“You have a list of volunteers?” Angulus glanced toward the door, no doubt thinking of the recruiting pitch he’d overheard.
“I do.” Ridge pulled out the paper and unfolded it to show him the names. Most of them were soldiers, so far, but he would find the necessary civilian experts. Fortunately, he had a number of army engineers already. “They’re excited to assist our scaled ally.”
“More likely, they’re excited to swill the free beer you’re offering.”
“I don’t think Bhrava Saruth will object to how I get the workers there, so long as he gets a residence in the end.”
“If I’m going to give away royal land, owned by the crown for generations and generations, to this, then I want to make sure the people assembling the temple aren’t drunk.”
Ridge arched his eyebrows. “You’re willing to do it then? Give up the land?”
Angulus sighed. “Yes. I’m concerned about his claims of being a god and perhaps tricking people into joining his so-called religion, but I can’t deny that he’s helped us without asking for anything else in return.”
“I don’t think many people who, ah, follow him truly believe they’re joining a real religion or worshipping a real god.”
“Cults start that way.” Angulus tapped the map. “I want to see the building plans before I approve anything.”
“I’ve already got some preliminary sketches, Sire.” Ridge rolled out his other papers on the desk. “They’ll have to change and be refined now that a site has been chosen, of course, but Bhrava Saruth liked that one.”
Angulus squinted at him for a long moment before looking down. Ridge couldn’t read that squint. Too bad Jaxi wasn’t here to read the king’s mind and relay secrets.
“The columns are as wide as houses.”
“Yes, I believe he liked the majesty of them, the openness of the front and the back, and the fact that there would be room for his throne.”
Angulus looked up. “His throne?”
“Yes, Sire. Are there any rules the architect needs to be aware of? Such as a dragon’s throne can’t be larger than the king’s throne? I suppose we can just call it a large chair if need be.”
There was that squint again. “Just get me the final plans before ground is broken. Even though that island is hidden in that inlet, it is along a prominent part of our coastline. I don’t want our country to be embarrassed.”
Ridge suspected it was Angulus who didn’t want to be embarrassed, but he found that perfectly understandable.
“Yes, Sire. I’ll get Wralani right on it. She’s the architect that sketched those.”
“Is she also working for beer?”
“And a ride in one of the fliers. Apparently, she’s always wanted to go up in one.”
“I almost feel like I should assign you the task of getting fliers built without requiring money, but I fear what kind of equipment we’d get if beer was the payment bartered.”
“I do too,” Ridge said. “I’m more comfortable bartering for temples I’ll never have to live in.”
“You don’t think he’ll expect you to attend him there? As a loyal worshipper?”
“I think he’d be pleased if I simply had tarts delivered.”
Angulus smiled faintly. Ridge took that as a positive sign, or at least a sign that he hadn’t irritated him too much. Perhaps this was the time to make his request. Or should he apologize first about the sorceress incident? He’d been too chagrined at the time to think of dropping to his knees in abject apology, but maybe he should have.
A knock sounded at the door.
Angulus looked at a clock on a mantel and frowned. “What is it?”
“It’s about Deathmaker, Sire,” a man called through the door. One of the guards?
Angulus looked at Ridge.
“I haven’t seen him in a few days, Sire,” Ridge said.
“Come in,” Angulus called.
Ridge gaped when Lieutenant Ahn walked in, her chin high and a determined expression on her face. Surprise flashed through her green eyes when she saw Ridge. She recovered and saluted him and the king.
“What’s wrong?” Ridge asked, certain something was. Ahn wasn’t the type to request an audience with the king on a whim. Or ever.
“Tolemek’s missing, and his lab is a mess, sir. An explosion went off, but I think someone might have ransacked it looking for something too.” Ahn looked at Angulus. “Sire, I know you’re busy, and I apologize for barging in, but I talked to Tolemek last night, and he said he was working on something for you, a malleable explosive.”
“Yes.” Angulus gripped his chin and studied her, his expression difficult to read.
“I’m afraid his disappearance might have something to do with the project.”
Ridge hadn’t heard anything about this latest endeavor, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Tolemek was involved in creating some new weapon for the king.
Angulus lowered his hand and shook his head. “I don’t see why it would. It wasn’t anything top secret. It would be an advantageous upgrade to our current line of explosives for demolitions, but it’s hard to imagine someone ransacking his lab and kidnapping him over it. Assuming that’s what you believe happened?”
Ahn hesitated. “I’m hoping he’s still alive, Sire. But there were bullet holes in the walls. I’m afraid it’s possible he was—” she took a deep breath, “—killed and his body disposed of. But I’d like to operate under the assumption that he’s been taken somewhere. Somewhere we can find him.”
“Any idea who took him?”
“No, Sire. I didn’t do a deep investigation—I’m sure I’m not the most qualified person to do so—but I didn’t see any clues when I went in. I was hoping you might have some ideas.” Ahn, her fine-featured face bleak, looked at Ridge.
He wished he had some ideas for her. She’d been to the hells and back this last year, and he never would have wanted more trouble for her.
Angulus took a pad of paper out of a drawer. “I can write down a few of the recent projects he’s done for me, and I’ll get Colonel Porthlok from intelligence up here. He can have some people look over the lab more thoroughly for clues. I’ll send Kaika over there too. You mentioned an explosion. She could probably tell us if it was one of Tolemek’s concoctions or something out of a factory.”
“I’d like to help too, Sire. Sir.” Ahn glanced at Ridge. “If there’s anything I can do…”
“I suspect Intelligence is better equipped to handle this than a pilot,” Angulus said, his voice far gentler than when he spoke to Ridge. “But I understand Tolemek is a friend of yours. I’ll keep you apprised of what we find out.”
Ahn looked like she wanted to protest, to insist that she be put on the investigation team, but she must have remembered she was addressing the king. All she said was, “Yes, Sire.”
“Dismissed,” Angulus said. “Both of you.”
Ridge hadn’t gotten a chance to broach the topic of the wedding, but with Tolemek missing and Angulus frowning and making notes in his pad, this wasn’t the best time.
“Yes, Sire,” he and Ahn said and walked out together.
The guards were still out there, plus two more, ones who had accompanied Ahn up. They followed at a discreet distance, letting Ridge and Ahn head out of their own accord.
“Sir,” Ahn said quietly, “do you think he’ll do enough? I mean, I know he’s the king and can do a lot, but I’m worried Tolemek won’t be his priority. Even if he was, I don’t know if I can just step back and let someone else handle the investigation.”
“I can understand why that would be hard,” Ridge said, “but you better at least stay out of the lab until Intelligence has had a chance to go over everything. You wouldn’t want to disturb evidence. But there’s nothing to keep you from looking for clues at home. Does Tee have an office there? Any correspondence he might have gotten that he didn’t tell you about? Threats from people who aren’t admirers of his past work?” Ridge lifted his eyebrows. He didn’t wa
nt to bring up Tanglewood or what had been the Cofah equivalent of the incident on their continent, but between those two towns that had been destroyed and all the work Tolemek had done for the Roaming Curse pirates, there were plenty of people who would like to see him dead. Not to mention that he’d betrayed the Roaming Curse itself, leaving countless pirates with a grudge against him.
“He doesn’t usually bring work home, but I can check,” Ahn said.
“Good. If Kaika gets assigned to this, I’m sure you can bug her for updates too. You better get to work for now. Isn’t Wolf Squadron doing its supply and maintenance checks on the fliers today?”
“Yes, sir. I was sent to pick up healing salves.”
“Ah. Well, let Tranq know what happened,” Ridge said as they exited the castle into the warm noon sun. “And I’ll let you know if I hear anything before you do.”
Ahn hesitated before saying, “Yes, sir.”
That hesitation concerned Ridge. As did that determined look on Ahn’s face. He couldn’t blame her for wanting to help Tolemek, who was much more than a friend to her, but he hoped she wouldn’t disappear from work or do anything that could get her in trouble.
Ridge? a voice spoke into his mind.
Jaxi?
Who else speaks telepathically to you?
Sardelle, Bhrava Saruth, and Wreltad. Occasionally Phelistoth if there’s no cheese in the house and he wishes me to correct the deficiency.
Well, I should think you would recognize my sage voice at once. Especially since I’m not requesting cheese. I am, however, requesting that you come to your office in the citadel. Sardelle and I are waiting for you.
Ridge paused just outside the castle gate. Ahn continued on without looking back—she appeared to be deep in thought.
More trouble? Ridge wondered if Sardelle and Jaxi had heard about Tolemek already.
Sardelle insists I tell you it’s simply a concern and that you don’t need to hurry to see us.
Ridge grimaced. Sardelle would call anything short of dragons invading the city a “concern.”
I’ll be right there.
4
Stop pacing, Jaxi said.
I’m not pacing. I’m walking. Sardelle glanced toward the door of Ridge’s office for the dozenth time. She couldn’t know for certain that Fern would come out here to talk to her son about the morning’s events, but Sardelle did expect it. And what would she say if Fern walked in before Ridge did? There was so much to explain, but she had no idea where to start. She just knew she would find it easier with Ridge at her side.
It’s called pacing when you’re going back and forth in the same spot. There’s a dictionary on the shelf. I can look it up if you don’t believe me.
That’s not necessary. Sardelle stretched out with her senses, brushing past all the other officers in the building and looking for Ridge. She had expected him to be here, tackling stacks of paperwork, but she wasn’t surprised he wasn’t. For a general, he seemed to run a lot of errands, personally checking on his squadrons and their equipment, and making sure everything at the hangars here and at other bases ran smoothly. He also gave frequent lectures at the flight academy. If one could call them lectures. She’d observed one. He tended to use props and make propeller and machine-gun noises as he demonstrated air-battle techniques. If nothing else, his methods kept the students awake and raptly watching him. She smiled, imagining him one day entertaining their children. Starting with the one she had yet to tell him about…
He’s coming, Jaxi said. I told him you were waiting here, so he’s hurrying back from his meeting with the king.
He was at the castle? Sardelle had told Jaxi not to interrupt him if he was doing something important or to say anything that would worry him. Her news wasn’t that important, not compared to whatever had taken Ridge to Angulus’s doorstep.
That’s what you think. He was asking the king for land to build Bhrava Saruth’s temple on. I think his mother’s discovery of magic and dragons rates at least as high as that.
Sardelle pursed her lips but didn’t reply. She sensed Ridge’s approach. He was outside, heading for the front steps of the citadel. She made herself stop walking—she wasn’t pacing, damn it—and clasp her hands behind her back as she waited for him.
Voices sounded in the hallway outside as a couple of officers stopped to ask him questions. Sardelle resisted the urge to pace again.
Are you going to tell him about Ridgewalker Junior while you’re broaching the subject of dealing with kin? Jaxi asked.
I don’t think this is the time for that. I was envisioning a quiet dinner together, a peaceful summer evening where we can chat about light topics without other troubles looming over our heads.
If you wait until there are no troubles, the kid could be ten by the time you tell Ridge about it.
I’d like to think his observational skills would allow him to suss out the secret on his own by then.
The door opened, and Ridge walked in with rolled papers in his hand, smiling broadly when their eyes met. His twinkled with warmth and good cheer, and Sardelle caught herself returning the smile despite her concerns. She did sense a thread of worry in his thoughts and wondered what Jaxi had told him.
“Greetings, my soon-to-be wife,” he said, tossing the rolls of paper on the desk as he came forward to hug and kiss her.
It wasn’t a chaste kiss, and she was on the verge of putting her arms around him, but someone walking past in the corridor whistled.
Ridge released her and stepped back, his lips quirking into a wry smile. “When I walk in with amorous thoughts in mind, you’re supposed to use your magic to blow the door shut behind me.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to have amorous thoughts. Also, I believe you have hands capable of closing doors.”
“Yes, but I’m a general now. I’m not supposed to have to close my own doors.”
“No? Perhaps you could have a private stand in the hallway outside whose sole purpose is to open and close the door for you.”
He tapped a finger to his jaw. “This suggestion is not without merit.”
Sardelle stirred a whisper of air to close the door. She did want privacy for this chat.
He glanced over his shoulder, then wriggled his eyebrows at her. “Are you having amorous thoughts?”
“I wasn’t until you kissed me.”
“I’m glad my lips can inspire such thoughts in you.” Ridge clasped her hands, his face growing more serious. “Jaxi said something is wrong?”
“I hope she didn’t give you the wrong impression. It’s nothing dire for the country or the city.”
“Is it dire for us?”
She hesitated, and the worry she’d sensed within him grew visible in his eyes. “I’m not sure. Your mother came by this morning, and she saw Phelistoth in dragon form.”
“Oh? Was he being fearsome?”
“He was sunning himself in the backyard the way Spots does on the windowsill.”
“Fearsomely?”
“No, but his size alarmed her. As I’m sure you know, she’s somehow managed to continue believing dragons aren’t real despite evidence to the contrary.”
“I’m sure she’ll recover,” Ridge said.
“Yes, I took her inside and offered her tea, and she pulled herself together enough to get down to the business of wedding planning. She told me we need to go dress shopping, that we can’t have the wedding in a swamp—that’s what she’s calling the pond—and that she’s concerned she hadn’t accounted for dragons in her seating chart.”
Ridge relaxed, and she realized she needed to get to the part that was troublesome, but he started speaking first.
“I’ve heard most of those concerns from her before. Dress shopping sounds like a great idea. Oh, will you invite Lilah to go along with you? She accepted a teaching job at the university here and just moved up to the capital. To advance her career, she said, but I’m terrified and horrified that she may just want to be close to him.”
“Colonel Therrik? Well, they are dating, I understand.”
He winced. “That’s what I’m worried about. Girls gossip when they shop, right? Can you make sure he’s treating her all right? I mean, I know she can take care of herself when it comes to most men, but he’s an overpowering personality. And an overpowering person.”
Sardelle rested her hand on his arm. “I appreciate your protective feelings toward your cousin, but her love life isn’t my main concern right now. While I was talking to your mother, Tylie ran in, excitedly demonstrating her ability to levitate rocks. And making it clear I’d instructed her in this skill.”
“Ahhh,” Ridge said, drawing out the syllable as understanding blossomed on his face. “So, Mom has now seen for herself that magic exists.”
“And she knows that I practice it.”
“Well, I’m certain she will recover and still want to take you dress shopping.”
“I’m less certain. She rushed out the door, stumbling and dropping her folders, and rode off without looking back.”
“Only because it must have been a blow to her to learn that dragons and magic exist—all in the same morning.”
“Understandably so, but I’m concerned she won’t be able to get past the fact that I am a sorceress. You know how the average Iskandian feels about magic. I don’t want her to fear me. Or worse, believe those damn newspaper stories about me controlling you. I—” Sardelle’s throat was growing tight, and she paused to swallow, trying to rein in her emotions. “I’ve come to care about her, Ridge, and very much like having her care about me. It meant so much that she welcomed me into the family. You know how much I miss my own family and how much it stings to know they all died centuries ago and won’t be at the wedding. Sometimes, I can push that out of my mind, but it’s hard right now, when we’ve been working on the guest list and invitations, and I’m forced to remember that I can’t invite the old friends and kin that I wish could have seen me getting married…”
Oaths (Dragon Blood, Book 8) Page 6