Cas was only two feet away and might have reached out a hand to steady Sardelle, but she only gazed in her direction, the shadows hiding whatever expression she wore.
“Time to jump,” Kaika whispered. “The guards are at the towers. Best chance we’ll get.”
Sardelle managed a quick nod.
“Any word on the search for the king?” the queen asked from below. She was now walking toward a door while the guard continued his report.
As she passed under a gas lantern, Sardelle got her first good look at her. A woman in her late forties with her long blonde hair clipped back, she had a slump to her shoulders and appeared tired. Whatever her position was right now, she was doing more than knitting and reading mystery novels. She soon walked out of view, but her aura lingered, one stronger and more pronounced than Sardelle would have expected.
Jaxi, does she—
Yes.
Before Sardelle could dwell on her realization, Kaika jumped to the walkway, landing in a crouch, her fingers brushing the ground. The shadows were doubtlessly not as thick down there as she would have liked, and she moved quickly, pulling a coil of rope from her pack. Cas jumped down after her. She had the big sword across her back, but it was so long that the end banged down as she landed. Sardelle winced. With the flier propeller no longer rotating, the courtyard had grown quiet, and that bang seemed to echo along the battlements.
“Someone’s up on the wall,” came a cry from the yard.
Cursing, Kaika hurried to tie her rope around one of the crenellations. But the nearest two tower doors flew open, and men charged out. She wasn’t going to have enough time.
Sardelle jumped down, forming a barrier with her mind even as she dropped. Rifles fired. Bullets would have struck the women, but Sardelle’s shield deflected them. That was better than the alternative, but she winced, knowing that even if they escaped, the castle guards would realize that a sorceress had been among the intruders. Maybe it was dark enough that the soldiers might simply believe they had missed. Except that they were running as they were firing, drawing closer with every second. They were sure to notice the barrier when they bounced off it.
“Go,” Kaika said, shoving Cas toward the rope.
Without hesitation, Cas slung herself over the wall and disappeared. Kaika waved for Sardelle to follow, even as her hand tapped the hilt of her pistol. Kaika didn’t draw it—knew she couldn’t. She hopped onto the wall between two crenellations, using them for cover, but from the confused furrow to her brow she had realized the bullets were not making it through to them.
The first soldier reached the edge of Sardelle’s barrier. He bounced backward, as if he had struck a wall. His eyes opened wider than full moons as he stared at her. Then Kaika was pushing Sardelle over the side, and she had no choice but to grab the rope and slide down. She ignored the stone wall scraping at her knuckles and the rough rope biting into her palms, and made sure a barrier remained around Kaika.
Watch out, Jaxi barked into her mind.
Rifles rang out from below—close below. Sardelle didn’t see the bullets speed through the night sky toward her, but Jaxi erected a barrier in time, and they burst into flame, incinerated. Sardelle skimmed the rest of the way down the rope, but as she landed, the air flashed with light, and a boom thundered in her ears. She stumbled on the uneven rocks—or maybe the ground shook and tripped her up—and fell onto her butt.
Cas knelt a few feet away, her rifle in hand, and aimed toward a squad of soldiers running toward them.
“Don’t,” Sardelle yelled, belatedly realizing Cas wasn’t going to. She already would have taken them out if she intended to.
Spotting a soldier pulling back his arm to throw something—a second explosive?—Sardelle hurled a gale of wind at the squad. It struck them like a hurricane, battering them almost as forcefully as a bomb’s shockwave would have.
Sardelle scurried away from the dangling rope, looking up toward the wall, hoping to see that Kaika was climbing down and about to land. But the bullets and the explosion had distracted Sardelle. The barrier she had been keeping around Kaika had dissolved.
Kaika was hanging over the edge of the wall, clinging to the stones as men tried to pry her away. Her face contorted with pain, and Sardelle sensed that she had been shot. But what she yelled down was not about her own danger.
“Find the king,” Kaika ordered, her gaze raking across Sardelle even as the guards finally managed to pull her away from the wall.
We will, Sardelle promised silently, breaking her rule about telepathic communication to let the words trickle into Kaika’s mind.
They’re coming again, Jaxi warned.
Sardelle sent another blast of air at the men, then turned and ran for the harbor. Cas was already heading in that direction.
A diversion would be welcome, Jaxi. Sardelle could keep hurling wind at them, but that wouldn’t keep the men on the wall from firing or seeing which direction they were going.
Always happy to put on a small show.
Jaxi had no sooner than shared the thought than the sky lit up behind Sardelle. A fiery orange inferno leaped from the ground, incinerating the rope and stretching toward the heavens. The soldiers that had been trying to follow Sardelle and Cas stumbled backward, raising their arms against the intense heat. Even halfway down to the harbor, Sardelle could feel it warming her back. It rose higher than the walls of the castle, and the riflemen standing on the walkway had to flee.
A small show? Sardelle asked, running as fast as she could over the jumbled rocks.
You asked for a distraction. They’re distracted.
Do any of them have eyebrows left?
They don’t need eyebrows to stand guard and shoot people.
Sardelle hoped Kaika had been pulled to safety before the flames had leaped up.
She was. They’re taking her to a dungeon for questioning.
How badly wounded is she?
Shot in the shoulder. I suppose how bad that is depends on whether they bring in a healer or just throw her into a cell.
Sardelle shook her head bleakly as she ran. She could not imagine that an intruder with a backpack full of explosives would be treated favorably. A notion of charging back in with Jaxi aflame to rescue Kaika flashed through her mind, and she almost spun around right there.
I wouldn’t. Not now. Everyone’s alert, and you would have to fight the whole castle. With them shooting to kill and you trying not to hurt anyone, you would only end up dead.
I know. I’m just frustrated. And Sardelle dreaded telling Ridge that she had lost one of his troops. The whole reason he had asked her to go along was to help, and what had happened? Kaika had been slowed down, making sure Cas and Sardelle got out ahead of her. If Kaika had been alone, she would have made it.
Apparently, Jaxi had no words of comfort, because she did not respond to these grim thoughts.
Ahead of her, Cas angled toward the road that led from the city up to the castle gates. Sardelle had been thinking of jumping in the harbor and swimming away, some notion of hounds following tracks in her mind, but the rough footing made her crave the smoothness of a cobblestone road. She followed Cas, and eventually, they made it off the promontory, though they had to hide twice in a drainage ditch as military vehicles rolled past. Sardelle used her power to keep the drivers from noticing the panting women hunkering beside the road. She and Cas did not speak until they reached the city, ran through a maze of alleys, and ensured they had eluded pursuit.
When they stopped to catch their breath, Cas spun on Sardelle and thrust a finger toward her face.
“What was that? If you were going to break our cover with fire and thunder, then why’d you let them get the captain?”
Startled by the vitriol in Cas’s voice, Sardelle said, “I assure you that wasn’t my intent.”
“Well, now she’s going to get shot for being suspected a traitor, and everyone in that castle knows a damned witch was there. They know you were there. There’s nobody
else around who can do all that. And they know you’re with the colonel, so they’re going to know he’s here. How are we supposed to sneak around and gather intel when the whole city knows we’re here? And what do you think they’re going to do to Captain Kaika when they see all her weapons and explosives?”
“They took her to a dungeon,” Sardelle said quietly. She did not want to argue and mostly gave the information to reassure Cas, so she would know that whatever happened, Kaika wasn’t in danger of being shot, at least not right away.
“Oh, well that makes it fine. I’m sure she’ll enjoy her time there before they shoot her.” Cas whirled around and stalked off down the alley. Sardelle would have followed her—whatever had happened, they had to meet back up with Ridge—but Cas added, “The colonel never should have brought you back from those mountains. All you’ve done is make everything worse.”
Sardelle stood still, letting Cas stalk away. She tried to tell herself that Cas was simply angry and that she would apologize later. Sardelle hadn’t realized Cas and Kaika had become that close, but they must have, and she must be scared and angry about losing her fellow officer.
Even though her thoughts seemed rational and were most likely true, Sardelle couldn’t manage to brush off the words, to rise above the insult. It stung, and Cas’s accusations repeated in her head as she trudged slowly toward the north side of the city and the highway that would lead her into the countryside.
She glanced at a building papered with advertisements and stumbled when she spotted her own face looking back at her. The wanted poster. She recognized the picture from a roster that had been pulled out of Galmok Mountain by the crystal miners. It was her first time seeing the poster, but she couldn’t bring herself to stop and read the indictment. She continued onward, trying not to feel like all of Iskandia wanted her dead—including her own comrades. It was hard when she had a long walk ahead of her and nobody to talk to. If Cas hadn’t stormed off, she could have informed her of something that may or may not change the course of their mission.
The queen had dragon blood flowing through her veins.
Chapter 6
By the time his borrowed horse neared his mother’s property, Ridge was yawning so fiercely that his jaw kept cracking. He had dozed off several times in the saddle, but that was hardly restful sleep, not when he kept waking with a jerk to keep himself from falling off.
The sky was lightening in the east, promising dawn. He wished it would promise sun too. He was tired of the late-winter clouds and the dampness that seeped through his cloak and made him long for a warm bed, preferably one with Sardelle in it. If she would deign to join him after she learned that his people were hunting witches. No, not even “witches,” just people with a very distant ancestor who had been intrigued by a dragon’s attentions. Most of them probably had no idea that they had any talent for magic. Tolemek had been using his talent every day and even he had never known it.
Ridge looked over at his silent comrade, trying to decide if Tolemek was being deeply introspective or sleeping in his saddle. “You still worried about that tea canister?”
“I can handle Therrik if he comes for me,” Tolemek said, “though I would feel better about handling him if I had access to my lab and could prepare myself for a fair fight.”
“By fair, you mean that you would have explosives, tear gas, and knockout grenades to throw at him while he had only his fists?”
“I could give him knockout grenades, too, but I doubt he’s bright enough to use them.”
“Might be right.” Ridge had found his eavesdropping interesting, because it had been a chance to see if Therrik was as much of a badger’s teat when he was with other people as he was around Ridge. The answer had been no. Of course, any soldier would behave in the presence of higher-ranking officers, but if Ridge was honest with himself, he would admit that he had goaded Therrik a little when they had met. Still, that didn’t explain why he had been such an unbalanced ass with Tolemek. Unless he had known what Tolemek was, that part about him having dragon blood. Could he have? That seemed unlikely, but Therrik had definitely had unkind words for Sardelle, based on her blood rather than on ever having met her.
“Zirkander,” Tolemek said, then paused to yawn before adding, “how would you feel if you found out you had dragon blood and it was the reason for your flying skills, rather than any brilliance on your part?”
“I’m sorry, did you just admit I have flying skills? That was almost a compliment. I want to make sure I heard you right over the clomps of the hoofbeats.”
“Never mind.”
Speaking of goading people… Why couldn’t he ever rein in that lippy streak, as General Ort called it? “The dragon blood is a part of you, right? It’s still you inventing things, knowing the science to make things work when magic alone wouldn’t do anything.”
“So you would embrace your heritage?”
“I’d be excited about it. It would mean I had an incredibly adventurous ancestor who had been brave enough to get randy with a dragon. You know my dad’s dad and my three uncles were all drunks? Every one of them got himself killed doing something stupid. That’s the kind of blood I have in my veins.”
“The blood of stupidity?” Tolemek squinted over at him. “That seems apt.”
Ridge touched his knuckles to his cap in a lazy salute. He had set himself up for that one. And after the night they’d had, Tolemek probably didn’t have much reason to think him bright. He couldn’t believe he had been too cowardly to knock on Therrik’s door before throwing the grenade. No, he had thought chucking it through the window with a rock was an intelligent infiltration tactic. Although…
He grinned over at Tolemek. “You know what the best part of tonight was? Finding out that I wasn’t the first hoodlum to vandalize Therrik’s house. The MP made it sound like it happened all the time.”
“That wasn’t the best part.”
“No? What was?”
“Hearing that Therrik is officially your commanding officer.”
Ridge grunted. “And also about how he wanted to send me off to hunt those with dragon blood?”
“No,” Tolemek said more soberly.
Ridge clenched his fist around the reins. “I have to round up my people, get them back to the hangar. They need to be here in the capital, right now. The idea of the city having absolutely no air support…” He shuddered. “I think I’m going to have to give up my skulking ways and reveal myself, but damned if I’m going to report to Therrik. I’m tempted to take a flier up the coast and order everyone back in person, but it would take a week to fly all around the country, especially if some of my pilots are inland. I have no idea where those witch communities are. And if I’m gone that long, who knows what would happen back here? No, we need to focus on the king. If we get him back, surely he’ll put an end to this stupidity. I hope Sardelle and the others found something tonight.”
“I hope Cas didn’t shoot anyone she shouldn’t have,” Tolemek said. “She’s been grumpy since we got home. Actually, she was grumpy on the flight back here, too. You would think she would have been pleased we made it off that island alive.”
“It’s hard coming home to chaos and disruption.” Ridge tried to decide if he had witnessed Ahn’s grumpiness. She had been quiet, and he knew from experience that while others railed and griped at life’s frustrations, she was more likely to wall herself off and deal with her problems internally. She hadn’t said anything cross to him, though, so he wondered if Tolemek was projecting some of his own disgruntlement onto her. He had done so much work for so long to help his sister, and even though they had succeeded in freeing her, she had left on that dragon’s back without an offer to take him along or even a promise to return for a nice family chat.
“Listen, Tee,” Ridge said, leaning over to thump Tolemek in the arm. “I appreciate you coming to help me last night. I know you’re not on anyone’s payroll right now and that you have no reason to follow some crazy Iskandian’s orders. But you
’re handy to have around.”
Tolemek gazed over at him, his dark ropes of hair shadowing his face. As always, he looked about as friendly as the deadly pirate he had once been.
Ridge returned his hands to his reins. He’d tried.
“As much as it pains me to say it,” Tolemek said after Ridge had given up on receiving an answer, “you helped me get Tylie. I owe you.”
That wasn’t the response Ridge had anticipated. While he wouldn’t mind having Tolemek in his debt, he wouldn’t be comfortable with it when that sense of owing was misplaced.
“You don’t owe me anything,” he said. “You know I was only there because it was my duty to rid the Cofah of their big advantage. Your sister just happened to be in the same room as the dragon.”
“Nonetheless, you made it possible for me to visit the sanitarium to look for her, and I couldn’t have gotten her off Owanu Owanus without your and Sardelle’s help.”
Mostly Sardelle’s help. Ridge had felt largely ineffective on that jungle expedition. Without his flier, he was just another soldier with a gun. But he kept the thoughts to himself. Tolemek didn’t show gratitude often, at least not to him, so he had better not fight too hard to dismiss it.
“And I am pleased,” Tolemek added, “at the thought of Therrik’s house being vandalized frequently.”
Ridge grinned. “I told you that was the best part of the night.”
The hoofbeats of a trotting horse drifted to them, and Ridge turned in his saddle, worried their deeds of the night had been discovered. They were almost to the turnoff for his mother’s house, and he thought about nudging his horse to greater speed to make it before they were overtaken.