Heirs of Destiny Box Set

by Andy Peloquin

  Issa’s gut clenched. That can’t be good. The Lady of Blades wouldn’t attend to this matter personally unless things were a heartbeat from spiraling out of control.

  She brought her company of Indomitables to a halt before Lady Callista and saluted. “Proxenos.”

  Lady Callista inclined her head. “Prototopoi.” Her words held none of their usual familiarity; out here, she was once again commander of the Blades, highest-ranked military authority in Shalandra, and Issa was nothing more than a humble trainee. “I will escort the prisoner the rest of the way to the palace, where he will give answer before the Keeper’s Council.” A hint of anger cracked Lady Callista’s stony façade.

  Issa understood her presence. The Necroseti had set their sights on Aterallis; Lady Callista had come to ensure due justice was served.

  “Yes, Proxenos.” Issa saluted and stepped aside to make way for their captive.

  “Callista.” Aterallis’ face broadened into a beatific smile. “It has been too long.”

  Lady Callista’s expression shifted, a hint of sorrow flashing in her eyes. Yet it passed so quickly Issa almost thought she’d imagined it. The Lady of Blades motioned to the Ypertatos at her side. “Bring him.”

  As the two Blades moved toward Aterallis, Lady Callista’s eyes went to Issa. “No trouble?”

  Issa shook her head. “He talked the people down.”

  “I did not do it alone,” Aterallis said.

  Issa looked at the man, who stood calmly between the two broad-shouldered Blades.

  “In her position, many more experienced soldiers might have attacked.” Aterallis nodded to her. “She stood her ground but gave the people no reason to turn hostile.” The strangely angelic smile returned to his face as he turned to her. “You speak with the voice of one beyond your years. The Face of Justice shines through you. When the Final Destruction comes, you will be the first to feel the Long Keeper’s embrace.”

  From anyone else, those words might have been a threat. Yet Aterallis’ tone held no menace or warning. Instead, it echoed with a blissful joy, like a man eager to embrace his family after returning from an odyssey.

  Issa had no answer; what could she possibly say to that? Yet the words dogged her steps as she followed Lady Callista, Aterallis, and the Blades up Death Row toward the Palace of Golden Eternity.

  * * *

  “Issa.” A familiar voice filtered into her sleep-numbed mind. “Issa, wake up.”

  Issa’s eyes snapped open and she sat upright, every instinct on full alert.

  Etai stood over her, worry etched into the lines of her face. “Lady Callista sent me to summon you, Issa.”

  Issa blinked the sleep from her eyes, her mind struggling to piece together her surroundings. Memory returned with wakefulness. After delivering Aterallis to the palace, Lady Callista had ordered her to a small sitting room to await the outcome of the trial.

  Did I actually sleep? The sofa had been surprisingly plush, the velvet soft on her face. The single lamp in the room had lulled her into a gentle sleep—well-deserved after nearly two days of non-stop exertion.

  Yet one look at Etai’s furrowed brow and dark eyes drove all thoughts of pleasant rest from her mind.

  Issa’s gut churned. That can’t be good. She leapt to her feet and scrubbed all traces of exhaustion from her face. “Where is she?”

  “In her office.”

  The disquiet echoing in Etai’s voice sent a chill down Issa’s spine. She hurried from the sitting room and strode through the simple stone corridors along the western side of the palace until she reached Lady Callista’s office.

  The two Keeper’s Blades on guard let her pass without hesitation, and Issa pushed open the Lady of Blades’ door.

  Lady Callista sat in her heavy armchair, her golden face somehow looking pale, ashen. Her strong features drooped into a frown that filled Issa with worry. For the first time, the indefatigable Lady Callista actually looked exhausted.

  No, not just exhausted, Issa realized. She recognized that look—she’d had the same one the night after Tannard beat her savagely, the night she’d come within a heartbeat of quitting the Keeper’s Blades. Defeat.

  Lady Callista spoke in a quiet voice. “The Keeper’s Council has found Aterallis guilty of murder.”

  Issa’s eyebrows shot up. “What?”

  “They proclaimed the evidence against him ‘too overwhelming to ignore’.” Outrage cracked through her stern, calm façade.

  “That’s horse shite!” Issa snapped.

  Lady Callista’s shoulders lifted in a half-hearted shrug. “The bodies were found in his warehouse, as was the cart used to bring Kellas’ body to Murder Square.” She shook her head. “Add to that the bloody knife…”

  “All of which could have been planted!” Fire burned within Issa’s chest. “I’ve heard him speak and there’s no way he could have done it. If we go through with this, the consequences—”

  Lady Callista surged to her feet and slammed her mailed fist onto the table. “I know the consequences!” she roared. “Don’t you think I understand what could happen when we carry out this order? I read the reports of your fellow Blades and the Executors. I heard the accounts of the Indomitables that accompanied you. Only the Keeper’s mercy kept the situation from turning to violence.”

  She seemed to suddenly deflate. The strong, confident Lady of Blades disappeared, replaced by a tired, disheartened woman that slumped back into her chair. “Now, when the people hear that we are going to execute him, they’re going to riot.”

  A shudder ran down Issa’s spine. Images of horror flashed through her mind: all those familiar faces in the crowd twisted by rage, clenched fists stained with blood, angry shouts echoing from a thousand throats. The streets of the Slave’s and Cultivator’s Tiers would run red. The violence of the Fifty-Day Revolt would pale in comparison to what awaited them now.

  The moment passed, and once more Lady Callista’s strength and will asserted itself. “But we have been given our orders.” She squared her shoulders and lifted her head. Steel hardened in her face, her eyes growing flinty. “The Keeper’s Council has overruled the Pharus’ objections. We have no choice but to obey. I cannot go against the Pharus, much as I despise his command. The situation in Shalandra is too grave to risk open defiance against the Council in this matter.”

  Issa wanted to protest. Every fiber of her being revolted at the thought of what she had to do. She hated the Keeper’s Council for forcing their hand. Yet Lady Callista was right. It was one thing to maneuver in secret against the Keeper’s Council, but open defiance was another matter entirely. If they didn’t carry out this order, the city would have a whole different manner of problems.

  At that moment, with the threat of widespread rioting and violence hanging over their heads, the city couldn’t afford for its governing bodies to be divided. If things turned ugly, it would take all the resources of the Necroseti, the Indomitables, and the Keeper’s Blades to get things in hand.

  Despite everything that screamed for her to disobey, Issa straightened and snapped off a smart salute. Loyalty to her commander, to the Lady of Blades that had earned her devotion and respect, trumped her personal desires. It had to. Without that, she would be forced to oppose the order she knew was wrong—oppose Lady Callista.

  “What are my orders, Proxenos?”

  Gratitude filled Lady Callista’s eyes. For a single heartbeat, she fixed Issa with that strange gaze, one filled with far more emotion than expected from a superior officer. Genuine emotion danced across the Lady of Blades’ face—Issa didn’t understand it, but she accepted it. Now, when the situation was at its most dire, Lady Callista deserved strong subordinates to support her. Issa would want the same in her situation.

  The moment passed and Lady Callista’s face hardened. Once more, she assumed the role of commander, collected, authoritative, confident. “At sundown, you are to join the company of Blades and Indomitables that will bring Aterallis to Murder Square, wher
e he is to be executed.”

  Ice seeped into Issa’s bones. Me? She’d half-expected this, yet to hear it aloud sent a chill down her spine. I’m to help lead an innocent man to his death.

  It went against everything she stood for—she’d joined the Keeper’s Blades not only to give her Saba and Savta a better life, but out of a genuine desire to serve Shalandra—yet she swallowed her feelings and kept her face a studied mask of calm. “Yes, Proxenos.”

  For the sake of Shalandra, she would follow her orders.

  Lady Callista saluted. “Go, Issa. And may the Long Keeper have mercy on all of us.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “What do you think?” Aisha asked. “Could it work? Could mixing Shadow Root with the Whispering Lily somehow balance out its effects?”

  Tension thrummed within her as Briana’s face scrunched up into a frown. Kodyn shot her an encouraging smile as she waited in breathless silence.

  After a long moment, the Shalandran girl gave a little shrug. “Maybe. I’ve never heard of Shadow Root before. I’d have to run some tests on it to see what it can do and what happens when I combine it.” She held out a hand. “May I see it?”

  Aisha reached into her pouch and drew out the gnarled brown root Imbuka had given her. Briana took it and studied it closely, turning it over in her hands, even peeling off a small portion of the root’s skin and the yellow flesh beneath with a sharp fingernail.

  “Give me a few hours to look it over,” she told Aisha. “If nothing else, I can always consult the Secret Keepers.”

  “Thank you!” Aisha threw her arms around Briana’s neck and pulled the girl into a tight hug. Warmth flooded her, relief soothing the tension knotting her muscles.

  “In the meantime, I think you’ll want to hear what Hailen found in my father’s journals.” Briana turned to the younger boy with an encouraging look. “Show her that bit about the pendant.”

  Hailen’s eyes brightened. “Oh yeah!” He flipped through the pages to a section near the back of the journal and gave their contents—more of the coded cipher Aisha didn’t understand—a quick scan. “So the Arch-Guardian only put down a few entries into the journal. Judging by the dates, he’d only just begun studying it.”

  The boy’s brow furrowed as he read over Suroth’s notes. “He called it a Dy’nashia, which, if I remember correctly, is the Serenii word for…” He felt silent for a moment, his mouth moving to sound out the syllables. “Repository, I think. Not so much like a physical storehouse like a granary or vault, though. More like a place where energy is collected.”

  Briana spoke without taking her eyes from the root. “He likened them to canopic jars. Jars used by the Dhukari to store their organs during the mummification process.” Now, she glanced up with a grin. She had pushed up her white Zadii headband and donned a pair of jeweler’s spectacles, with thick lenses that made her almond-shaped eyes appear three times their normal size. “Only, instead of viscera, it stores the energy of your spirits.”

  Aisha held up the pendant to Kodyn. “What color is the stone?”

  Kodyn’s brow furrowed. “What?”

  “Humor me,” she pressed. “What color is it?” Curiosity burned within her; she had to know if he could see it, too.

  “Black,” he said. “But there’s this thread of blue-white swirling through it.” He glanced up at her. “It’s quite pretty, actually. Like the light in your eyes.”

  Heat rushed to Aisha’s cheek at Kodyn’s compliment, washed away by a cooling sense of relief. “Good, I couldn’t be sure.”

  “Sure of what?” Kodyn cocked an eyebrow.

  “That I wasn’t the only one that could see it.” She held up her hands and, clasping the pendant tight, summoned Thimara’s spirit to her fingers. “Tell me, do you see anything now?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Kodyn said, “I mean, there’s your fingers, the calluses on your palms, and…” He trailed off as Aisha shook her head. “Is there something I should be seeing?”

  “No, I guess not.” Aisha let out a sigh and released her grip on Thimara’s spirit. The blue-white spark stopped dancing between her fingers, sizzled up her arms, and returned to the pendant—the Dy’nashia. “Because of my Spirit Whisperer abilities, I can see the Kish’aa—the same light threading the stone. But the spirits only become visible to you when they’re absorbed into the pendant.”

  Kodyn nodded—more an agreement with her than genuine understanding. “Sounds fair enough.”

  Aisha forced a smile. For a moment, she’d dared to hope that telling the others about the spirits might somehow open their eyes. A foolish thought, but she still felt disappointed that it hadn’t worked. But at least they can see the light of the Kish’aa in the stone. Warmth flooded her and her smile grew genuine as she stared at the spark dancing through the pendant. It’s proof that I’m not crazy, if nothing else.

  She had to give Kodyn, Briana, and Hailen credit. They’d accepted her words without hesitation, throwing their full support behind her. She didn’t know why she hadn’t told them the truth before—she could only write it off as “not the right moment” only so many times. Now that they knew, she felt better than she had in a long time.

  She turned back to Hailen. “Is there anything else in Suroth’s journal about the pendant, this Dy’nashia?”

  Hailen frowned down at the page. “A few bits and pieces, really. References to the one Serenii text where the Repository was mentioned, but that’s pretty much it.” He shot her a wry grin. “I’m pretty sure he didn’t have the abilities required to unlock the stone’s true purpose. Kind of like with this.” He hefted the long, cylindrical black stone, the one he’d found in Suroth’s study. It hadn’t left his side since that day.

  “But I’ll keep looking, I promise.” The boy’s expression grew earnest. “I’ll read over everything on this page and see if I can find any more mentions in the rest of the journal while I’m studying his writings on the Vault of Ancients.”

  An excited light sparkled in Kodyn’s eyes. “How’s that going, by the way? Are you any closer to discovering how we can get in?”

  Hailen let out a little sigh. “A bit. Suroth keeps referring to an inscription written on the door to Hallar’s Tomb, and another on the Vault of Ancients.” He flipped through the pages, frustrated. “But he didn’t get a copy of it here, so I can’t see if I understand any of the Serenii runes. And I doubt the Secret Keepers are going to let me out of here for a visit to the vault, even if we somehow managed to convince Lady Callista or the Pharus to let me get close enough to see them in person.”

  “What if I somehow managed to get my hands on those runes?” Kodyn asked.

  Briana turned to glance at Kodyn, and Hailen’s eyebrows shot up. Even Aisha was surprised by the words.

  “What?” Kodyn held up his hands defensively. “This is my Undertaking, after all. If sneaking into the palace to copy down a few ancient runes makes it happen—”

  “Provided you can sneak or trick your way past Indomitables and Keeper’s Blades that are now on full alert,” Briana retorted. “The assassination attempt is going to make them a lot warier.”

  “Hey, I’ve got to at least try,” Kodyn said.

  “Or, maybe we find another way.” Aisha said pointedly. “Such as talking to Lady Callista and seeing if she’ll take us to see it.” She exchanged glances with Briana. “After everything we did to help her bring down Angrak, she definitely owes us at least that much.”

  “Issa might be willing to help, too,” Briana interjected. “The Keeper’s Blades are responsible for guarding the Tomb of Hallar, and I’m certain she’d have access to it. She seems pretty tight with Lady Callista for a prototopoi.”

  “So no one thinks I should just sneak into the palace?” A touch of irritation edged Kodyn’s voice.

  “No!” Briana and Aisha said at the same time.

  “But the map—” Kodyn began.

  “Do you have the whole thing memorized?” Aisha asked, ar
ching an eyebrow. “Can you honestly say you’d have no trouble navigating that maze without getting lost?”

  “No.” Kodyn actually pouted, thrusting out his lower lip—a gesture that reminded Aisha of the kisses they’d shared minutes earlier. A flush of heat set her heart racing and her hands trembling with excitement, and the scolding words slipped from her mind.

  Briana seemed more than willing to drive the point home. “Let’s call you sneaking into the palace a back-up plan. As soon as we’ve dealt with this matter of the poisoned food supply, you and Aisha can pay Lady Callista a visit.” She held up a hand as Kodyn made to protest. “If she doesn’t help, then you can sneak into the palace.”

  Kodyn looked ready to argue, but Aisha knew what to do.

  “It’s still important that you’re prepared for when you do need to go in through the secret Serenii tunnels,” she said before he could protest. “I think we can both stand to spend some time memorizing that map. You never know when we’ll need to get around the city without using the streets.”

  As she expected, Kodyn’s stubborn expression softened. “You’re right.”

  “Of course I am.” She gave him a sweet grin. She’d been dealing with the stubborn young Hawk for years. “But I still like to hear it.”

  Instead of scowling, Kodyn grinned. “Don’t I know it? You never let me forget every little mistake I’ve ever made.”

  Aisha raised a mocking eyebrow. “Like that time in Goodman Alewor’s olive press?”

  “You swore we’d never talk about that!” Kodyn protested.

  “Fair enough.” A sly smile tugged on Aisha’s lips as she took a seat on the bed, patting the space beside her. “Come on. We can study the map together. That way, I’ll be able to help you find your way when you inevitably get lost like you did that time in the Praamian sewers.”

  “Please!” Kodyn snorted. “I wasn’t lost. I just took a shortcut that turned out to be a dead end.”