Dragoon (War of the Princes Book 2)

by A. R. Ivanovich

  “Enough!” Brendon snapped and took long strides back and forth beside his extensive bookshelf. “Sit down, boy. I latched onto a foolish hope, but I should have learned to expect this kind of naiveté if Miss Kestrel is any example of your culture. A pilot who only thinks in terms of coin is commonplace. My dear brother here has already proven himself to make the worst possible choices in life. What I did not anticipate is you, Cormorant Thayer.”

  “Sir,” Rune said respectfully at attention. “No one here is to blame for this action but myself.”

  “Did you pilot that ship, Thayer?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Then there are others to blame.”

  “Wait just one minute,” Carmine said, sitting bolt upright.

  “So you're saying you would have left the children there?” Kyle asked with an edge in his tone. He remained in his chair, this time, but looked like he could barely tolerate it.

  “They were being killed. Drained, tortured. I saw it myself. Rune put his life on the line to get them out of there,” I burst in.

  “You have no right to call him by that name. He is a Dragoon, he isn't-”

  Fury rose up in me, and this time it was my turn to shoot to my feet. “Rune Thayer isn't a Dragoon, he's a human being, and worthy of equal respect.”

  Brendon Axton's gaze was made of something stronger than steel. “Swallow your self righteousness, girl. And. Sit. Down.” This was the same man who, without any Abilities, commanded enough respect to argue face-to-face with Commanders. He was the living example that power didn't need to be tangible to function.

  My stubborn rebellion toward authority warred within me and lost beneath that gaze. I sat down, took a breath and attempted to smother my anger. “If you can stand here and tell me that you would have turned them away, then you're just as inhuman as the Margrave.”

  The Common-Lord's voice came out a low rumble, like thunder in the distance. He stepped behind his desk, beside Dylan, and leaned over the table, resting his weight on his splayed fingertips. The look behind his brown eyes boiled. “Allow me to explain something to you. An hour before your arrival, I received some startling news by speed courier. Cape Hill's military force had fallen to an internal insurrection. The casualties to the Prince's army reached well into the hundreds, and the children of the installment had all been killed in a structural collapse. At this very moment, these Dragoon rebels have overrun Cape Hill, a supportive militia has formed among the civilians, and the entire city has been fortified against the Prince. Margrave Hest has been killed. The Dragoons loyal to Raserion who escaped are regrouping.

  “Now, I find the dead children here, in my city. Their families will rejoice, the black flags will be removed from the streets, there will be celebrations, and the Prince, one way or another, will learn about them. When he does, he will pool his armies from the other regions, he will initiate a new Margrave, and he will launch a campaign to wipe Cape Hill and Breakwater off the map.

  “Yes, I care about the children. But their fates were decided the day they were taken from me. I have no control over that, as much as it angers me, lances me through the heart to see them taken, abused, killed, or cursed to live the empty life of sacrifice that every Dragoon must endure. I do have power over the fate of some. My station lends me the control to be able to protect a few. I have a responsibility to my people, childless or not. Their lives rest in my hands, and you, in your foolish spasms of idealism, have taken that away from me!

  “What should I tell those families when we see the black ships approaching to destroy us? What can I say to the children, who, with false hope, believed that they were saved? When Breakwater's streets run red with their blood, what will you do? Who are any of you to make such a decision?”

  His words came like a slap in the face. I'd thought that rescuing the children of Breakwater was the one correct thing we'd accomplished.

  “Brendon is right, what we've done was beyond foolish, it was treason,” Dylan said, leaning his arms against the desk.

  “Why don't you lick his boot while you're at it?” Kyle said, crossing his arms.

  Dylan gave Kyle a haughty glare. “But, after spending a year of my life in a cell, I've decided that any action is better than none.”

  “How noble of you,” Carmine added, sarcastically.

  “Forgive me, Lord Axton,” Rune said, bowing his head. “I couldn't let them die. It was my weakness.”

  Brendon sighed, pushed off of the desk and looked at Rune with some familiarity. “None of us are without fault,” he admitted. “But it's not often that those imperfections decide the deaths of thousands.”

  “If this Prince of yours reaches Haven,” Professor Block persisted. “I'm fairly certain that the fates of two cities will be of small consequence compared to the greater impact.”

  Brendon clenched his square jaw. “Only the North would have had cause to worry. Until today, we were not the enemies of Prince Raserion.”

  “And what about us?” Block said. “What earned us a target? We have nothing to do with any of this, but your Prince plans to enslave and murder everyone in our country.”

  “Again, it is of no consequence to me. Do I look like a king to you? I'm the lord of a small city, a common-lord as they always remind me, only fit to watch over those citizens without Abilities.”

  “I may not know much about this place,” Block said, exhaustion plain in his bearing. “But the disease of corruption you've grown accustomed to is spreading. Times are changing everywhere. No one is safe from it.”

  “You don't seem a wholly ignorant man,” Brendon acknowledged.

  “If I knew more about this war, I may be able to help advise you,” Block said. “But only you can choose how to proceed here.”

  “I won't apologize for saving the lives of those children. If you arrest me, I'll understand, but I've made the decision to fight for my life,” Rune warned. “I'd rather you not be present for it.”

  “No,” I said. “Let him come with me. We'll leave and you'll never see us again.”

  “I'm afraid you're not free of this situation either, Miss Kestrel,” Brendon said, looking us over. “Your actions, all of you,” he glanced backward for Dylan's benefit, “have damned me. For that, I'm owed a debt.”

  The common lord straightened up to pace in front of his window. His fury seemed to be subsiding, giving way to deeper thought, if his body language was any indication.

  “Damn you,” he hissed, in one last display of outrage. “Damn all of you.”

  I refused to regret my actions. I would not be a victim.

  We did the right thing.

  When the common-lord met my eyes, I could tell something had changed in him.

  Lord Brendon crossed his arms and settled into a wide stance to face us. “I have a city filled with trained militia, and children who do not yet know how to properly control their Abilities. If Breakwater is to survive this, we need help. Yours. The Prince regards Lodestones as having incalculable value, so you're even more priceless to me, Miss Kestrel. If you have any measure of honor in you, you'll agree to serve as Breakwater's protectors and perhaps, our alliance can be of mutual benefit.”

  “If we had a hand in the cause of your ostracizing,” Professor Block said from his seat. “Why would you gamble on relying on us now?”

  “You continue to impress me,” Brendon said, fishing for a name.

  “Barry Block. Professor,” my former teacher responded.

  “Professor, none of you, not even Cormorant Thayer in his misguided quest for freedom, have done anything to make me your enemy. I would be a poor leader and protector if I did not feel some rage for the death sentence of my people when I had no hand in the crime.” Brendon exhaled and rubbed at his face with his hands. “But the act was made with noble intentions. I see that. I love my city's children as much as any parent. And even regardless of that fact, there is no point in arguing that we are not both enemies of Prince Raserion, now and forever. Those who do
not adapt to the changes of the seasons starve in the winter as easily as they'd wither beneath the droughts of summer heat. I'm in need of allies as much as you. Now, would you aid Breakwater?”

  I wondered how he would react if we said no.

  Kyle surprised me by being the first to respond. “Of course we will.”

  “We can't speak for all of Haven,” Professor Block said, and I could see by his expression, that he was submerged in his thoughts.

  “I suggest you figure out a way to do just that,” Brendon said to him. “Thayer?”

  Rune nodded deeply. “I didn't give up the yoke of one master for another. But I'll help an old friend.”

  The impact of his statement wasn't lost on me. They were bold words for a Dragoon. Brendon looked at him anew.

  “You'd better,” he said. “This is your mess that we'll be hung for. Pilot?”

  “Damn it,” Carmine swore. “Well, why not? A job’s a job. If I’m paid, and my ship is repaired, I’m in.”

  Lord Brendon nodded his head and looked to me.

  Knowledge settled over me like the threat of an incoming storm. I wasn't going home this time. I couldn't apologize to my father, or help with the damages caused by Eddie Elm. But my problems and Brendon's were linked. If Prince Raserion had his way, we'd both lose everything.

  “What about my friend, Ruby?” I asked.

  “She had nothing to do with your actions. She has no debt to pay,” Brendon answered levelly.

  “Then I'll help you, as long as it doesn't endanger my home,” I said carefully.

  “Fair,” Brendon said. “As a Lodestone, I'll need your help more than any.”

  “There are only a few of us,” I pointed out. “How will we be able to make a difference?”

  We are all parts of a living machine, invaluable, and all it takes is one person to change things to right or ruin.

  Brendon stepped around the desk, and leaned back on it. His heavy brow lowered over his focused eyes.

  “Never in my wildest imaginings did I think I'd ever say this. We only have one option for survival, and you can do something that I cannot. Something that would mean almost certain death for any un-escorted westerner,” Lord Brendon Axton said, looking me directly in the eyes. “You can make an appeal on our behalf to Varion, Prince of the North.”

  C hapter 52: Ruby's Release

  I faced the most difficult part of my journey since leaving Haven. Lord Axton had given us a room in the medical wing, and we had all the help we needed in preparing it. Strangely, it was the very same room that Rune had laid in during his brush with death. The painting of the great white tree standing against the storming elements of air and water remained on the wall. Rune's painting. I closed my eyes, wishing it'd make me feel stronger. It didn't.

  I dreaded what was to come, more than facing an angry Margrave or the Prince himself. I was miserable, sick and frightened, but least I wasn't alone. Rune was just outside the door like a grim sentinel, and Kyle was with me in the room. I could hear the footsteps echoing down the hall. I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt and Kyle put a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

  Rune swung the door open and stood by as Ruby entered the room. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and stared up at my Dragoon with obvious fear, but when she saw me, it all disappeared. Flushing with excitement, she bounced once on the balls of her feet, called out my name and Kyle's, and rushed to us. Her arms flew around me with a death grip I didn't know she had the strength for.

  Kyle gave her a sad and reluctant crooked smile when she hugged him, but I couldn't even do that much. How could I smile when guilt was eating me alive?

  “I was so afraid, while you were gone,” she admitted. “I must have cried for an entire day. I thought that they'd treat me the way they treated you, but they took such good care of me. I was amazed how nice everyone was. Gravity! You have no idea how glad I am to see you! Where’s Sterling?”

  At first, she’d been so excited to reunite with us, she didn’t even recognize Sterling laying limp and grey in the interior of the room behind us.

  At first, she wandered to him, too confused to react. Her face was blank, stupefied. She didn't understand what she was seeing.

  Watching her break down is still something I wish I could forget.

  * * *

  She'd been sitting with him for three hours, talking to him, crying and holding his hand. I waited in the lobby, the place where I'd once met Rune's mother, with my head buried in my arms, waiting for Ruby to come out and hate me. I wondered if it would compare to how much I hated myself in that moment.

  Kyle had gone to find something to eat, but Rune stayed with me, standing all the while.

  “I'm not used to sitting for very long,” he reminded me.

  When Ruby finally left Sterling's bedside, her glasses were off, exposing her bloodshot eyes and blotchy pink cheeks, stained with crying. She sniffled as she came out.

  I stood up and couldn't bring myself to say anything. Another hug was not something I expected.

  “Thank you for bringing him back. I know he's gone, but I'd like to think that on some level, it meant something to be with me,” she said, her tiny frame trembling.

  Breaking away from the contact, I gathered my courage and met her silver, almond shaped eyes. “Before he lost his consciousness, he used the last of his strength to show me how much you meant to him. I knew he could sense the Abilities of others, but Ru, he was a Lodestone with the Ability to make people remember and forget. He loved you. I'm sure of it.”

  She actually smiled and the tears fell down her face again. “See. I told you.”

  “I know,” I said, feeling the air drive out of my lungs like I'd been punched in the chest. “I'm sorry. I was so wrong about him.”

  “That was one of the reasons he followed me, when Kyle and I went after you. He wanted to prove to you that there was more to him than the duties of his family. I'm glad he was able to do that.”

  “Aren't you going to tell me this is my fault?”

  She looked at me like I was the strangest person she'd ever seen. “What happened wasn't your fault. A person can't walk into a wildfire and blame someone else when they get burned. You gave us all plenty enough warnings about this place. I even passed them on to Sterling before we left. You can't be held responsible for our choosing not to listen to you.”

  I stared at her in admiration. She was the only one, besides Kyle, who didn't blame themselves or others for what'd happened. Where did a sheltered eighteen-year-old, hardly any different than myself, get such compassion and forgiveness? Maybe there were properties to that injection I was allergic to that made people more evolved than me. I was certain that if our roles were reversed, I wouldn't respond with as much grace.

  “If he… I’ll miss him every day,” she said as a tear slipped from beneath her glasses. “But I will never blame you for it.”

  “Thank you,” I said, taking in a shaky breath and feeling some of my fear dissolve.

  Sterling's body died that night, and all I could think about was how much Rune meant to me. I didn't know what would happen to us, or how much time we'd have together, but for once, he wasn’t alone, and I’d never leave him behind again.

  C hapter 53: Epilogue

  Breakwater was gilded by sunlight. From cobble to rooftop, storefront to seashore, the city was aglow. Beyond the olive tiled buildings, the farms and foothills were golden, and the stand of proud peaks that made up Haven’s border were brilliantly white with snow. Not a single cloud obstructed the perfectly blue sky. The air was ice, but there was no wind.

  Warm in my teal overcoat, I stood on a second story balcony, facing the grand stone pier that connected the keep-on-the-water to the shore. The sounds of coursing surf, trumpeting elephants, and jubilant laughter, blended together for the most beautiful song I’d ever heard.

  Below me, the bridge-way to the keep was packed with celebrators. Flags of every color in the rainbow flashed, people chante
d and sang, and petals were shot into the air with confetti guns.

  Gently swaying elephants were decked in vibrant trappings, and horses moved through the crowds with ribbons streaming from their manes. Even the automobiles were decorated with banners.

  Putting my arms on the balcony railing, I leaned on the wrought iron, and watched children run into the open arms of their parents. Whether all of them were laughing from crying or crying from laughing, I’ll never know. Witnessing the emotional elation of an entire city was an experience second to none.

  A shadow settled over me as someone came to stand at my side. I smiled up at Rune and studied his reaction of the spectacle. He gripped the railing with both hands and leaned forward, taking it all in.

  His eyes never stopped moving, darting across the scene as though staring at any one thing would overwhelm him with happiness or sorrow. His chin trembled, his eyes went red, and he smiled through it. “I can hardly believe this is real.”

  The way I saw it, Rune was standing at the edge of his world, watching half of it crumble away into dust, and preparing to take a first step into the unknown. I wouldn’t let him face that challenge alone.

  Beaming with wonder, I held the railing and rose up to the tops of my toes, exhilarating in the view. “You gave them this.”

  “No,” he said quietly. His hand slid over the rail and closed over mine. “You did.”

  A Note from the Author

  If you’re reading this, it means you’ve finished my second book, DRAGOON, and that you’re indisputably awesome. “Who, me?” you ask. Yes, specifically you. I couldn’t imagine a better group of readers. After publishing HAVEN, I’ve had the chance to connect with a great many of you, and I happen to know that you’re all incredible people, of every age, gender, profession, and passion. I’d like to thank you, as personally as digital note will allow, for reading and supporting this series. If you have a free minute, please leave a review for this book on Amazon.com. If ever you find yourself drifting around the internet, come visit my website for giveaways, series updates, concept art, exclusives, and other sorts of shenanigans and tom-foolery.