The Heart Forger

by Rin Chupeco

  But my training returned, my mind clinging to my meditation runes almost on instinct, to focus on the matter at hand, at my role in this drama playing out. Already I was completing the spell before I’d realized what I was doing, and the Piercing rune spiraled into the air toward the strongest source of magic in the room—not Baoyi but his clerk. The spell bound him like rope. I squeezed, and a ripple went through the man, like he was merely a reflection in the water.

  I felt a force attempt to clamp down on my mind, trying to prevent me from going further. But I was ready. The protection stone felt hot around my neck, and the azi rose up and roared at him, barreling into his mind with all its might.

  With a frantic yell, Baoyi’s assistant dropped his guard, and I surged forward. The illusion around him shattered, and the remnants of his disguise peeled away. I found myself looking at a shriveled old man, far older than even Tansoong, bald but with a full beard.

  “Usij!” Emperor Shifang roared.

  The man ignored him and turned to me, a slow smile spreading across his wrinkled face. “I am impressed, bone witch. I have heard of your exploits, including Aenah’s capture. Neither she nor I had ever been able to tame the azi completely. Your willpower is formidable.”

  “You dare bring this foul magician into the palace, Baoyi?” the emperor thundered.

  “I am no longer Baoyi of Daanoris, fool. Just as you have forsaken your kingdom for magical creatures and Kion strumpets, so have I forsaken mine to serve the Great Prince as his favored disciple.”

  “How could you?” Khalad raged. “You were my master’s friend!”

  Baoyi was unmoved. “Neither you nor your master know how the world truly works. Daanoris has stepped out of its self-imposed exile only to discover that we lag behind other kingdoms. Only through magic and these monsters at our bidding can we finally stand as gods before all. I bear my own silver heartsglass, Your Majesty. Master Usij found me, drew it for me, showed me the way. I could have risen to such heights had it not been for your foolish ban on runes.”

  “You killed Shaoyun,” Zoya said grimly.

  “As you said, your friends have already met him.” The Faceless’s smile turned my stomach. “And after all the effort we took to implicate him.”

  “You filthy, loathsome man.”

  “Now, now, this is not the time to trade compliments. I have conceded this battle. Let me go.”

  “Preposterous!” Emperor Shifang all but screamed at him. “The hangman’s noose shall be your fate! Why should I release you?”

  Still inside the traitor’s head, I sensed the sudden shift, familiar and strange, creep into his mind. I had a vision of scales and yellow eyes.

  A wild cry rose up from outside the city, the scream penetrating and loud.

  “My savul is at the city gates,” Druj said, “and the city shall run red with blood before the day is out.”

  Then he struck. I was waiting for it; the azi took most of the blow, its shield strong enough to deflect what could have easily incapacitated me, and I could still feel my ears ring from the force. I staggered backward. Usij whirled to attack again—not at me but at the emperor.

  Shifang froze, eyes strangely blank. He snatched a sword from one of his guards and turned to Inessa.

  But Fox was ready. The emperor’s blade passed through my brother’s shoulder, and a deft twist of Fox’s wrist disarmed the Daanorian. Another hard blow knocked him out.

  There was the sound of shattering glass.

  Kalen, Zoya, and several of the soldiers rushed forward. A small net strung across the city below had taken the brunt of both Usij’s and Baoyi’s fall, and I saw several passersby—no, Usij’s followers!—helping them to their feet.

  “Barricade the city gates!” Tansoong roared. “Don’t let them get away!”

  “We have more to worry about now,” Fox said grimly, ripping the sword free from his body. Through the broken glass, I saw the savul heading toward Santiang, and its shrieks rattled the panes.

  “Stop that!” Inessa said irritably as more soldiers drew their swords on Fox. “You’ve seen him stabbed. It’s not going to work. Lower your weapons or I will stab you all with mine.” She further demonstrated by fishing out a small knife she had hidden within the folds of her dress, pointing it at the nearest guard and then repeating the words in Daanorian.

  “Your vocabulary needs work, Your Majesty,” Shadi cautioned helpfully as the trembling soldiers obeyed. “You told the men you were going to stab them with your hamster.”

  “Then do the translating for me, Shadi. Tell them that while the emperor is incapacitated, I’m assuming command, as is my responsibility. Just like the Empress Kalka and the Empress Meili before me, I claim rulership of Daanoris in my husband’s stead while he recuperates. Order the army’s retreat, Tansoong. This war shall not be won by drawing human blood.”

  I was already moving toward the door, brushing past the frightened guards, who made no move to confront me. The dungeons, Fox, I whispered, frantic. The dungeons!

  The jade stones on Baoyi’s mantelpiece. And Khalad absently building a tower of pebbles in the Kingshead Inn—and then again at the forger’s hut in Kion.

  Got the habit from Master, he had said.

  The prison was just as dark and as dank as I remembered, for all appearances empty. I stopped at the farthest cell and stared into it. I could see nothing within.

  I looked down at the broken debris that littered the dungeon floor. The pile of stones I had seen at my last visit was still there.

  Kalen and Khalad had caught up to us. “What’s happening?” the Deathseeker asked.

  “The forger is here.”

  “I don’t see anyone.”

  “I know.” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, wove Heartsrune.

  There were three people in the room. But when I focused on the number of heartsglass that I could detect from sense alone, I could feel four.

  This was Khalad’s first time in the dungeons; his face was pale.

  “He’s here,” he croaked. “Master’s here.”

  To pierce through the veil of the Illusion rune, it is important to believe that what is in front of you is not what you truly see…

  “What is in front of me,” I echoed, “is not what I truly see.”

  It was easy enough to puncture Usij’s mirages when you’re certain what you are looking for. But all I had to go by here was a hunch and a pile of stones at my feet.

  But there was someone in this cell, someone that a rune convinced my mind was empty. There was someone here because I could hear his heartsglass pulse and rise and fall, as real as my own. There was someone here. There was someone here!

  I drew the Piercing rune, unshakable in my newfound belief, and put everything I had into that small cell. It was uphill work and slower than I imagined, like weaving thick taffy. I also felt resistance—not from another’s thoughts but from the nature of the spell itself—and forced the image of the forger that I remembered through it.

  There was a sound, at least to my mind, of glass breaking.

  And from what had once been empty air, the old Heartforger lay, huddled by the straw bed, unconscious.

  The Deathseeker returned with the struggling emperor and deposited him in the middle of the room. The Dark asha stepped toward him, her fingers busy.

  “The time for deceit is over, Your Majesty,” the asha told him. “You have been hiding under this form for many months, and the people suffered under your tyranny. You have killed the worthy Tansoong and recruited many of your own into positions of power in the palace. You have wallowed in luxury and allowed your people to live in filth. You survived our last battle but at a cost. Even now, my wards wrap around you, and you are no longer strong enough to break free. I let you keep your illusion only because every Daanorian soldier in this city would want your head if they knew,
and the last thing I wanted was a mutiny before the forger was done. But now you have outlived your usefulness.”

  “Lady Tea,” I implored her, hoping to find some mercy left inside her, “Emperor Shifang’s death will do more harm to your cause.”

  “But Emperor Shifang is no longer with us, Bard. I knew it when I scried my way into Daanoris from the Sea of Skulls and confirmed it when I saw the hanjian, Baoyi, directing the soldiers against us.” Magic burned. The emperor threw his head back and screamed. He thrashed desperately on the floor, twitching, as his features twisted and writhed—and melted, like wax dripping over some great bonfire. I watched, horror stricken, as a new face emerged from that ruined expression, a mask peeled away to reveal the face of an old bald man with a long beard, gasping in pain on the floor.

  “Meet the scourge of Daanoris,” the bone witch said. “The Faceless, Usij.”

  26

  Neither the Daanorian nor the Odalian army was a match for the rampaging savul. It tore through their front flanks like they were made of paper. Inessa called out orders to retreat as Shadi and Kalen stood guard over the unconscious emperor. I scanned the rest of the guards for any signs of Compulsion and found none, but as I directed my thoughts farther out, delving into the city, I felt the wards outside diminishing my reach. If Usij had been planning for such a contingency, he was alarmingly good at it. The barriers were still not enough to deprive me completely of my magic but enough to keep me from intervening in the battle with my full strength as long as I remained in Santiang.

  Even more telling, the savul made no move to attack the marching Odalian army. The implications were clear—and the idea that the Duke of Holsrath or someone else was possibly in league with Usij made me sick.

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Baoyi?” I hissed at Zoya.

  “I found confirmation just before the ceremony began. I had enough time to tell Shadi and Inessa. We wanted to expose him as soon as possible, but Inessa wanted to wait until after the ceremony.” She flinched. “I would have looked foolish if I’d called out Tansoong.”

  “You were planning on assuming command all along,” Shadi said to Inessa. “That speech was a little too practiced to be spontaneous.”

  The princess grinned. “I’ve been reading up on Daanorian history. Whenever the emperor was incapacitated, his empress could use as much power as she wanted and expect the same obedience as was due the emperor.”

  “Were you expecting to knock out the emperor yourself?”

  “I asked Althy to bring me some herbal preparations before we’d left Kion. One of them was a sleeping remedy I’d slipped in his wine earlier for the toast. I wanted to be prepared for any eventuality, but Fox punching him was an unexpected bonus.”

  Shadi looked impressed.

  “I am not looking forward to telling your mother we have another unwanted international incident on her hands, Inessa,” Zoya scolded.

  “Then maybe she shouldn’t have dangled me in front of Emperor Shifang all these years. Or offered the betrothal to him in the first place.”

  “The Daanorians have retreated back into the city, Your Majesty,” Tansoong reported, hurrying forward. “We have barricaded the gates, but I fear that will not last long.”

  “Have the men stand at the ready, and keep an eye out for any other spies within. Report to either Lord Kalen or Lady Tea immediately should any soldier begin acting strangely. There may be a few more under the effects of the seeking stones.”

  “Nothing says loyalty better than the newfound devotion of a man whose rival you helped depose,” Zoya noted sarcastically as the man scuttled away.

  “Do you think Aenah is behind this somehow?” Likh asked. “She’s the only Faceless we know of in Odalia.”

  “It’s hard to tell at this point. Zoya, I want you and Shadi protecting Inessa and the old forger.”

  “He’s not going to die, is he?” Likh asked worriedly.

  He and Khalad were tending to the still-unconscious Heartforger, the relief I saw in Khalad’s heartsglass the only bright spot this morning. A bed had been carried in, water and clean cloth brought forward, and Khalad had dug into his medicine pouch, administering treatments. “He suffers from a lack of water, but he’s still as strong as they come.”

  “You must really love him, don’t you?”

  He hesitated, smiled. “I suppose I do. He has his odd moments, but he’s been like a second father to me.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far, boy.”

  Khalad pounced on the old forger, who was already struggling to rise. “No unnecessary movements, Master!”

  “Every one of my movements is necessary, boy,” the old man scowled, resisting. “And what’s necessary is that I get up from this contraption!”

  “It’s called a bed. If we’d ever saved enough money for one, you’d know. And what’s necessary is to keep you well rested and healthy, you old codger. If you keep struggling, know that I am a lot stronger than you and will use force if I have to.”

  “You wouldn’t dare!”

  “Try me!”

  Master and apprentice glared at each other. The former finally relented, sinking back against the pillows with a grunt. “I should be gone more often. You’ve got some of your hotheadedness back, boy.”

  Khalad sagged. “You scared us, Master.”

  “I scared myself too. I was certain it was the end of the road for me.” The forger nodded in my direction. “That was very perceptive of you, girl. Thank you.”

  “I’m glad you’re all right, sir.”

  “I’m not all right. I can’t be all right when that bastard’s still running free! I must be getting soft in my old age, giving him the benefit of the doubt simply because I knew his father. Is the princess still asleep? Unharmed?”

  “She is,” Likh confirmed.

  The old forger stared at him. “You’re a pretty girl, but I don’t know who in the seven hells you are. What’s happening?”

  “Daanoris is being attacked by Odalia, and Usij is out there using the savul to create widespread panic,” Zoya growled. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

  “Master, you should rest…”

  “Rest, my foot. We’ve got enemies surroundings us at all sides, and the bastard who locked me up is at the forefront. Where is he? I need to punch him. I’m glad his father’s no longer alive to see his son fall into such depravity. Always been a weak boy, wanting things he didn’t want to earn. The princess is all right, you say? Take me to her.”

  “We should,” Khalad said. “It’s the safest room in the palace at this point.”

  “And where are you going?” Fox demanded as I headed for the door.

  “I’m not going to stay here while a daeva is making short work of the people outside, Fox. Stay here with Inessa.”

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Tea!”

  “When have I ever?” I was out of the room before he could reply, but I could hear the pounding of feet behind me as Kalen gave chase. I raced up the staircase, making for the highest tower in the palace—the same battlements Kalen and I stood on as we watched the Odalian army approach a few hours before.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Kalen yelled, catching up to me as I reached the top. I could see the savul approaching, the soldiers in disarray. At the same time, I could feel the azi drawing closer to where I stood.

  I faced him. “I can’t fight the savul from this far away, Kalen.”

  “You can’t handle both the azi and the savul at once!”

  The thought of Mykaela back in Kion, still fighting for her life alongside Polaire, only filled me with more resolve. “Does it look like we have a choice?”

  And then I leaped off the edge of the tower.

  Looking back, I knew it was a foolish thing to do. But after being deprived of the Dark for so long, it was difficult to shunt away the heady
power filling me. At that instant, I felt almost omnipotent, ready to take on the world and everyone in it.

  I had a few moments of clarity, saw Kalen’s shocked face and open mouth staring down at me, rapidly falling from view as my descent continued. And then the azi was there, swooping me up so quickly and effortlessly onto its back, just like during those midnight rides we shared before the rest of the world knew of our connection.

  Are you crazy?! Fox all but screamed into my head.

  This was quicker than riding through the city. I felt sorry, but the giddiness from being full of the Dark had not disappeared. I could only let out a strangled giggle, still drunk on the power, even as the azi changed direction, the battlefield before us its new destination.

  It did not take long to arrive, and by then, I had taken back control of my faculties, forcing the sweetness of the magic away, not without regret. I needed my wits about me; there were two wars on this battlefront, and my enemies could easily unite against me.

  In another corner of my mind, I could feel Fox moving, barking orders. I had fleeting images of Daanorian servants and courtiers with wooden faces and blank eyes shuffling toward them, my brother fighting them off.

  “Perhaps we shouldn’t have been so hasty with unraveling those wards,” I heard Shadi say, and through my brother’s eyes, I watched her slam a heavy vase against the side of a man’s head, watching him crumple.

  “Curse that old geezer,” Zoya growled. She was keeping the bulk of the enemy at bay, weaving Wind through the corridors so a small tornado sent people flying left and right before any of them could get too close. “Fox, where is your wayward sister now?”

  “Off to fight the savul on her own,” Fox growled, his frustration bleeding through. “Kalen’s on his way.”

  The savul was still injured from our previous fight. I saw the ugly scars along its neck where we had been dealt our fiercest blow, its blackened limbs moving with difficulty. For all its ferocity, the savul was clearly in excruciating pain. A brush against its mind told me that it’s participation today had not been a willing decision; the faintest edges of Usij’s mind touched mine, and I drew back immediately. I felt the Faceless push harder, but the azi responded in my place, snapping at the intruder until he retreated.