Whispers of the Skyborne (Devices of War Book 3)

by S. M. Blooding

  Haji met me step for step. “Why are you removing us from play?”

  “We go to Ino City.”

  “Which is under attack.”

  “Not really. And besides, you’re land fighters, Haji. You’re ill-suited to battle on the ocean.”

  “You forget, Synn, a lethara has a lot of flat space, which we are more than suited to fight on.”

  I stopped, holding my hand up. “The fight isn’t real.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I almost couldn’t believe the information about to leave my mouth. “Ino Nami commanded Balbir Shankara to attack her city to draw me out.”

  “No.”

  “Yes.” I released a long breath through my nose. “And that’s not all. She’s issuing a blood purge on her city, starting with my sister.”

  “What?” Haji’s long face folded in stupefied disbelief. “No.”

  “Yes. We’re taking as many refugees as we can when we land.”

  Haji’s head jerked up. “I feel as though your mother will plant a spy.”

  “I am aware.”

  “So the plan is to walk into her trap without protections—”

  “I’ll have my Mark.”

  “That stupid Mark!” Haji pressed the butt of his hand against his head. “Fine. You are going to walk in with your Mark. You will allow her to see your ship, which you’ve been hiding on purpose—”

  “It has to be seen sometime, Haj. We can’t hide forever.”

  “And you are going to allow her to install her spies on your ship.”

  I couldn’t think that Ino Nami wouldn’t get wind of what was going on in her city. The woman was too keen. “I will have Officer Carilyn and Aiyanna interview each of them before they are released past the galley.”

  “And you’re telling me that this woman, who is a better tactician than even your Nix—”

  I bit the air and flexed my hand at his word choice.

  “—will not see this? That woman knows what you will do to protect your only living sister. She knows what Oki’s people will do for her. She has to know she has spies in her city.”

  “Fine, Haj!” I slapped my thighs in frustration. “What do you want me to do? Leave my sister? Abandon her? Let her be executed in the morning?”

  Haji stared at me unmoving for a long moment. Then, he shook his head and raised his hands. “I just wanted to ensure you knew what you were walking into.”

  I closed my eyes and reopened them, drawing in a deep breath of calm. “I do, Haj. I do.”

  “Good.” He cleared his nostril with his thumb and gestured to my bare chest. “Please tell me you are going to at least put on clothes.”

  I waved him off and hopped up the stairs to the upper catwalks. “Don’t attempt a transfer of manpower while we’re in the storm.”

  He grumbled something, but the high winds took his words away as he turned around, heading back to his men in the wide galley.

  I spun the wheel on the door and entered the command dome. “Take us above the storm to drop the Umira Nuru off. Those winds are brutal.”

  Jamilah nodded, but remained focused on her crew as she issued the orders to the communications technician and Lash.

  Aiyanna stepped through another door, sealing it shut behind her, clothing in hand. She tipped her head, her expression softly rebuking me. In the past months, she’d forsaken her traditional priestess robes and scarves. She now wore something more traditionally tribal: a short, full red skirt over dark pants; black knee-high boots; a soft, billowy blouse; and a pink vest. Pleasure seated in my belly as she hurried to me, handing me the clothes. “What did you discover?” she whispered.

  I pressed the tip of my nose to her cheek, a grounded assuredness filling me as I inhaled her scent—jasmine and some sort of wood. She was the only person close to me who wasn’t connected to power. Yes. She was a priestess of the powerful Hands of Tarot, but she wasn’t a high-ranking priestess, and no one was controlling her actions. She was genuine, so I was safe being genuine with her. “It’s worse than we’d imagined.”

  She pulled away at the torso, shoving my shirt over my head.

  I hurriedly punched my arms through the full white sleeves.

  “What?” Her large brown eyes studied my face as she held a maroon vest up for me.

  I twisted, slipping my arms through and then turned to face her, wrapping a long, red scarf around my waist. “I know who ordered the destruction of the El’Asim.”

  Aiyanna’s hands stilled as she prepared my belt, her startled gaze lighting on mine. “There is no doubt?”

  I swallowed, the reality settling over me “No.” Dear sky. “No.”

  Jamilah stepped into my line of sight to stare at me in horrified rage.

  How loud had I spoken?

  She unfurled her arms. “My El’Asim, what did you learn?”

  The other members of my crew stared at me, waiting. Most of their expressions were marred in outrage. A few were stunned to silence.

  I ran my middle finger along my eyebrow and grimaced. I hadn’t intended to share the information just yet. It wasn’t that I feared the allegiance of my crew. Aiyanna and Carilyn had vetted them. No. I worried about the maturity of my leadership skills. When my father was the El’Asim, few knew what the issues were until they had to deal with them. It lessened the stress on the crew.

  Jamilah’s face screwed up in outrage. She opened her mouth to speak and took a step toward me.

  “Ino Nami ordered the destruction of the El’Asim Fleet,” I blurted out before Jamilah unleashed her anger.

  Lash shouted in a startled guffaw. “She wouldn’t!”

  “How could she?” Ghaz asked, her lip curling, her voice low and gravelly.

  More exclamations and questions filled the space of the control dome.

  “I do not want this news to be released just yet.” I ran my hand over my hair. The wind hadn’t done it any favors. “There are certain things I don’t want her to know. I don’t want her to see the Khayal fleet just yet. I don’t want her to see the full power of the armada.”

  “Or that we’ve sided with the Umira,” Jamilah clenched her fists.

  “There’s a lot of things we don’t want her to know.” I took my belt from Aiyanna.

  The priestess’ eyes filled with concern. “What are you going to do?”

  “She has aligned herself with Balbir the Shankara and the Han. I would guess she’s also aligned herself with LeBlanc. Her friendship with Sabine seemed real.”

  “The four most powerful leaders in the tribal world,” Aiyanna said softly.

  “Yes.”

  “The airships?” Jamilah asked with a snort. “Who do they belong to? You listed two letharan lords, a landsman, and a water tribe. Who do those airships belong to?”

  “Balbir Shankara.” I fastened my belt. “There’s a great deal we don’t know about these people.”

  Jamilah went still. “A letharan city has no airships.”

  “Mine did.”

  Aiyanna took a step back.

  “I believe she’s also controlling Tokarz. He will be entering the battle soon.”

  Jamilah’s eyes flashed.

  “But let’s recall he’s merely the hands that destroyed our Family. Ino Nami ordered the kill. And right now, she’s dangling Tokarz in front of us as a distraction.”

  The red-tipped storm ruled the view on the other side of the control dome windows.

  Jamilah bared her teeth. “I’ll get the contingency in place to keep Ryo under control.”

  “Good. Now is not a good time to release his rage.”

  “I’m still waiting for the plan,” Aiyanna said, her tone firm.

  “It’s simple. My own mother—” Those words twisted on my tongue. “—gave it to me. She wants me to call her, ‘save’ her, then discuss the need for peace.”

  Jamilah lowered her eyebrows. “I take it from your tone that these words were not spoken with respect.”

  “She killed
my tribe, Jam. No. She has no respect for me.”

  “Okay,” Aiyanna said. “You do this. You meet with her. What then?”

  “Then, those with mixed blood seek refuge upon the Layal, and Kenta, Hitoshi, and Chie rescue my sister while I’m keeping Ino Nami occupied.”

  Jamilah turned a dry expression to Aiyanna. “Well, there’s not a lot that could go wrong with that plan. Is there?”

  The Maizah sidled next to us above the storm, her galley doors open. Ropes were thrown across as Haji’s men transferred to the other ship.

  Aiyanna sighed, turning away. “You know what this means.”

  I nodded. “More vetting. We can be assured there will be spies. Jamilah, are we ready to head to Ino City?”

  She waited, her attention on the scene below her feet. The clouds flashed. The ropes stopped swinging. “We are.”

  I walked to the communications station and held out my hands for the headset.

  The man at the console reached under the desk and brought out a spare set.

  I put them over my ears, the sounds of the Layal diminishing as the crackle of the airwaves took their place. I played with the dials. “Ino City, this is the El’Asim. Come in,” I said into the microphone. “Ino City, are you there? Come in.”

  “El’Asim,” a man’s voice said over the line.

  I stopped my search as he continued to talk. I dialed him until his voice was clear.

  “Please repeat, Ino City. This is the El’Asim.”

  “We are under attack. Advise position.”

  “We’re in the storm. We can’t hold out much longer. Is Ino Oki safe?”

  “Yes, but we don’t know for how much longer,” he said. “Please state your location.”

  A frown flickered between my brows. “Our navigation was blown. How are Ino City’s defenses?”

  “They’re holding for now. It is advised you return to Ino City to secure defenses.”

  I licked my lips, meeting Aiyanna’s gaze over the communication technician’s head.

  She didn’t offer anything new.

  “El’Asim, please confirm your return to Ino City.”

  I put my hand on the microphone and pushed the button. “Confirmed. Please clear one of the lower docks for us.”

  I didn’t enjoy the idea of walking right into a trap.

  But it did seem like the best idea.

  And the dumbest one.

  DU’A SCREECHED AT ME AS soon as I entered the menagerie. She sent me a line of curiosity that wormed through my heart, as a feather of “together” tickled my mind.

  I shook my head. Not this time, Du’a. I don’t want Ino Nami to know I’ve bonded to you. What was it about the bond that was so precious to her? Why was it so important?

  Du’a’s slight chest rose and fell from high overhead. I could barely make her out from the shadows, but her thoughts had given me her location. A sense of understanding touched upon my chest, hesitant, hurt, and only slightly confused.

  I am not ashamed of you, Du’a.

  I bonded to you when I should not have.

  I blinked, confused. What’s wrong?

  We bind ourselves to one. There is a reason for this.

  A thread of understanding wormed its way through my thick head. Are the other falcons treating you badly because you and I are sharing more?

  Her silence answered my question.

  I flicked my eyebrows frustrated there wasn’t more I could do, and headed for the docks. We are not fully bonded. They know that. They also know we can’t fully bond. I don’t know how we’re able to communicate, but remember, I can communicate with most of the orphaned falcons. Not just you. Don’t let them bully you.

  She sent a swirl of disappointment and longing as I ducked out of the large room.

  I didn’t know what to tell her. I hadn’t realized how deep the bond between falcon and human was until her mind had touched mine for the first time.

  Though, why that was an issue for my mother—Ino Nami, or what that had to do with bloodlines, I had no idea. I’d worry about that another day. This day, I had to save my sister and face Ino Nami.

  We touched down on the Ino docks. The bay doors had been closed before we’d gotten too close to Ino City. The battle continued far to the north.

  Pressing the blue communications button at the rear, I leaned in. “Open the port galley doors. I want to bring the people on board as quickly as possible, but shield them from anyone who might be spying.”

  “Aye, Admiral,” a male’s voice said.

  I opened the rear man-door and stepped into the city.

  A single airship docked on the higher level docks. The blue and white striped sails didn’t provide any clues as to who it belonged to. It lacked the steam towers of the airships I’d seen in the fight. I couldn’t make any assumptions. The only thing I knew for certain was that this ship didn’t belong to Iszak Tokarz.

  Walking the path from the docks to the Family housing seemed strange. The hairs rose on the back of my neck and arms. The citizens of Ino City packed, tucking their belongings away. Were they preparing to resituate their city due to coming war, or were they packing to flee on my ship?

  No one looked at me, at least not for long. If anyone’s gaze met mine, they quickly returned their focus to their task.

  My heart raced and rage surged through my arms, into my hands. I struggled to contain it, to keep it away from my Marks. What was she thinking? Going against the League? What had she hoped to gain by destroying my Fleet? Why had she been so willing to destroy so many lives? Where was the logic?

  What could I do against her? I was one man and our league held no great power. Against her? Against the Shankara, the Han, and the LeBlancs? No. What could I do against her? Anything I could do would be like a gnat swatting a gorilla.

  Someone whistled low and sharp. I paused, scanning the shadows of the changing landscape of the city. I finally saw him, a moving shadow among shadows. I ducked into a narrow alleyway.

  “That ship is large,” Hitoshi said quietly.

  “I said it was.” I watched the street. “The galley door is open. You can send people down there. Where is Oki?”

  “Kenta needs more time.” Hitoshi’s shadowed gaze flitted about the street in front us, the light darting along his eye.

  “How much time do you need me to buy?”

  “About an hour.”

  “That’s a long time.”

  He tipped his head. “I’m aware, but if your sister means anything to you, you’ll find a way.”

  I clapped his arm and slipped onto the street again. An hour. I could buy that kind of time if I openly accused her. But was that a conversation I wanted to have now?

  Yes.

  Was it politically sound to do so?

  I didn’t know. Politics wasn’t something I excelled at. If I acted naturally, if I said what I felt, I could start a war. That’s obviously what Ino Nami wanted. Why else would she align with Shankara and the Han? Why else would she so brazenly break from the League of Cities?

  What would she gain by war?

  Death? That’s the only thing I could see.

  Fine. Then, I had to discover a way to subdue her without war. Me, a man Marked for war whose Mark was powered by anger. How was that going to work?

  Two men in the blue and turquoise livery of Ino guarded the wide, arched doorway to the main building, their black hair tied in top knots. Glancing up, the building towered well over my head, reaching toward the belly of the lethara.

  The guard on the right nodded once as I passed.

  I shook out my hands, my palms moist, my shirt smoldering as I strode toward the elevator platforms.

  The grate opened and the operator bowed, palms together. “Do you wish to meet Ino Nami, El’Asim?” she asked in Sakin.

  “Yes,” I answered in her language. “Thank you.”

  She closed the grate and pushed the lever to take us to the higher floors.

  The grate opened to a level I�
��d never been to before. The walls were widely spaced. Columns of lethara tendrils dominated the area, coursing in yellow, orange, green, and blue. Another woman met me, her hands folded in front of her as she bowed slightly. “This way, El’Asim.”

  The elevator descended behind me. Every nerve stood on high alert. I breathed in calm, dampening my Mark’s urge to rip free from my skin and act as a ready protection.

  The woman stopped, her turquoise kimono seeming to barely shift through her small, tight movements as she turned. “Ino Nami will meet you here.”

  I tipped my head in acknowledgement.

  She walked to the only table in the room and poured liquid into a cup. Setting it on the palm of one hand, her other holding it steady in the Ino custom, she offered it to me with a bowing of her head. “Ino offers you drink.”

  I returned the bow and took the drink, downing it as quickly as possible. I wasn’t there for traditional customs. I was there to speak to the woman who’d given birth to me. Or rather, I was there to buy my sister time.

  The room was bare of anything; cushions, tables for refreshments, people, windows.

  Mother wasn’t meeting me in the Family quarters.

  My abdomen twisted as I swallowed a rising bubble of bile back down. This wasn’t a good sign. Perhaps now was the time to demand to know why she’d destroyed my Family.

  What would be gained by keeping the knowledge of her guilt to myself?

  Was I really prepared for outright war? Because confronting her to her face about the destruction of my Family, my tribe, would bring that. Ino. Shankara. Han. We couldn’t win against that. Possibly LeBlanc, too? No. There was no chance of winning. We were smaller tribes.

  I simply wasn’t smart enough to know. Aiyanna would. Nix would. Carilyn would. For sky’s sake, Jamilah probably would have known. Why were all the women in my life far smarter than myself?

  What if I killed her outright? My Mark was more powerful than hers. In person, I could take her by surprise. Kill her. No war.

  That was still an option.

  As time ticked by, my stomach twisted and my mind raced. Had her men caught Ino civilians being secreted onto my ship? What was she planning? I had to hope she expected nothing more than the stupid boy she’d always thought me to be. What if…