by Rosie Scott
“Kai,” he replied teasingly.
“I'll give you a salary and a home near Jakanto Harbor,” I told him. “And if you'll be building more doomed ships, I offer you lots of wood.”
“I offer you lots of wood as well,” Calder's mischievous eyes moved to find Cerin's gaze. “Not for any ships.”
Cerin replied dryly, “You are unbearable.”
“Calder.” His name was bumpy over my chuckles. “Is that acceptable to you?”
“I gotta be honest, love,” Calder replied, leaning onto the table with both forearms. “I don't even want that. Like I said, I'm not a Renegade. I expect none of this. You did enough for me when you were with me underground.”
“You know I'm not going to let you off that easily,” I argued lightly. “If you don't want what I've offered you, give me a counter-offer.”
Calder appeared contemplative. “I don't want your gold, Kai. I've always liked working for my own. Give me a home near the harbor if you want. I'll build ships there. Hire me some mercenaries. Do some trading over the seas and get that supply and demand flowing through Sera. I'll be plenty happy with that.”
Nyx leaned forward to catch his gaze. “If you're looking to do that, maybe you'd want a business like me. You could rent out spots somewhere near the harbor where people could go to get work or hire.”
Calder's eyebrow raised. “That's a good idea.”
Nyx turned to me. “Like the Lounge, Kai. Where we hired Theron.”
I nodded, surprised with Nyx's forward-thinking. “Do you want a property for that, Cal?”
Calder nodded. “I think so. You'll need places like that with the new harbor, anyway. Might as well stake a claim to it now.”
“Anything else?” I asked him.
“Mm...you know,” Calder began, “once I leave the underground, I think Mirrikh might want to come with me. He doesn't always show it, but he really likes being on the surface and seeing the world. I know it may be a little much to ask, but if he follows me, would you happen to have a job for him in Sera?”
I found it sweet that one of Calder's only requests of me was for the benefit of someone else. “I'd be happy to offer him a job in Sera, love. I'm assuming the beastmen will flourish in Chairel since many of them follow me, and Mirrikh can continue his blood mixing work there. I already want to build laboratories for magical science. Might as well build one for the advancement of alchemy as well.”
“If ya do,” Maggie spoke up, “put it near my workshop, will ya? I like havin' the lil' bastard around.”
Cerin suggested, “Maybe we should tattoo a warning label to his arm so he doesn't go around paralyzing half of Sera.”
Calder chuckled. “Mirrikh is honest with the women he's with.”
Nyx added, “In fact, he uses all that talk about his blood as a come-on.”
“And this works?” Cerin asked.
“Oh, for sure,” Nyx replied. “In every city in Hammerton during our campaign.”
“Again, Cerin,” Calder started, “these are Alderi women we're talking about.”
Cerin only sighed, exasperated.
I glanced around at the others. “Are there any other requests?”
“I have two questions,” Azazel spoke up.
“I have two answers,” I replied, and the archer smiled.
“You wanted me to memorialize everyone through my art,” Azazel started. “I'm assuming through portraits and sculptures. Ideally, I'd like to spend some time with each of you—” he motioned to the others “—to get measurements and other things as correct as I can. My question for you, Kai, is whether you know yet where these sculptures will go or if this is something you'll let us pick.”
“A bit of both,” I replied. “I know I want Jakan and Anto's sculptures in their harbor once it's built. I want a statue of Theron put in French, but I'd also like one close to home, perhaps near the Lounge where we hired him.”
“French?” Nyx held one finger up in the air. “French is destroyed.”
I shook my head. “It was. I gave five hundred gold to the populace of Dagmar on the way to Glacia and told them French sat on top of a gem mine. According to the intel we received from the Chairel prisoners of war, French has been rebuilt. Both Dagmar and Thornwell were destroyed in the Great Glacial Flood of 423.”
“Where is Thornwell rebuilding?” Nyx questioned.
“The closest settlement to Thornwell is Sera, but they didn't move there,” I replied. “Sirius had the Twelve destroy many of the homes in Thornwell seeking information about me when we went to Whispermere, and the populace is still angry about that. As far as I've heard, they traveled the extra distance to move to French. Most of the people living in Thornwell were fishers or sea traders. French sits in the Hydrin Forest at the end of a river flowing inland from the western coast, but it's possible the people look to build a harbor along the new coastline.”
Cerin added, “It's also possible that whoever Dagmar sent to Thornwell to warn them of the flood also told them of the free healing spells you offered them. Given my history in Thornwell, your history in Thornwell, and the events which have transpired since then, French might be full of recruits for us when we near Sera. There will be many people there who have qualms with the current rulers and have all been benefited by you.”
“Even if they haven't benefited yet, they will,” Calder mused. “Thousands of the prisoners of war joined your side once you offered them magical education. There probably won't be anything stopping civilians from doing so.”
“I don't expect everyone to join me,” I replied. “Terran told me years ago that people in Sera fear me for the massacre there.”
“Yeah, but people fear you all over the world,” Nyx commented. “I fail to see how Sera's any different.”
“Because their fear will be personal,” I argued lightly.
“That reminds me of my second question,” Azazel said beside me. “You offered us all homes in Sera, but how large is its castle? Would there be room for us there? If there are assassins or any rebellions, we have to ensure you are well-protected.”
I smiled at his concern and leaned over to nudge his shoulder with my own. “The university itself serves as Sera's castle. It's gigantic, and the bottom floors serve as homes for students, professors, the royal guard force, and some lower-level employees. There's enough room there for all of you if you want it. Both permanent and temporary visitor suites.”
“And there are guard towers there, correct?” Azazel questioned. “You told me your meteors destroyed one.”
“There are guard towers around the wall of Sera,” I corrected him. “The towers I destroyed were part of the university itself. They were full of rooms including Sirius's personal office, his library, discussion rooms, and otherwise.”
“Can you overlook the city from the tops of these towers?” Azazel asked.
I twisted my lips to the side, thinking. “Not that I recall. I was never far up in them, myself. The few rooms of the towers I saw had slits for windows or stained glass. Which makes little sense since the view of Sera and the surrounding grasslands would be magnificent.”
“I have a final request, then,” Azazel told me. “I'd like at least one of these towers to have an open floor on the top. If getting to the watchtowers is a trek from the university, I'd like to have the option of viewing the land from nearby.”
“Pretty sure Kai would have ordered that anyway,” Cerin mused, “if only so she could have access to the view.”
I nodded. “Maggie,” I began, leaning back to look at her, “make it happen.”
Maggie grinned. “Aye.”
I looked around at the others. “If there are no further requests or questions, I have one final thing to ask you.” I pointed at Calder.
Calder lifted his eyebrows but said nothing around his cigarette, so I continued.
“I know you value your freedom above everything else, so the last thing I'd ever want to do is tie you down to responsibilities or locatio
ns. However...much like Azazel impressed me many times in this last campaign, so have you. If you ever wanted a place in the Chairel Army, I would offer to appoint you as a general and admiral.”
Calder's gaze softened with humility. “Wow. That's quite the honor, love.”
“You deserve it. You led men well on the seas and on land, which is saying something since you can't speak in battle.” I hesitated. “I waited to ask it of you because I'm not sure what your intentions are. I know you'll be spending time in Chairel, but if you're tired of all this war, I would never expect your service for future battles.”
Calder scoffed playfully. “I'll be spending time in Chairel because you all are my friends. That's literally the only reason I want to be there. I plan on traveling with and without you, love, depending on time and circumstances. But as with anything else, if you need me, I'll be there. In times of war, just whistle and I'll join the fight.”
“Would you be interested in leading my armies?” I asked.
“Absolutely. Beastmen, mostly, since we understand each other as our blood-kin. I'll lead your armies and your navies. I'm not tired of war. I've quite enjoyed this one, for what it's worth.”
“I wouldn't keep you tied to Sera,” I promised him. “And I will pay you for your service.”
“Pay me in ships, love,” Calder replied.
“I'll hand off all the old and broken ones to you,” I teased. “Then I won't miss them when they all sink.”
Calder grinned and said, “And I'll name them all terrible things, have the names painted in obnoxious colors over their hulls, and park them all along the coast within view of your precious tower so you are forced to question your choices in friends.”
“What makes you think I'm not already doing that now?” I retorted, motioning to the others as they laughed.
“Seriously, love,” Calder spoke up again. “Thank you. You're a great friend and you'll be quite the generous leader.”
“Yes,” Holter agreed. “Thanks, Kai. You've been so good to me the past few years that I'm kind of sad the war will be over soon. But I have a lot to look forward to in Sera.”
“Let's focus on getting there first,” Nyx commented. “This war has been fun, yes, but it's also been challenging and we've lost a lot of good people. We have all of Chairel ahead of us. There could be some people here who won't live to see the end of it.”
“That's a little dark and serious for you,” Calder replied.
“This whole war has been dark and serious,” Nyx retorted lightly. “All of us here have been affected by the deaths of one person or another. Talking about our hopes and goals for Chairel is one thing, but we can't assume we'll all make it that far.”
An uncharacteristic stress laced through Nyx's voice as she spoke. Only when I felt the coolness of metal on my fingers did I realize I was holding the bottle of my necklace in a hand. My heart ached with longing. If the others were still with us, there would have been so many gifts and jobs I would have bestowed on them.
“We all need to protect each other,” I said, my voice soft with reflection. “That hasn't changed. Some of us may not live to see the end of the war, but we'll work hard as hell to prevent more tragedies from happening.”
“If anything,” Maggie said, “this little talk of ours should give everyone an incentive to make it through. Sounds like we all have somethin' to look forward to in Sera.”
Four
81st of Red Moon, 429
A chilly breeze whistled through Hallmar's city streets and beat against the back of my thick green royal cloak. Slivers of the cold air forced its way through the fabric, and I shivered. To the west of the harbor, low clouds shrouded the tips of the Firn Caps, and a blanket of snow covered much of the mountain's forests and stone. It wasn't yet that cold in the city, but the majestic scale of the distant landmarks gave us fair warning of an upcoming harsh Dark Star.
Ahead and overlooking the harbor, a party was getting started at a dwarven tavern. Maggie was just outside the door, showing off her prosthetic leg to a few curious dwarves, one of whom had a wooden leg himself and appeared to be interested in upgrading to something sturdier. Maggie was explaining her methods of engineering to the man. Nearby, Nyx was ushering in people through the door and handing out tiny conical hats. She also wore one. It was a flimsy invention made of thick red paper and secured to the bottom of her chin with a string, and it sat somewhat lopsided on the top of her head. Nearby, Holter watched her hand the hats out with amusement while resting against the tavern wall, nursing a mug of dwarven ale. Just above his head hung the sign for the tavern that touted its name: Ma's Knickers.
Cerin stopped to my right, crossed his arms, and shook his head. “I can't do this.”
Azazel asked from my other side, “Because of the tavern's name or Nyx's hat?”
“Both.”
Azazel nodded. “Appropriate response.”
I laughed and walked forward. Nyx grinned when she saw me and held out a conical hat. “Hey, I didn't think you guys would be here yet! Weren't you working with Cyrus?”
“I was,” I replied. “Cy told me he'd try to make it to the party later on, but he has a lot going on.”
Nyx nodded. “As usual.” She shook her hand at me, which still held the hat. “You will wear this.”
“I promise you I'll wear it as soon as I delve deep into Ma's Knickers,” I retorted, and Nyx burst into laughter. “But for now, where's birthday boy?”
“Calder was here for a little while, but Mirrikh showed up and pulled him somewhere...” Nyx trailed off, motioning toward Hallmar's western wall. “That'a way.”
“Why?”
“To give him a birthday present, I'm assuming,” Nyx replied. “I think it had something to do with beastmen transforming for the first time. Mirrikh said he had something special to show Calder, so I guess that was his way of making him happy.”
“Maggie,” I called out to the engineer. Her conversation quieted, and she glanced over.
“Aye?”
“Where has Mirrikh been working?”
“His lab's right across from my workshop and down a door or two,” Maggie replied. “You'll know it's his because he hangs blankets over his windows to block out the light.” When I raised an eyebrow at that oddity, the engineer only shrugged.
“Thank you.” I redirected my attention to Nyx. “We'll be back in a bit, and we'll bring Calder with us if we find him.”
Nyx nodded and said, “Bring Mirrikh too, will you? He's supposed to be dancing tonight if his personality is up to it.”
“Wonderful,” Cerin mused dryly.
Nyx chuckled. “You keep conveniently missing his performances.”
“And how convenient it's been,” Cerin retorted.
I snorted a laugh and started walking off to the lab. “Come on, you two. If we're lucky, Nyx will run out of hats by the time we get back.”
Hallmar was reminiscent of Olympia in the sense that its streets were cobblestone and wide enough for wagons and trade carts to maneuver with plenty of space to spare. Unlike Olympia, Hallmar was flat since it sat upon smooth grasslands. Nearest the coast, the land dipped down a bit toward the water, but otherwise, the city was all one level. Many buildings were adorned with gold imported from Olympia. The nearby Quakes were not rich with gold veins, but the dwarves still looked to impress with their affluence and architecture in Hallmar due to its placement on both the coast and the Chairel border. Where Olympia had been a city of splendor and Griswald was used for production, Hallmar focused on trade and diplomacy. The former leaders of Hammerton had stayed here in a large castle near the eastern wall before our takeover the previous year, and Cyrus now used the same castle as his own as the new ruler of Fremont.
Since the takeover, we'd had few problems regarding rebellion in either Hallmar or Griswald. Hallmar was packed to the brim with soldiers of all types preparing for our advance on Chairel, so even though it was taken most recently, the dwarves were simply outnumbered. In G
riswald, the people had been poor and working class. Not only had we treated them well after acquiring Griswald, but under Cyrus's new rule, dwarven citizens had a right to healthcare from Vhiri mages, which was something they previously got sparingly from Chairel via traveling healers. In addition, Chairel's mages were expensive. Because Griswald was poorer, healers rarely traveled there at all. Eventually, the dwarves there would be expected to pay for healthcare like everyone else at the lower rates Eteri citizens were accustomed to, and Cyrus had put Uriel in charge of figuring out different tiered payment plans. Until then, Cyrus had implemented a ten-year period where the dwarves wouldn't be expected to pay for healing services at all. It was his way of smoothing over relations with the dwarves by offering them a benefit they'd never had through the old leadership of Hammerton or their alliance with Chairel. It also gave the new government time to smooth out the kinks of the new system before putting it in place.
Olympia was still the city highest at risk of rebellion. The populace had been affluent and loyal, and the battles there had destroyed much of their prized architecture. However, we were certain the city would hold during our campaign in Chairel. Olympia was hit hardest by the war, and many of the survivors of its initial takeover had fought and died after escaping to Griswald. The most unsatisfied dwarves had fled south to the old military checkpoints in the Border Mounts. Cyrus had sent an order to the soldiers in Olympia to keep its weaknesses well-patrolled, but he expected no attacks from those who had fled so soon.
There was also little chance we would need to be leery of immediate attacks from Eteri across the seas. Kirek had found a few hundred Eteri loyalists to return with her, and the group of them had taken two dwarven ships straight out of Hallmar's harbor. Throughout my time knowing Kirek as closely as I possibly could, I had come to respect her while vehemently disagreeing with her reasons and methods. She and I were alike in that regard. Kirek was intelligent, a magnificent and brutal fighter, and a tactical thinker. Yet, she'd also been loyal to Tilda's rule to a fault, and her insistence on making decisions with only her head over her heart made her impersonal and black-and-white minded while ignoring hundreds of shades of gray. Even so, Kirek had been one hell of an ally on the battlefield, and without being inhibited by the decisions of her now-assassinated queen, she had the opportunity to grow into one of my greatest foes in the coming centuries.