by Rosie Scott
“Of course,” I replied. “The last time I became friends with a god, he died far too quickly. The gods are immensely skilled at what they do. Each time I kill one, I'm removing potential from Arrayis. It is better to allow that potential to flourish.”
Chance smiled, and his golden eyebrow ring glinted in the morning sunlight. “Yes, the gods are skilled. Hence why I feel I got the better end of the deal between us since I will hide behind your powers like you're my bodyguard when the others inevitably come out to play.”
I laughed at the jest. “A deal's a deal. Hide behind me whenever you like.”
The quick double-toot of a war horn echoed through the skies above our heads then, drawing my gaze to the north. Azazel stood up on the northern wall, tying a war horn back to his belt and waving wildly in the air as he faced west, where Holter flew back toward Comercio with a bag of supplies hanging from his clawed feet. Relief washed over me at seeing him alive and well. He was a day later than he'd estimated for the trip, so I worried he'd come across difficulties.
“I'll handle the fish situation,” Chance promised me, as Holter swooped down to the north wall and dropped his supply bag next to Azazel. “I hope your scout picked up some useful information about Narangar.”
“He'd better have. It could save me one hundred gold,” I jested, and Chance chuckled before waving me off.
By the time I climbed to the top of the wall, Holter was nearly finished transforming, shuddering with the pain of change while laying in a pile of his own feathers. Azazel came out of the tower from taking the supply bag inside and carried a thick blanket for Holter to dry off and warm up in. Holter breathed heavily when he was himself again, swiping small feathers out of his hair before reaching for the blanket.
“Thank you,” Holter offered, his voice rough with fatigue. Before he could wrap himself in the blanket, I reached out and gave him a small stream of energy.
“Welcome back,” I greeted. “Let's get inside.”
“Gladly,” Holter agreed, following Azazel into the tower with me on his heels. Once we were inside, Holter wandered over to a table near the fire pit and asked Azazel, “Is tea still kept in here? I really want something hot to drink.”
“It is,” Azazel replied, motioning to a nearby chair. “Sit down. I'll make it.”
Holter collapsed in a chair against the wall, shivering so badly the seat rattled. As I sat beside him, he said, “Sorry I'm late.”
I reached over and pulled the blanket up until it surrounded his neck. “You're sick.”
“I've been fighting off something for a few days,” Holter replied, unconcerned. I stood back up, filling the pot Azazel had for tea with water magic before going over to Holter's bag. Just as I dipped down to grab it, the scout said, “Careful. My stuff stinks.”
I chuckled at his warning and opened up the bag. Holter's change of clothes were all soaked and freezing cold, so I laid the garments out near the fire to warm and dry them. “I must get you another blanket for your feet, Holter. You can't wear any of this. How'd your things get soaked?”
“There's snow everywhere,” Holter replied. “I had nowhere on those plains I could sleep without getting wet. My fingers and toes are shriveled. It feels so good in here in comparison.” I grabbed a small blanket that Azazel handed to me and went about wrapping Holter's feet. “I'm so spoiled,” he jested from above me.
I laughed and finally sat beside him again. “You are. Tell me something you want, Holter, and I will get it for you for completing this mission.”
“I haven't even told you anything about Narangar yet,” he protested.
“I know you wouldn't be back if you weren't successful because I can count on you,” I said. “What do you want?”
“A hot meal."
“You'll get that anyway,” I promised him.
“Two hot meals,” Holter teased, and I chuckled.
“Okay, fine. Two hot meals it is. Tell me about Narangar, Holter.” I pulled my satchel into my lap and grabbed a coin purse to count gold as he spoke.
“The path to Narangar is like a valley between two mountains,” he began. “The path curves like a hook from south to west and dead ends at the city's entrance in the northwest. Narangar doesn't have a wall, Kai. But it has a gate. The largest I've ever seen.”
“How is that possible?” I questioned, separating gold into stacks.
“The mountain is the wall. The gate is solid stone and built straight into the side of the mountain. Those doors must be...gods, I don't even know. Stories upon stories tall. I don't really know how they open. I saw them open and close a few times. It sounded mechanical, but I saw no dwarven machines.”
“Did the doors open into the city or out into the land?” Azazel asked.
“Into the city,” Holter replied.
“Some sort of chain mechanism that pulls the doors inward,” I suggested, meeting Azazel's gaze. “If the doors are that large and heavy, they'd need an invention to get them open.”
“We're going to need an invention to open them,” Azazel replied. “Unless you want to destroy doors that large with earth magic, but then we can't use them in defense against an attack from Sera if we need to.”
“The giants used trees as battering rams in Griswald,” I pointed out. “It's possible they'd be strong enough to do that here.”
“Where are we going to get trees?” Azazel asked. “We are far from any forests.”
“We can get Maggie to make something for us before we go,” I suggested. “Out of metal or stone rather than wood. Or she could design it and Marcus can make it. Perhaps we could get our earth mages to build metal for our dwindling reserves.” I pulled out an empty coin purse and piled one stack of gold into it before putting it on Holter's lap.
“What's this for?” he asked.
“Your work. Buy whatever you wish.”
“That's a lot of gold,” Holter protested. “It only took me a fortnight.”
“Don't argue.”
“Okay,” he agreed. I chuckled at his antics as Azazel brought over the tea.
I waited until Holter had a few sips of the drink to ask, “What are Narangar's defenses like?”
“They have nothing outside of the gate that I could see,” Holter said, clasping both hands around the hot mug for comfort. “No siege weapons or anything. And I saw no hidden armies, either, but I noticed an abundance of mountain paths around the entrance. The gate of Narangar is set up like a cove, Kai. The path to the city starts off wide but thins the closer you get. It looked like the dwarves cut the last bit of the road out of the mountain so that the landmark itself would support the gate on all sides. There are paths over all of this on top of the same mountain that houses the city.”
“Essentially, the perfect opportunity for an ambush,” I surmised.
“Sounds like the Battle of Highland Pass all over again,” Azazel mused. “Only this time, we'll be the ones who have to walk under any attacks.”
“Did you follow any of these paths?” I asked Holter.
“I did. They split and go off in many directions. At least one connects to an entrance to the city that Nyx told me about. Others move down the mountain and to the plains. I saw a few assassins traveling on one, so I assume it goes to the underground exit there.”
“We should request a group of reinforcements from Quellden,” Azazel suggested. “Have them go from the tunnel exit to the path above the mountains so they can foil any ambushes when we get there.”
“Good idea,” I agreed.
“We need to plan for Narangar sooner rather than later,” Azazel told me. “There are a lot of things we need to do ahead of time to ensure it goes smoothly. We don't want another repeat of what happened here.”
“Gather everyone for a meeting this week,” I requested. “We will plan and then prepare.”
Twenty-seven
Through a small window and under a lifted green drape, I watched the people in Comercio's stuffed community hall from the floor above its main room as Azazel
did his best to encourage them to sit in an orderly fashion in anticipation of my arrival. Some civilians eyed the archer with curiosity or nervousness; it was sometimes easy to forget that male Alderi weren't a common sight on the surface since I'd been around them for years. Even after the Underground Liberation of 420 freed an entire populace, few Alderi had moved to Chairel. My home country had always been rich and populated by humans, and though it was a melting pot of various cultures and races, dark elves were the main target of Chairel's racism. I would force them to adapt under my rule because of my army's reliance on the Alderi and my willingness to accept people of all races and cultures.
Hasani told me that many freed Alderi moved to Nahara because it was one of two countries that accepted their arrival due to his alliance with Calder. It made me ponder the possibilities of the Alderi culture generations from now; because they repopulated so readily, a minority race could become the majority in lands once foreign to it. Arrayis was evolving so quickly it was impressive. I was witnessing history as it was made, and most of it was due to my actions. I felt a rush of purpose and confidence that I was grateful for considering this was the first night I would speak directly with the populace I newly ruled.
Everyone in Comercio had been invited: soldiers, civilians, both supporters and dissenters. They were all welcome to ask questions or challenge me. It was not only a way to meet some people who desperately wanted to see me, but it was also my first attempt to show that I intended to rule Chairel with a more open mind than Edrys and her regents. The concept of an open house was nothing new, but to have a ruler attend in person was unprecedented in Chairel. In addition, I had all of my closest friends and allies here with me. The Seran Renegades, Calder and Mirrikh, Hasani, Chance, Cyrus, and all of the Fremont Sentinels save for Marcus were attending. Comercio's community hall was packed, and many of the people were probably only here to attend a historical event. Rarely were so many famous figures in the same place at one time.
“Are you nervous?” Hasani grinned at me when I turned toward his voice. The king of Nahara stood in the middle of the gathering room surrounded by the others as we waited to greet the people. “You keep watching out that window like they're putting on some show.”
“I'm making sure they're not giving Azazel any trouble,” I replied. “Chairel's never been too open-minded when it comes to the Alderi. But no, I'm not nervous.”
“Public speaking makes most people nervous,” Hasani said.
“I have traveled the world building armies, given orders to bloodthirsty men, insulted queens to their faces in their own castles, cheated death many times, and have survived atrocities. Public speaking is nothing to be nervous about.”
Hasani laughed joyously at my words. “That's the spirit, sister! Though I must say, I wasn't nervous the first time I had an open house as king, but I should've been.” Cyrus perked up from where he leaned back against a table and came over to stand near us. Hasani chuckled at the other king's actions and asked, “You haven't done one of these yourself, I assume?”
“Not yet,” Cyrus admitted. “We never had them in Eteri. It never occurred to me to do it in Fremont. It seems like a good way to gather the opinions of the populace though.”
“Too good,” Hasani agreed. “People can get passionate, Kai. Be wary of that. I made changes in Nahara I thought were for the best, but people lambasted me for making them. Former gladiator owners screamed their heads off about how I'd taken away their livelihoods and demanded restitution. Civilians with missing family members were in tears over how the Naharan Army raised the dead because they feared the idea their loved ones could be used for battle. It took every bit of patience I had not to yell back. No matter what choices you make, some people will never be happy.”
“I wouldn't worry too much about that when it comes to Kai,” Zephyr commented, braiding her long silver hair over one shoulder to keep it out of her way. “There were a few times in Hammerton when she showed resolve and patience dealing with dissenters when I would have punched them in the face.”
“This is why you stick with griffons,” Cyrus said helpfully.
Zephyr chuckled. “Griffons are stubborn bastards, but people are worse.” Her silver eyes flicked up to find mine. “Now that it's safe saying it, I was almost disappointed you didn't punch Kirek. You had many opportune moments.”
“I can't just go around fighting my allies,” I replied, though I chuckled from her blunt honesty.
“That's what I told myself all those years,” Zephyr admitted. “The day Tilda promoted Kirek above me even though I'd been in the army longer and took part in the same battle, I thought, 'murder? Yeah, valid option.'”
A few of us laughed. Uriel reached over to Zephyr with an open palm, and she just as casually slapped it to give him a high-five.
Hasani appeared both amused and sympathetic as he said, “It's a shame how things turned out with Kirek, but if you were patient with her, sister, I believe you can get through anything. There were a few times I had to hold my tongue when she was in Nahara. Kirek didn't talk much, but when she did, she made it clear she had distaste for Nahara and didn't want to be there. I had to keep reminding myself that we were allies in that moment.”
“In that moment,” Cerin repeated with emphasis. “Not that your alliance with Eteri lasted any longer than ours.” Unbeknownst to us at the time, Queen Tilda had broken the alliance between Eteri and Nahara in the early Hammerton campaign. Much like Azazel had concluded years ago, part of the queen's reasoning for keeping me in the dark about Calder's message was so I couldn't request her support in Nahara as Hasani faced further threats. Tilda not only refused to answer Nahara's calls for aid, she'd also abandoned them in their time of utmost need like she'd planned to do with me.
“Yeah, well...” Hasani trailed off with a disgruntled huff. “The point is, Kai, not everyone out there will love you. If someone gets feisty, you can't just kill them like you would a foe.”
“Well, you could,” Calder argued lightly, one eyebrow raised in jest. “Feel free to turn your first community meet n' greet into a bloodbath. Just be prepared for some supporters to turn into dissenters.”
I laughed softly. “I don't expect everyone to love me. Not one action in this war was made to get people to love me. The moment people love their rulers is when the line of blind allegiance has been crossed. Rulers should not be loved; they should be challenged, and if they deserve it, they should be feared and respected.”
Uriel wagged his finger over at me and sighed. “I swear, Kai, sometimes when you speak I feel like I'm reading the quotes of famous figures from yesteryear. Where do you get all of this wisdom?”
“From plagiarizing the quotes of those famous figures,” Cerin teased dryly, grinning when I laughed at the jest.
“We all know the wisdom doesn't come from you,” Calder told Cerin with a smile.
“Please enlighten me on what wisdom you have to add to anything,” Cerin retorted lightly.
Calder shrugged and replied, “My whole life is a manual of what not to do.”
“That's helpful in its own right,” Nyx commented. “Your book would be called: Mishaps, Doomed Ships with Naughty Names, and Ferris Smoke: A Tale of Calder the Well-Endowed.”
Laughter echoed off the stone walls for a few moments before the door opened and Azazel appeared, looking amused at the ruckus before asking, “What's so funny?”
“I've finally received my prestigious nickname,” Calder informed him. “You must now refer to me as Calder the Well-Endowed.”
Azazel kept a straight face, though one eyebrow rose as he said dryly, “I find it adorable that you continue to think you're somehow unique in that regard.”
Calder snorted a laugh, having not expected the jest, as Nyx eyed Azazel with renewed intrigue and longing.
Azazel watched Calder laugh for a moment with just the slightest tinges of a smile brightening his face. “I would guarantee you've never bedded an Alderi woman who took one look at you
and said, 'wow! That's new! Tell me more!'”
I laughed at Azazel's colorful tone. As soon as Calder calmed his own amusement, he replied, “No, but I was used to being the exotic one during all those years on the seas. Other races are well-aware of the rumored physique of Alderi men, and they're all too willing to check it out for themselves.”
“And when they do,” I added, “they say, 'wow! That's new! Tell me more!'”
As we all laughed even harder, Calder jerked a thumb in my direction and said, “Exactly!”
Azazel finally calmed his laughter and announced, “I hate to pull everyone's attention away from what's in Calder's trousers to what exists out of them, but the people are waiting.”
“We'll win 'em over with jokes,” Maggie suggested, while Nyx nodded with enthusiastic approval.
I was the first one to walk out of the room and to the second-story balcony that hung over the far end of the community hall. While a low murmur had been prevalent through the door earlier, the people went quiet as their eyes found me and settled. The hall stretched far out from under the balcony with enough benches to seat hundreds of people beneath glows of firelight; the room was so packed that many stood next to walls or sat on the floor beside occupied seats. There were humans, dwarves, Celds, some Naharans, and a few Icilic in the crowd. Given the mixture, I expected all manner of conversations and arguments tonight.
“Welcome.” My confident tone boomed over the crowds as my other allies filed out onto the balcony with me. “Thank you all for making it out tonight. I am Kai Sera. You may have caught glimpses of me since the battle as I've hurried to and fro trying to boost Comercio's defenses and get this city on its feet. I apologize that I haven't yet had time to speak with you, but I thought it would be ideal to have an open forum like this so that questions, concerns, or ideas you have can be discussed amongst everyone.”
I turned to my left, swiping an arm toward the others. “These are my greatest companions and allies. Together, we represent four nations: Nahara, the underground, Fremont, and my Seran Renegades, who control Comercio and look to take the rest of Chairel.” Glancing at the others, I requested, “Introduce yourselves and state your rank and title, please.”