share her newly gained wisdom, she’d died…and not prettily. Now her memory was spotty at best and that couldn’t be helped. So Ciardis still had no idea what it was the green mage ball represented, but so far at least it didn’t seem aggressive.
Finally she and he exchanged sidelong glances. Hers skeptical. His wary. This voyage was already fraught with dangerous complications, a dragon among them. Another one on top of all the rest—some of which Ciardis had yet to discuss with Jason—just wasn’t what they needed.
Her stomach dropped as she watched his face for any hint at his thoughts.
Whether he’d turn her down flat, still a possibility.
Or forge ahead. As the green light of the orb lit her face with a pale glow, Jason SaAlgardis seemed to make a decision with himself.
“What does it do?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Ciardis said as her stomach flipped. “And yet I’m running out of time and can’t find out either.”
“There are mages in my crew,” he said calmly.
That was excellent news, even hopeful. But she didn’t say that aloud. Not yet.
“Think they can figure this out?” she asked.
“If they can’t, then no one aside from those Madrassa scholars can,” he replied.
Ciardis nodded. “All I ask is they try, and you bring the findings back to the empire.”
“What about the dragon?” Jason asked.
“What about her?”
“Does she know about this?” he asked.
“No, and let’s keep it that way. Have your mages come down here and do what they have to do to conceal it. I want someone with this thing at all times,” Ciardis said firmly.
Jason nodded slowly. “I agree. Even if it wasn’t dangerous to leave open magic unwatched, I have a young daughter who can make a hay bale out of a single piece of straw. There’s nothing she can’t get i
nto.”
Ciardis laughed. “You have my sympathies.”
He shook his head with a fond smile. “She’s worth every headache.”
“I’m sure,” Ciardis said as she moved to go back up on deck. For once at ease. The ship and its secret orb were in good hands. At least Ciardis had one thing off her plate now.
Once they were back up top, Ciardis took a moment to enjoy the saltwater breeze, and then she turned back to Jason with her face set in measured flatness.
“You know I’m not just sending you because I trust you, Jason,” Ciardis said.
There was a moment of silence.
“I’m sure my tactical skills will be of use to you, Lady Companion,” he replied.
“That’s not what I mean either,” she said with a knowing raise of her eyebrow.
Then she turned to look at the young girl he had brought on board with him. He turned to do the same.
His expression darkened as he looked back at Ciardis in a defensive manner.
Ciardis had no doubt in her mind that if she said the wrong thing, did the wrong thing in that moment, he would kill her without blinking. Loyalty to the crown or no loyalty.
“She’s just a little girl,” he managed to say through gritted teeth.
“I know,” Ciardis said calmly. “But she is also the last true heir of Algardis.”
He sucked in a harsh breath.
“How did you know?” Jason SaAlgardis asked.
Ciardis looked back at Xera. “Because her blood sings to the land in the same way Sebastian’s does. I didn’t know how to recognize that until the coronation, but now that I’ve seen it, I can’t unsee it.”
“Then why are you sending her away?” he asked, his voice choked. “Afraid that she’s a risk to your future brats?”
Ciardis gave him a sharp look. “I’d mind your tongue, sir. In fact, it’s the opposite. I want the Algardis Empire to survive, to thrive. If Sebastian falls, if I fall…she will be all that’s left to maintain a stable connection with the land.”
Jason was silent. Ciardis let him process his thoughts in peace.
Finally the old warrior said grudgingly, “That’s true enough. But are you thinking you won’t win this battle?”
Ciardis gave a wry, bitter laugh as she looked back over at him while shading her eyes.
“Wouldn’t I be a fool not to? A mortal going up against a goddess? Whoever heard of those odds?”
An acknowledging grin of support flashed on his face. “You have me there.”
“So,” Ciardis Weathervane asked, “will you forge ahead as captain of this ship, find out what you can about the orb, and present our gift to the dragon queens of those lands?”
Jason dropped down to one knee. “I will, my Empress.”
“I’m not the empress,” Ciardis hurriedly protested.
He gave her a fierce look. “You are in everything but name. And that boy is a fool if he doesn’t fix that bit immediately.”
Flushed, she fluttered her hands at him. “Oh, do get up, please.”
Jason SaAlgardis rose and looked back around at the ship. “I think our company’s arrived, so if you don’t mind, I’ll keep taking stock of the ship.”
Ciardis nodded. “Please do.”
He walked over to Xera who was standing beside a tall woman who Ciardis suspected would be the first mate if Jason had anything to say about it. They started inspecting the ship’s manifest.
Ciardis walked back down the swaying plank to stand before a happy dragon, one who looked decidedly more human today and even a bit refreshed.
“You’re looking better,” Ciardis said wryly.
The Ambassador of Sahalia said, “A few days of respite will do that for you.”
Ciardis nodded and grimaced. “I could only wish for such a dream.”
Raisa shrugged and looked back up over the ship. “So it’s ready?”
Ciardis said, “Yes, they’re just checking supplies and patching things up. You should be ready to sail within three hours.”
The dragon turned sinuous eyes back on her. “My, so fast.”
Ciardis shrugged. “Well, we want to get you out of here before the war hits. Whatever happens.”
“Whatever happens,” echoed Raisa.
They exchanged knowing glances, and then Ciardis signaled for her driver.
“If you’ll excuse me,” Ciardis said, “I have a war to plan.”
“I wish you well, sarin,” Raisa called out as she walked up the gangplank to her new boat.
Ciardis turned and shouted back, “Do you?”
Raisa stopped and turned. “Of course! I wouldn’t want to have to find another human after all the training I’ve done with you so far.”
To say she left Ciardis standing astonished on the dock was an understatement. Ciardis wasn’t sure what about Raisa’s statement surprised her the most, but, shaking her head as she climbed into her newly arrived carriage, she had to agree that being in a dragon’s eye was nothing if not a highly entertaining way to spend your life.
And a dangerous one, Ciardis Weathervane thought as she looked back out of her glass window to see a young girl running on the top deck, weaving between sailors, while a dragon stood at the captain’s prow overseeing all below her as her domain. For good or for ill.
As they raced back into the city, Ciardis just hoped that Jason would be able to keep Xera safe, and that she had done the right thing by sending them away to the Sahalia courts.
She’d done it for their preservation and the empire’s.
19
When she got back to the palace, she didn’t waste any time. Thanar had already returned with a smug look plastered all over his face, gripping a bloody decapitated head by its hair. Ciardis took one look at the face he held and knew he’d found the person they were looking for.
Or at least…a piece of him.
“What happened to Seven?” she yelled as Thanar tossed the head to the ground and stalked across the stable courtyard with a look only a prince who had done well could wear.
“I killed him,” was Thanar’s reply.
“Just like that,” Ciardis said flatly.
Thanar raised an eyebrow. “Would you like a play-by-play?”
Ciardis waved an impatient hand. “I don’t care about the how, but I do care about the why.”
If she didn’t get answers soon, Ciardis Weathervane was going to be immensely pissed off. This had not been the plan.
They had needed Seven as the holder of the collar of Diamis.
That had been made abundantly clear.
Yet here Seven was, without his body attached. She was starting to regret ever letting Thanar run off on his insane mission.
Ciardis conveniently forgot that she hadn’t had much choice either. She liked to think that she could inspire him to change his mind, but with Thanar nothing was ever guaranteed.
But before she could object further, Thanar said flatly, “I got what we needed out of him. Turns out our councilor from Kifar was much more diabolical than we gave him credit for. He figured out how the collar worked on his own.”
“Meaning that he could get it to do what legends said it would?” Ciardis asked with some hope sparking in her eyes.
Thanar nodded. “That and more. I got all that information from him. I even discovered a very convenient fact about the bearer of the collar and the effects on that.”
“And do you plan to tell us what that is?” prompted Sebastian as he strode over to peer down at the bloody stump of a head currently resting in a pool of muddy water near Thanar’s feet.
Thanar stretched long and luxuriously—wings wide and arms akimbo. Like a hunting cat that had come back from a successful outing with its belly full. Just like the cat would display its claws as it flexed in casual aggression, so too did Thanar. But Ciardis, as a part of the intended audience, was not impressed.
They needed to know what he so obviously enjoyed keeping very close to his chest.
Ciardis
said in a voice that hinted at coming violence, “Thanar.”
“All right, all right,” said the daemoni prince, “but it’s better that I show you. Can’t you just trust that he came to his senses and shared the appropriate amount of information with me?”
“Under duress?” questioned Sebastian in a dry voice.
“Yes,” Thanar said haughtily. “My methods were sound.”
“And while we’re about to be facing off against the very diabolical being that Seven was supposed to assist us in defeating?” Ciardis said, doubtful.
“Well, yes,” Thanar said with a lift of his wings.
“No,” said Sebastian.
“Have you lost your mind?” Ciardis added. “Tell us what you know.”
“And why you couldn’t just drag him along with you,” said Sebastian in a long-suffering voice. “We know you can carry more than double your own weight. I’ve seen you do it with Ciardis.”
“Hey, I think I’m insulted,” Ciardis snapped, lobbing a shoe at the emperor’s head—servants or no servants present.
Sebastian smoothly dodged the flying projectile and shut up.
Thanar shrugged. “Here’s what I know. It’s true that the bearer was needed to wear the collar to face off against the god…but we can choose a new bearer.”
Ciardis and Sebastian exchanged wary glances.
Sebastian said while rubbing the back of his head in confusion, “The prophecy about the collar of Diamis was very clear. Only one person could be the wielder.”
“At a time,” Thanar said with a hint of waning patience in his voice. “He’s dead. We should choose a new one.”
Ciardis blinked as she felt the small headache explode behind her eye sockets like a firestorm that had been waiting for fuel.
“Just find a new one,” she said skeptically, trying to keep her voice down and barely succeeding.
Thanar nodded.
“I’ll play along,” Sebastian said, waving a hand. “Where do we find this mythical second bearer with a day’s notice?”
Thanar grinned—smugness shining from every surface of his body.
Uh-oh, Ciardis thought. Here’s the other shoe, it’s about to drop.
I agree. He’s been in far too good a mood throughout this whole interrogation, groused Sebastian.
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