To Be Grand Maestro (Book 5) (57 page)

When the dust cleared, the embassy of Aakadon was nothing more than a pile of red-orange rubble. “Remove the shield,” Rex ordered and then cast, Find: Potentials, closed his eyes and concentrated.

Within the pile were three male-shaped potentials in three different shades of red, and one female whose energy hue was blue tinted with gold. Had they been dead he would have sensed nothing. The men seemed to be unable to move but the woman managed to touch her forehead, no doubt to report what had happened.

All around him his fellow Serpents were shouting gleefully at the destruction and patting each other on the back. The successful mission greatly improved their moral, which had been fairly low after news from Aakadon of the Da Capo on the spell restraining Tarin Conn had swept the guild.

“Come,” he said, and the sisters went with him as he approached the rubble, as did Joren Cappa.

“I sense one over there, may I end him?” the plump Demfilian requested.

“Certainly,” Rex replied as he stopped close to the pile where the woman lay buried. “Joya, you and Leea may execute the other two men.”

Each of them smiled at the opportunity he granted them to finish the task with legitimate kills and use their own spells to locate their victims. Life force energy beamed down into the rubble from the three and they sustained the potential, which should be forming a sphere around the heads of each person. “Why are you not focusing potential at your own kill?” Joya asked.

His victim had to be one of the Solars and likely possessed one bolt of potential with the ability to summon another using a crescendo. He could easily overwhelm any shield she was maintaining. “She has not finished reporting to her superiors. Aakadon needs to know how badly they have been hurt.”

Joya nodded her head and went back to focusing her own corrosive sphere, clearly satisfied with the response even though unaware it was not just the Solar’s report he was waiting for. This seemed like a good time to quench his thirst and so he quietly sipped the cool liquid from his canteen.

“Vice-Maestro this is Othello Sherman. Oceanic Bufer Quooter, Aakadon’s Accomplished assigned to Demfilia is dead along with two of his colleagues.” The first report came through.

“Well done. Decoda is now your city of operations,” Rex sent back through the array.

“Vice-Maestro, this is Boris Blassoff. Master Artisan Melanie Carsolaan, Aakadon’s Accomplished to Fon Kay is dead along with her five associates,” he sent along with a sense of pride.

“Well done. Kay Toll is now your city of operations,” Rex replied, deeply pleased with the successes.

A longer stretch of time passed while he awaited the report from Lorain Baler, who, like him, recently gained another lightning bolt. A strong sense of elation flooded the mental link ahead of the words, “Vice-Maestro, this is Operation Commander Baler. Three-bolt Senior Soarer Hopar is dead along with three of his Soarers and two Fledglings.”

“Well done Commander. You are now the Serpent Guild’s ambassador to Battencay and Trevica is your city of operations. I know how enthusiastic you can be at times and perhaps a bit over zealous. Please tell me you allowed one of the Soarers to make a report before killing it.”

A sense of amusement flowed through the link. “Hopar was the first to die. I lost a few associates taking him down. The three Soarers died shortly after that so I captured the Fledglings, they made their reports to Aakadon, and then I killed them.”

“You have in deed done well. All is going according to plan. Our forces are on the move in every corner of the world and I will go from here to assist Trogan at Port Kaylor. By the end of the Great Maestro’s spell, our base at Kelgotha will have helped the Prince seize control of all Ecoppian land north of the Troas Mountains. I will be there to crown him king. Jame Ecoppus will rue the day when he left the running of his ships and armies to his younger brother and thus gave him their loyalty. All the elder Ecoppus has is his Royal Guardsmen and two legions at his southern border where Efferin Tames requested he send them,” Rex informed her.

“I should think it will only take a day at most to give all of Ecoppia to Trogan,” Lorain sent a very liberal time frame.

“We could probably take it all today, within a mark, but Vance wants us to take a few days to consolidate power and then Ecoplis will fall,” Rex replied and the connection ended.

He could no longer sense the potential of the other three Accomplisheds of Aakadon under the rubble. His victim was still in a position consistent with amulet communication. “You have had ample time to set your affairs in order,” he spoke softly, and then focused, Corrosive Sphere and the spell encircled her entire body. His greater potential instantly overwhelmed her shield and though she began to convulse, being racked with pain, the sound of her screams did not penetrate the rubble. He was not quite sure if the spell killed her or the crushing weight of the rubble, either way life force energy no longer emanated from that pile.

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Prince Rorie KaTaar sat on the floor of the solarium high atop the royal palace in Aria and feeling confident. After all he was three years older than his sister, Briella, who was only five. They were playing Eagles and Rogues, about to anyway, if he could convince her to play the part of a rogue. “I am Maestro Reese, who do you want to be?”

Her eyes with a slight upward slant were a match for his own, and the amber color they shared was one of the physical signs of royalty in Cenkataar, along with skin the color of peaches blended in cream. The commoners had light brown complexions and brown eyes. He was told the royal tribe in Zune had red complexions.

“I want to be Maestro Beyers,” she stated and her jaw jutted out as she tilted her head back.

He shook his head at the ignorance of his sister.
Really, it is not as if they had never played this game before.
“You have to be a rogue, I know, you can be Maestro Benhannon.”

Her hands formed into tiny fists and she planted them on her hips. “I don’t want to be the Dark Maestro, besides, he’s a boy.”

“Maestro Beyers is not an Eagle or a rogue,” Rorie countered her argument. “I know, you can be Leah Barryn, she is a rogue and a girl and she is a Four-bolt Accomplished.”

Briella’s hands opened as they came away from her hips. She began stroking her black silky hair, a sign she was giving the matter serious thought. Little sister stared up at the thick glass panes in the dome that held out the cold of winter and let in the light of the sun, which warmed the solarium.

The panels were new and thicker than the ones that shattered back when the two Dark Maestros battled for control of Mount Shantear, according to Father, and he knows everything. The invisible waves that came every morning did no harm that Rorie could see, other than wake him a little earlier than he had grown accustomed to through the years.

Over her shoulders, to the east, he could see the city and the bay with all types of ships in the harbor, even the twenty dreadnaughts and seven man-o-wars, the largest in the royal fleet. Gray clouds filled the skies and Senior Forester Lanna Kerbin, the Three-bolt Accomplished and ambassador from Aakadon, predicted snow later in the day. All of the buildings in Aria had snow on the flat rooftops, except those with spires, and the streets were lined with banks piled by the shovelmen, whose jobs were to keep the roads free of trash, manure, and snow. They salted the ice, but Rorie did not know why.

“Very well,” Briella spoke in her high pitched voice. “I will be Leah.”

He was about to reply but closed his mouth when the invisible waves started again, at noon. Minutes later the dreadnaughts and man-o-wars began raising their sails and so were the destroyers and frigates. Rorie stared at the horizon and white sails, more than he could count, were approaching the harbor. Clarions trumpeted their warnings of approaching danger.

Ersa and Barbri, his and Briella’s nursemaids, hopped up from the benches off to the side where they had been watching him and his sister. Both women were light brown in complexion and wore their hair in a single long braid. The copper-colored silk dresses were tight against their slender bodies and limited the speed at which they could walk, but Ersa crossed the distance and had hold of his hand so fast he did not have time to get out a protest before she yanked him toward the door. Barbri picked up Briella and was carrying her.

Rorie kept his eyes on the bay as Ersa was pulling him closer to the door. Huge green vessels descended out of the clouds, each shaped sort of like a watermelon with what appeared to be oblong baskets on the bottom big enough to hold a platoon. Something fell from one of the flying melons down onto one of the dreadnaughts and exploded with a bang loud enough to be heard over the clarions. When the dark cloud was scattered by the wind, a big hole with splintered beams was all that was left of the bridge. Four more objects fell and dark clouds engulfed the entire ship, wood flew in all directions, and when the smoke cleared, the dreadnaught was gone, only bits and pieces remained floating on the water. Warships sent flaming bolts into the air but the melons were too high so those missiles arced under their intended targets and back down, some into the bay, and others striking freighters and setting them on fire. With so many melons in the sky dropping exploding seeds on the royal navy, Rorie wondered if all the warships would be destroyed by the time the hostile surface fleet reaches the harbor.

Royal Guardsmen in their red on black uniforms came rushing towards them as the door banged shut, cutting off Rorie’s view of the destruction, but not the sounds. He could still hear the whistling of falling seeds and the deep rumble of explosions as they landed.

Each soldier had a black lacquered conical helmet with a spike at the top and had a sword and dagger at the hips. Black chain mail lay over their coats. They formed up around him, his sister, and the nursemaids.

“The Queen wishes the royal offspring to be at her side,” Captain Tory told the nursemaids and then began hustling all of them through the hall to the stairs, and then down and down, into the deepest levels of the palace.

Rorie’s legs were aching by the time they reached a floor he had never seen before. “Who is attacking us?” he wanted to know.

Captain Tory kept them moving down a long corridor that had no decorations of any kind, just a plain white tunnel leading to a pair of bronze doors, which were guarded by two men holding halberds. Rorie did not count sconces with torches on the walls as decorations. “Highness, the flying ships carry the seahorse and trident of Zune on their bottoms and that is all I can tell you for now,” was the answer the officer gave.

As they approached the end of the hall, one of the guards opened the door, and then closed it after Rorie was pulled into a chamber where Father, dressed in purple finery with his black beard and mustache neatly trimmed, and Mother wearing a violet gown, stood at a table with General Zerkin. Standing with them was Senior Forester Kerbin, along with seven male Accomplisheds Rorie did not recognize. They were wearing the scarlet on black silks of Aakadon and that was all he needed to know.

“Majesty, no one has ever seen ships like these. They fly so high our weapons are useless,” General Zerkin said, and dabbed at his shaved head using an absorbent cloth to wipe away the sweat. His thin black mustache appeared to have been drawn on by a feather pen.

The explosions were growing louder, which meant the seeds were dropping on the city, Rorie could figure out that much without help from the adults.

“How has Zune acquired such vessels?” Father demanded to know. “They are attacking us with impunity. There must be something we can do.”

The sounds outside grew louder.

“Majesty, we are losing ships at an alarming rate. Of the man-o-wars, only the Hartley is intact, although badly damaged, and it is unlikely to survive another hit. The only civilian vessels damaged so far are those caught in our ineffectual crossfire. It seems our foes are at least attempting to limit their strikes to military targets,” Captain Tory reported far more to Father than he did to Rorie. “The Arian Legion is fully mobilized and ready for a fight on the ground, but is having no more success at damaging the skyships than has the navy. The Zunean fleet is approaching the harbor and will soon be within our striking capabilities.”

“I want the number of ships involved.” General Zerkin stated calmly, even though he was still sweating.

“Over a thousand ships,” the Captain replied while his eyes darted from Father to the General. “It has been determined the enemy fleet consists of dreadnaughts and top of the line man-o-wars, along with scores of troop carriers with frigates as escorts.”

The explosions grew louder, making Rorie a little nervous.

“This appears to be a major invasion and it is possible other port cities are under attack,” Mother stated. Today her black hair was shaped like a beehive, bracketed by gold strings, and salted with sparkling diamonds.

“It will take time for carrier pigeons and couriers to confirm the extant of the invasion,” General Zerkin said, and then turned to Accomplished Kerbin. “Senior Forester, would you provide us a map”

She had hair the color of wheat and was probably born somewhere on the west coast. Her hazel eyes glanced at Rorie before answering the General. “Be sure that I would.”

Moments later the world in miniature appeared over the table. Rorie could see all of the kingdoms with their mountains, lakes, and rivers. This image showed far more detail than any drawing the royal mapmakers could create and certainly better than the one he had drawn by hand for Briella.