The Emerald Storm (43 page)

With blood spilling from his lips, Hilfred struggled to raise his sword again. The foremost knight brought his own blade down severing Hilfred’s arm at the elbow in a burst of warm blood that splashed across her face.

Hilfred collapsed to his knees. His body hitched.

“A—Aris…” he sputtered.

“Oh, Hilfred…” Arista whispered er eyes burned.

The knights stood over him. One raised his sword.

“ARISTA!” he cried.

The knight’s sword came down.

Arista collapsed as if the blade pierced them both. She slumped against the wall sliding to the floor. She could not speak. She could not breathe. Her eyes locked on the dead body of Hilfred as a warm wetness crept between her fingers.

“Hilfred,” she mouthed the word. She had no breath left to speak it.

Saldur sighed. “Get him out of here.”

“What about her?”

“They went through so much trouble to get in, let’s find her a nice permanent room.”

“What do you think is going to happen?” Hadrian asked Royce as they sat in the dark.

“The fleet will come in, there will be no pressure to fire the spouts, and the Ghazel will land
without opposition and slaughter everyone. Eventually they’ll reach here, break in and butcher us.”

“No,” Hadrian said, shaking his head. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. The Ghazel will eat us alive and they’ll take their time savoring every moment. Trust me.”

They hung in silence.

“What time do you think it is?” Hadrian asked.

“Close to sunset. It was pretty late when they brought us in.”

Silence.

They could hear the random movements of guards on the other side of the door, muffled conversation, the slide of a chair, occasional laughter.

“Why does this always happen?” Royce asked. “Why are we always hanging on a wall waiting to die by slow vivisection? I just want to point out that this was your idea—
again.
”

“I’ve been waiting for that. But I believe I told you not to come.” Hadrian shifted in his chains and sighed. “I don’t suppose there’s much chance of a beautiful princess coming in here and saving us again.”

“That card’s been dealt.”

“I wish I had met Gaunt,” Hadrian said at length. “It would have been nice to actually meet the man, you know? My whole life was fated to protect this guy and I never even saw him.”

They were quiet for a time then Royce pursed his lips and made a
hmm
sound.

“What?”

“Huh? Oh—nothing.”

“You’re thinking something, what is it?”

“Just interesting that you thought Arista was beautiful.”

“Don’t you?”

“She’s okay.”

“You’re blinded by Gwen.”

Hadrian heard Royce sigh. There was a silence then he said, “She already named our children. Elias if we had a boy—or was it Sterling, I forget—and Mercedes if a girl. She even took up knitting and made me a scarf.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”

“She wanted me to go, remember? She said I had to protect you. I had to save your life.”

Hadrian looked over at him. “Good job.”

Chairs moved in the outer office, footsteps, a door banged, agitated voices. Hadrian caught snippets of the conversation.

“…black sails…a dark cloud on the ocean…”

“No, someone else…”

A chair turned over and hit the floor. More hurried footsteps. Silence.

“Sounds like the fleet is in.” Hadrian waited watching the door to their cell. “They left us for dead, didn’t they? We told them this would happen. We came all this way to try and save them. You’d think they’d have the decency to let us out when they saw we were right.”

“Probably think we’re behind it. We’re lucky they didn’t just kill us.”

“Not sure that’s lucky. A nice quick decapitation is kind of appealing right now.”

“How long do you think before the Ba Ran find us?” Royce asked.

“You in a hurry?”

“Yeah, actually. If I have to be eaten, I would sort of like to get it over with.”

Hadrian heard the sound of breaking glass.

“Ah, we that didn’t take long, did it?” Royce muttered miserably.

Footsteps shuffled in the outer room, a pause then the steps started again, coming closer. There were sounds of a struggle and a muffled cry. Hadrian braced himself, and watched the door as it opened. What stood in the doorway shocked him.

“You boys ready to go?” Derning asked.

“What are
you
doing here?” They both said in unison.

“Would you prefer me to leave?” Derning smiled. Noticing the riveted manacles, he grimaced. “Thorough buggers, aren’t they? Hang on. I saw some tools out here.”

Royce and Hadrian looked at each other bewildered.

“Okay, so he’s not a beautiful princess. But it works for me.”

There was some slamming, an “Ah-hah!” Then Derning returned with a hammer and a chisel.

“The Ghazel fleet arrived and Drumindor isn’t working, but it didn’t blow up either, so I guess we have you to thank for that,” Derning told them as he went to work on the manacle pins.

“Don’t mention it. And I’m not just saying that. I really mean…don’t mention it,” Hadrian said with a wince.

“Now, half the folks—the smart half—are running, the others are going to try to fight. That means we don’t have much time to get out of here. I have horses and provisions waiting just outside town. We’ll take the mountain road north. I’ll ride with you as far as Maranon and then I’ll be going my own way.”

“But I still don’t get why you are here.” Royce said as Derning finished with one of the metal bracelets. “Don’t you work for Merrick?”

“Merrick Marius?” Derning laughed. “That’s funny. Grady and I were convinced you two worked for Marius.” Derning finished cracking open the manacles on Royce then turned to Hadrian. “We work for Cornelius DeLur. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I checked in and found out you worked for Melengar. DeLur got a big kick out that. The old fat man has a sick sense of humor sometimes.”

“I’m confused. Why were you on the
Storm
?”

“When the Diamond found that message from Merrick, Cosmos thought it important enough to relay to daddy, and Cornelius sent us. Grady and I started as sailors and are still well-known on the Sharon. We were so sure Royce killed Drew, which is why we thought you two were mixed up with Merrick. We thought it had something to do with that horn comment that Drew made.”

“Defoe—I mean Bernie killed him,” Royce said simply.

“Yeah, we figured that out. And, of course, that horn thing had nothing to do with Merrick. That was all Thranic’s group. When we heard you had been arrested, it wasn’t too hard to find ya.”

He finished freeing Hadrian who rubbed his wrists.

“Come on, most of your gear is out here.” He pulled Alverstone out of his belt and handed it to Royce. “Took this off one of the guards. I think he thought it was pretty.”

Outside of their cell, the tiny jail office was empty except for two guards, one looked dead, but the other might have just been unconscious. They found their possessions in a series of boxes set aside in a room filled with all manner of impounded items.

Outside, dawn rose and people were running with bundles in their arms. Mothers held crying children to their breasts. Men struggled to push overfilled carts uphill. Down in the harbor they could see a forest of dark masts. Drumindor stood a mute witness to the sacking of the city.

Derning led them up refugee-choked streets. Fights broke out. Roads were blocked and finally Derning resorted to the roofs. They scaled balconies and leapt alleys, trotting across the clay-tiled housetops until they cleared the congestion. They dropped back to the street and were soon at the city’s eastern gate. Hundreds of people were rushing by with carts and donkeys, women and children mostly, traveling with boys and old men.

Derning stood just outside the gates looking worried. He wistled and a bird call answered in response. He led them off the road and up an embankment.

“Sorry, Jacob,” said a spindly youth, emerging with four horses. “I figured it was best to wait out of sight. If anyone saw me with these, I wouldn’t keep them for long.”

From the crest of the hill, they could see the bay far below. Smoke rose thickly from the buildings closest to the water.

“We weren’t able to stop it,” Derning said, looking at the refugees fleeing the city, “but between you defusing the explosion and my reporting to Cornelius so he could raise the alarm, it looks like we saved a lot of lives.”

They mounted up and Hadrian took one last look at Tur Del Fur as the flames began to blow with the morning sea breeze and swept through the streets below.

Merrick entered the Great Hall of the Imperial Palace of Aquesta. Servants were hanging Wintertide decorations, which should have given the room a festive feel, but to Merrick it was still just a d
reary chamber with too much stone and too little sunlight. He never cared for Aquesta and regretted that it would be the capital of the New Empire—the empire whose security he had ensured. He would have preferred Colnora. At least it had glass streetlamps.

“Ah! Merrick,” Ethelred greeted him. The regents, Earl Ballentyne, and the chancellor were all gathered around the great table. “Or should I call you Lord Marius?”

“You should indeed,” Merrick replied.

“You bring good news then?”

“The best, Your Lordship—Delgos has fallen.”

“Excellent!” Ethelred applauded.

Merrick reached the table and pulled off his gloves one finger at a time. “The Ghazel invaded Tur Del Fur five days ago, meeting only a weak resistance. They took Drumindor and burned much of the port city.”

“And the Nationalist Army?” Ethelred asked sitting down comfortably in his chair with a smile stretching across his broad face.

“As expected, the army packed up and went south the moment they heard. Most have family in Delgos. You can retake Ratibor at will. You won’t even need the army, a few hundred men will do. Breckton can turn his attention north to Melengar and begin plans for the spring invasion of Trent.”

“Excellent! Excellent!” Ethelred cheered. Saldur and the chancellor joined in his applause, granting each other smiles of relief and pleasure.

“What happens when the Ghazel finish with Delgos and decide to march north?” The Earl of Chadwick asked. Seated at the far end of the table, he did not appear to share his companion’s gaiety. “I’m told there’s quite a lot of them and hear they’re fearsome fighters. If they can destroy Delgos, what assurance do we have they won’t attack us?”

“I am certain the Nationalists will halt their ambitions in the short term, milord,” Merrick replied. “But even if not, we face no threat from the Ba Ran Ghazel. They are a superstitious lot and expect some sort of world ending catastrophe to beset them shortly. They want Drumindor as a refuge, not as a base for launching attacks. This will buy the time you need to take Melengar, Trent, and possibly even western Calis. By then, the empire will be supreme and the Nationalists a memory. The remaining residents of Delgos, those once independent merchant barons, will beg for imperial intervention against the Ghazel and eagerly submit to your absolute rule. The empire of old will be reforged.”

The earl scowled and sat back down.

“You are indeed a marvel and deserving of your new title and station, Lord Marius.”

“Since you already have Gaunt, and Esrahaddon is dead, I believe that finishes my employment obligations.”

“For now,” Ethelred told him. “I won’t let a man of your talents get away that easily. Now that I have found you, I want you in my court and I will make it worth your loyalty.”

“Actally, I already spoke with His Grace about the position of Magistrate of Colnora.”

“Magistrate, eh? Want your own city, do you? I like the idea. Think you can keep the Diamond under your thumb? I suppose you could—certainly, why not? Consider it done, Lord Magistrate, but I insist you do not take your post until after Wintertide. I want you here for the festivities.”

“Ethelred is getting married and crowned emperor,” Saldur explained. “The Patriarch will be coming to perform the ceremony himself and, if that’s not enough, we will be burning a famous witch.”

“I would not miss it.”

“Excellent!” Ethelred grinned. “I trust accommodations in the city are to your liking? If not, tell the chamberlain and he’ll find a more suitable estate.”

“The house is perfect. You are too kind, My Lord.”

“I still don’t see why you don’t simply stay in the palace.”

“It is easier for me to do business if I am not seen here too frequently. And now, if you’ll forgive me I must—”

“You aren’t leaving?” Ethelred asked disappointed. “You just got here. With news like this, we have to celebrate. Don’t doom me to merrymaking with the likes of an old cleric and a melancholy earl. I’ll call for wines and beef. We’ll get some entertainment, music, dancers, and women. How do you like your women, Marius? Thin or plump, light or dark, saucy or docile? I assure you, the lord chamberlain can fill any order.”

“Alas, My Lord, I have some remaining business to which I must attend.”

Ethelred frowned. “Very well, but you must show up for Wintertide. I insist.”

“Of course, My Lord.”

Merrick left while the imperial rulers exchanged congratulatory accolades. Outside, a new carriage awaited, complete with four white horses and a uniformed driver. On the seat rested the package from the city constable. Merrick had offered brandy in trade and the constable leapt at the opportunity. A bottle of fine liquor in return for the worthless remnants of the defunct witch-hunt was the sort of good fortune that the sheriff was unaccustomed to receiving. Unwrapping it, Merrick ran his fingers over the shimmering material of the robe.

The carriage traveled up The Hill and turned on Heath Street, one of the more affluent neighborhoods in the city. The homes, though not terribly large, were tasteful and elegant. A servant waited dutifully to remove his cloak and boots while another stood by with a warm cup of cider. Merrick never drank wine, ale, or spirits and was amused to see this accommodation taken into account. He sat in the drawing room surrounded by burgundy furnishings and dark wood paneling sipping his drink while listening to the pop of the fireplace.