by Joe Jackson
Erik looked around while she spoke, and met her gaze as he sipped the water. “Where’s the sylinth?” he asked.
“We burned it the other night,” she said, and she could see the question in his eyes. “You were out for two days. Gods, when you woke up the first time and told me you couldn’t move, I almost pissed myself.”
Erik chuckled. “I’m amazed I could even talk. I couldn’t figure out if I dreamed that or it really happened. You’ll have to tell me all about the fight when we’re walking back to the czarikk village.”
He got up and was stiff-legged at first, but he showed no immediate signs of trouble from the concussion. Kari and Makauric began gathering up their things, and Erik approached and touched Kari’s wing gently. “This looks bad,” he said, eyeing the smooth edges of the severed bone poking out of the wound. “I think Grakin can fix this, but it’s beyond anything I can do.”
Kari winced only slightly; the pain was sharp but she was getting used to it, so long as she avoided jolting it. “It’s a clean cut,” she said. “It hurts, but we don’t have anything to try to keep it together until we get back to your brother. I just hope it doesn’t tear any further.”
“Well at least you made Ressallk pay for it,” Erik said, but he paused when Kari fixed him with her stare. “Oh, no, don’t tell me I did this to you…”
“Forget it,” she said, waving her hand. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Erik sighed and went out to wash up in the stream. Once he donned his armor the three began the return trip to the czarikk village. Makauric took the point and led them unhesitatingly across the savannah, and as they walked, Kari filled her partner in on what had happened.
Chapter XIII - Protection
Kulthon was a beautiful city, but struck Aeligos as sleepy despite its busy nature. The rigidly ordered structure of shakna-rir society eliminated most of the intrigue and excitement he and his companions had hoped to find while waiting for their appointment with the queen. Ty and Serenjols were allowed to spar freely in the arena and even duel some of the braver citizens, but most were dubious about even stepping into the circle with either of the massive warriors. The two were able to entertain themselves and many a spectator, and took the opportunity to help Sherman and Katarina hone their skills.
As Aeligos suspected, the stone streets and buildings of the city retained heat that they slowly released overnight, keeping the city warm and its inhabitants comfortable. Despite Sonja’s teasing, he refrained from finding a bedmate, since he was unsure how these shakna-rir regarded casual relations and didn’t want to draw any sort of negative attention prior to their audience. Sonja didn’t attract any inquiries from the local males at the taverns, though it didn’t seem to bother her at all. She seemed just as happy to not look where she knew she wouldn’t find anything permanent, but Aeligos was annoyed that she didn’t attract any attention.
The dark male spent several hours each night looking for any leads that might point to a thieves’ guild or similar organization but, like in Tingus, he found nothing. He assumed the militaristic shakna-rir simply had no tolerance for organized crime, and that their punishments deterred nearly all criminals from even trying to ply their trade. On the one hand he found it impressive and a testament to the dedication of the desert people, but on the other it was frustrating, as it cut him off from one of the more reliable sources of information when he was in a new place. While he could get information easily enough using charm and diplomacy with the common people and the royalty, money would get him less well-known and consequently much more valuable information from rogues and similar shady sorts. It certainly didn’t hurt that he was strikingly handsome for one of his kind, as it made getting information from women even simpler and more enjoyable as well. And though that didn’t sit well with Erik or Sonja, Aeligos looked at it as simply being willing to do more and go farther to accomplish their ends than his more uptight siblings were.
Sonja regarded Aeligos as they made their way up toward the palace and he grimaced inside. He knew that she picked up surface thoughts from undisciplined minds, much like their mother could. Usually he guarded his thoughts more carefully from mental eavesdropping, but he’d become quite lax in doing so during their ocean voyage and in the sleepy cities of Tsalbrin. Sonja smiled after a moment and patted his shoulder lightly, and he managed a smile of his own, glad that with the power she had, she was usually understanding and rarely openly judgmental.
High noon was approaching fast when they reached the palace district, and Aeligos greeted the guards at the gateway and introduced his sister. They were more amiable this time, since they knew that he had an audience with the queen, and they gave Sonja only a brief glance before waving the pair through the gate. The guards watched her as the two moved away, and Sonja had a broad smile on her face that Aeligos didn’t miss. He touched her shoulder briefly with a chuckle, and they made their way to the palace door.
The two guards outside the palace doors opened the portal wide for them, and Aeligos led Sonja inside and stopped to wait for the inner guards to direct them where to go. The guards looked Sonja over for a minute and then directed the two to the rear door leading to the throne room’s antechamber. The antechamber was a cozy square room with decorative curtains on the stone walls and padded benches on each side, with another set of double doors directly across from where the half-demons entered. It was kept well lit by several wall sconces, which also served to keep it quite warm despite not seeing sunshine. On the left bench sat Haicer, who looked up from his red leather book, and he took a minute to look over Aeligos’ more casual attire as well as his sister.
“Chamberlain, this is my sister Sonja,” Aeligos said, and Haicer stood up and shook the woman’s hand lightly with a short bow of his head.
“Haicer Dorsereldi,” he greeted her. “Her Majesty is just finishing up a civil trial. If you will but have a seat, she will see you in a few minutes.”
The two nodded and took the opposite bench, and the chamberlain looked through his red leather book once more. “Busy day for the queen?” Aeligos asked casually.
Haicer sighed. “No more than usual,” he said. “Though other than yourself, all of Her Majesty’s appointments today are related to justice rather than diplomacy. Normally such duties put Her Majesty in a foul mood, but I could tell she is looking forward to seeing the two of you.”
“How old is she?” the rogue asked, and Haicer regarded him curiously.
“She is in her thirty-first year,” he answered. “Why do you ask?”
Aeligos shrugged. “I know Aurun Ch’Gurra has had some young queens in its history.”
Haicer nodded pensively. “Yes, due to assassination as often as not. To be frank, there are just too many noble houses in Aurun Ch’Gurra, and tempers and jealousy run hotter than the desert sun. This kingdom has seen no such problems for as long as my family has lived here: the noble families are few and very supportive of their matriarch. Like her mother before her, Her Majesty is very protective and nurturing of her people, and our kingdom flourishes.”
Aeligos considered the man’s words and remembered that despite their simple look, even the peasants and laborers of the lower city seemed content and secure. It was heartwarming to see a monarchy devote its power entirely to the welfare of its people, and such certainly appeared to be the case in Kulthon. It gave Aeligos further hope that the queen would do whatever was necessary to protect her people from the threat of Gaswell, and that he could trust her judgment in deciding whether or not war could be avoided. He assumed that she might be more in favor of war given the nature of the shakna-rir people as a whole, but her protectiveness meant it would not be a blind decision.
His contemplations came to an end when the double doors to the throne room opened and a shakna-rir male was escorted out roughly in shackles. The prisoner looked to the chamberlain but Haicer simply shook his head, and the guards pulled the man along and passed through the outer doors, leaving the trio in silence. The chamb
erlain motioned for the guests to wait where they were, and he entered the audience chamber. He kept the doorway propped open, announced Aeligos and Sonja in a loud voice, and then gestured for them to enter.
The throne room was not as large as Aeligos expected but it was an impressive sight nonetheless. A long, red carpet led from the double doors up to the dais at the back, which rose three steps to the throne. The room was brightly lit by chandeliers, its walls were decorated with curtains like the antechamber, and to Aeligos’ surprise there was only a single pair of armed guards inside the doorway. No guards flanked the queen like he expected; only a single armed and armored shakna-rir male stood leaning against the throne. Despite the lack of sunlight within, the audience chamber was still bright and warm.
The throne was a simple one of polished wood with no gold or gems adorning its sturdy frame; there were merely red cushions on its seat and back for the queen’s comfort. Sitting upon it was a pretty and stately-looking shakna-rir woman dressed simply in a golden gown, with a thin silver circlet set high on her brow. Her hair was long and red like Sonja’s, and she had it braided to lie over her right shoulder and down over her breast. Her bright ruby eyes regarded the half-demons with interest, and she looked to the male standing beside her briefly before she crossed her legs and leaned slightly to the side in her throne.
Aeligos and Sonja approached and, without even exchanging a glance or receiving an instruction from the chamberlain, they stopped at the base of the dais and bowed down to one knee. After a moment the queen motioned for them to rise and smiled warmly. She was very pretty despite the worry-lines around her eyes, and in her confident gaze Aeligos could see that she was a woman unburdened by the weight of a crown. It was obvious just to look at her that she had sat the throne for a number of years, as she seemed quite comfortable – a fact further attested to by the few guards in the throne room itself. It made Aeligos wonder how long she’d sat the throne and what might have happened to her mother, but he spared only a moment on such thoughts.
Aeligos had left his weapons at the inn, something he usually hated doing. Normally in such situations he still had knives and even a stiletto or two hidden under his clothes or within the folds of his cloak. In the queen’s court, however, he was confident that he would need no such precautions, and he was wary of doing anything that might provoke the queen or her guards. Haicer had warned him that even bringing a weapon into the queen’s presence was punished – not punishable, he thought to himself, but punished – by death. He could only imagine what they did to someone that made the mistake of using magic, no matter how harmless, in her presence.
The two continued to stare at the queen, waiting for her to speak, but after a few silent moments the male beside her spoke. “It is customary for guests to introduce themselves first in the Queen’s court,” he said, his stern demeanor softening somewhat in an obvious attempt to make the two more comfortable.
Aeligos found that odd since Haicer had announced them, but he nodded and bowed. “Your Majesty, I am Aeligos Tesconis, and this is my sister Sonja,” he said, and his sister gave a surprisingly graceful curtsey. “It is our honor to visit your kingdom and your court.”
“And it is our honor to welcome you to it,” the queen said with a short nod. Like her gaze, her voice was powerful, but it lacked the forcefulness that marked many a leader as lacking self-confidence. “I am Queen Omalias Tuvurasti, and this man beside me is my mate and warlord, Maktus Tuvurasti. Our time is now yours.”
“Your Majesty, we come before you today in regard to Braxus Gaswell,” Aeligos said.
The queen’s brow furrowed for a moment before she turned to her mate. “The warlord in the south,” Maktus said. “He is not a threat, so we have ignored his antics to date.”
“I see,” Queen Omalias said, turning her attention back to her guests. “And what have you to say on this matter?”
Aeligos paused a few moments, considering his words. The queen seemed to take the opportunity to look him over more closely. He was glad he had worn his casual attire: he was certain his armor and the various tools of the trade that adorned it would have brought a much different reaction from her. “We understand the strength of your kingdom and why you would not consider Gaswell a threat,” he said at length. “However, you should consider that he may well be a threat to your allies or trade partners to the west and south.”
The queen held her hand up, stopping his train of thought. “Why are you here?” she asked. “Have you come from Raugro or the other western cities to enlist our aid? Why have you come to my kingdom to ask me of someone who you have admitted is no threat to us?”
“We’ve come at the behest of Zalkar himself, Majesty,” Aeligos said, and immediately both the queen and her warlord straightened up a little. “My elder brother is a demonhunter, and was sent here by Zalkar to try to prevent war. As he is currently busy tracking a demon to kill here on the island, he asked us to come ahead and speak to you on his behalf.”
Queen Omalias nodded, and Aeligos paused to allow her to speak. She turned to her mate. “This warlord, is he related to Eric Gaswell?”
“Yes, my Queen,” he answered.
“Yes, our people remember Eric Gaswell,” she said, turning back to her guests. “The fool gathered an army many years ago to try to overrun the Isle of Kirelia. I assume you two are not from our island; do you know of Eric Gaswell and his ill-fated plans?”
“Not very well, Majesty,” Sonja said.
“It was roughly a century ago that Eric Gaswell drew many other bloodthirsty fools to his side in an attempt to capture the Isle of Kirelia. It is believed his intention was to capture and subjugate our kirelas-rir brothers and sisters: to bend their war wizards to his will and use them to conquer Tsalbrin and perhaps beyond. At the time, the kirelas-rir were still a mystery to the rest of us, and our ancestors did not fully appreciate the scope of Gaswell’s plan. Once it became clear that his plan of attack was not only quite real but likely to succeed given Kirelia’s poor defenses, our ancestors moved swiftly to destroy him.”
She shifted to lean the other way in her throne, reversing the crossing of her legs, and continued, “His army had already departed when our own forces reached his stronghold, and it took little effort to capture and execute him. His army quickly fell apart without his fanatical command, and were left to return to their normal lives without penalty as long as they caused no further trouble.”
Aeligos nodded. “This is what we are trying to determine in the current situation, Your Majesty,” he said. “We need to know what Your Majesty’s intentions are, and those of the western cities, as Zalkar himself sent my brother to come here and try to avert war if at all possible.”
Maktus looked to his mate, received a nod, and addressed their guests. “War is not so easily averted simply because the gods wish it so. If Gaswell has become enough of a problem that the Unyielding himself has taken notice, then clearly war has to be considered. Most often it is not enough to cut off the head in such a situation: in our peoples’ last encounter with the Gaswell family, it was necessary to not only kill their leader but to answer them with such a force as to make any think twice about stepping up to take Gaswell’s place.”
“What option would Zalkar prefer?” Queen Omalias asked.
Aeligos looked to Sonja, who gave a slight shrug. “According to my brother, the slaying of Gaswell is to be done covertly, without upsetting the entire countryside in the process, Your Majesty,” he said. “I believe the biggest concern is that the nations of Dannumore to the north will be tempted to go to war if they learn of unrest here on the island.”
The queen regarded her mate, who nodded. “That is a possibility, my Queen.”
Queen Omalias seemed to consider his words for a few moments. “Still, we destroyed Eric Gaswell, and if his descendant is tempted to make the same foolish mistakes that he did, then we will likely have no choice but to do so again. Though I will ask: what do you believe we should do? I am honestl
y curious that the gods would send half-demons to tell us their wishes. Not to insult you, but you must admit it is strange.”
“No insult taken, Majesty,” Sonja said, waving her hand dismissively, and Aeligos let her speak. “Our goal is to avert a war, but no one said anything about a battle or a short siege. If it turns out Gaswell’s army is too large for a force such as ours to dismantle through subterfuge, then perhaps it would be best to have Your Majesty’s army – and maybe those of some of the western cities – confront Gaswell to open up his lines to us. As long as the fighting is short-lived and word of it is slow to spread, then attention from the north may still be avoided, if it has been to date.”
“Indeed,” Maktus said. “My queen, I recommend that we begin mobilizing our forces west through Saint John’s pass. We will need to send emissaries to the town of Fahrem to inform them of our intentions beforehand, but if war is inevitable, then we should not hesitate to make ready. I also recommend we send scouts to the northern ports to keep eyes and ears open to trouble from Dannumore.”
Queen Omalias shook her head. “I will not act rashly on this,” she said. “Our kingdom has known peace for many years and I will not be the one to change that unless all other options are exhausted. Summon your generals so that they may give us their thoughts on these matters.”
The queen turned her attention back to her guests. “Understand: it is not that I do not trust you or value your counsel, but this is a situation that my generals and my warlord have not seen fit to inform me of before now. I cannot, in good faith, mobilize my armies simply because you bring the tidings of Zalkar. I must make certain that my peoples’ interests and lives are my highest priority. The Unyielding does not rule our people.”
“Your Majesty is wise,” Aeligos said, bowing his head. “I do not mean to press, but how long will you need to reach a decision?”
“We will render our decision by tomorrow at this time,” Queen Omalias said, and she rose to her feet. She clapped her hands twice, and a young shakna-rir page made his way to the antechamber doors, opened them, and summoned the chamberlain into the queen’s presence. Haicer approached the throne, bowed before his queen, and awaited her orders. “Clear our court schedule for the remainder of today and tomorrow,” she said. “Tomorrow at noon, our half-demon guests will be returning.”