Iron Elf - A Race Reborn (Book 2) (2 page)

I glared at him. “They’re still my people. When I am king I shall look out for anyone who calls Brandish home.” The air grew hot.

The man disappeared into the crowd. I took a moment to regain my composure. “In any case, the caprans have advised me that they can easily create a replacement species—one that will not be a danger to humanoids.”

“Ooooooh.” The blonde and brunette both took deep breaths. I had to struggle to keep my eyes on their faces.

“If anyone’s interested in an exclusive interview, I’d be glad to give one—” A hand clamped on my upper arm and pulled me to the carriage. “—just as soon as I’ve cleared it with my chief adviser. Thank you, that will be all!”

Mina dragged me inside and shut the door. I settled into the opposite seat, “What’s the matter? I was working the press like you asked me to.”

“You were working toward another scandal.”

“It’s nobody’s business what two or twenty consenting adults do.”

Mina closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then knocked on the wall behind her. The horses snorted and the harness-chains jangled. The hoofbeats grew louder as the animals hit a fast trot. We seemed to fly over the road. The coachwork floated over the undercarriage, suspended by magnets and superconducting fluid. The liquid vinyrral sloshed, counteracting every bump and sway.

Mina opened her eyes. “Angrod, get real. You’re a prince. That makes you a public servant. You can indulge in all sorts of luxuries, but not the luxury of a personal life.”

“I can’t indulge myself now and then? I’m an elf, they’re all elves. They’ll understand.”

“That’s not the point. Are you sure those two chroniclers were full-blooded elves? I know you aren’t, and I don’t care, but such things matter to your people. It’s bad enough Findecano is fighting your coronation. If you tarnish your image you might never become king.”

I crossed my arms. “I never wanted the job.”

She smiled. “As long as you aren’t on the throne, your royal status is questionable. Certain factions might ask why they’re letting you get away with murder. Cruix and Heronimo too.”

“Heronimo wasn’t there when I first turned into a dragon.”

“He was at Corinthe Citadel and he did slaughter a bunch of people. They were assassins, yes, but certain factions would still call it murder because they were elves. In the eyes of the law, every one of them was worth more than any dwarf or human.

”

“He did the realm a favour! Stupid law.”

She reached out a hand. “That’s true. But you know how little the truth matters when power is at stake. If you gave up your claim to the throne, your opponents wouldn’t be satisfied. You’d disappear from history. Quietly and conveniently and all over the place.”

I leaned back. I opened my mouth, then closed it. I sighed. “It’s like I stumbled and had to run to keep from falling. I haven’t stopped running in sixteen years and I’m tired. I’m tired of staging these PR stunts. Remember when wyvern hunting used to be fun?”

She smiled. “I recall it was a lot scarier, before we worked out our technique.”

“That first time was a nightmare. There would never have been a second time if Cruix hadn’t insisted. The guy can hold a grudge.”

“Can you blame him? Remember, he was attacked by wyverns. He’d have died if he hadn’t been turned to stone.”

“You know, he never told me why they attacked him. I always thought it was because dragons and wyverns were natural enemies. Maybe it was just Cruix being Cruix.”

CHAPTER 2

It was a long carriage ride. We were going to Drystone for the Frost Fair, which happened when the Kingsriver froze over. There were other, more serious events on the itinerary, but I like to think we were mostly going for the winter carnival. There’d be skating, and football. Vendors on the river would sell mulled wine and roast mutton.

I smiled. I had fond memories of my apprenticeship. I was looking forward to walking Drystone’s streets again, maybe popping into Elrond’s Commonwealth for a glass or two. I sent for his wines regularly, but it wasn’t the same as drinking with the man himself.

Mina was checking her feybook. The enchanted book was more than a diary—it also allowed her to stay up to date on friends and current events.

“Anything about this last hunt?” I asked. “It’s about time for the evening news.”

She ejected her friends’ ink cartridges and returned them to their case. She inserted several other cartridges and cracked open the book. I couldn’t see it from where I was sitting, but words were flowing onto the page. A gazetteer had turned in their work, and now a scribe was writing in a flawless hand. The calamar ink reproduced every line.

“It says here you consider halflings to be equal to elves. The writer wonders if you’ve forgotten who your real people are. Another notes that you used excessive force on the poor wee beastie and that it was not sporting.”

“Not sporting? You could hunt them with siege weaponry!”

“You will admit, there wasn’t much left of the wyvern after you were done.”

I shrugged. “I’ve got lots of trophies back at Castle Veneanar. Anything from Ballindis?”

“The blonde diarist?” She took out another slender cartridge. She frowned and shook it a few times. “Running low on Ballindis. The woman uses far too many woodcuts. And she charges a half-rupee more for every cartridge.”

“Let me see that.” I slid the cartridge into place. “Here we are. In other news, I was privileged to be present when our one and only prince dispatched yet another loathsome wyvern. In a masterful display of arms and cunning, he and his companions—now this is journalism!”

A woodcut appeared. It depicted me striding out of the wyvern’s cave, muscles rippling under my robes. I held a gigantic sword in my right hand, and for some reason my legs were covered in bandoliers. Mina leaned over. “You look like a Northlander dressed up as an elf. Not even Heronimo is that top-heavy. And you’re grimacing so hard your face bones are cracking. And your feet aren’t even touching the ground!”

“Admit it, I look badass.”

“Admit it, this is terrible art. But at least it matches the text.”

“I like the text. Did you know Ballindis does her own calligraphy? I like a woman with agile hands. Hey, what happened to your sense of fun? The old Mina saw every wyvern hunt as an adventure.”

“The old Mina didn’t have a bunch of man-children to take care of. You know Heronimo and I aren’t speaking?”

Of course I knew. They were part of my household, after all. Some months they’d barely speak to one another and some months they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. My flower beds would never be the same.

She looked away. “Never mind. I’d rather not talk about it.”

“You gave him that sword for his birthday, then stopped talking to him. You’re my chief advisor and he’s my bodyguard. I need you two to get along.”

She sighed. “He’s been lost since he got his revenge. Killing Dinendal was his only ambition. He has no idea what to do next.”

“He still works on his swordsmanship. He’s probably in the top one hundred.”

“Now if only he applied himself to other things, like our relationship.” She laughed. “Look at us. A dwarf and a human. Have you ever seen a more unlikely pair? They say politics makes strange bedfellows. I say love makes even stranger.”

It was raining when our little convoy reached Drystone. We passed through the gates and headed for the palace quarter. We reached the royal palace—and kept going.

I watched it shrink in the distance. You’d think the heir to the throne would live there, but Findecano had blocked me. He declared it had been the seat of government since the city’s founding. The government was now headed by a council of governors, and since that council had been using the palace for over a thousand years it had some tradition behind it. And my living there would have added a little more legitimacy to my status as crown prince. Bottom line, I wouldn’t be moving into the royal palace anytime soon. It was a town hall, not a town house, and Findecano wasn’t going to do me any favours.

So instead we rented a small mansion at the outskirts of the palace quarter. The neighbourhood wasn’t quite as nice.

“Remind me again why I can’t afford a better place?” I said as we climbed out.

“You may be the heir apparent, but the government hasn’t given you a single coin. You’re entirely dependent on family holdings. And a mansion is a mansion.”

“Pity. A better ocean view would’ve helped me with my princely duties.”

The carriage porch kept us out of the rain while we waited for Heronimo and Cruix. Their ride pulled up.

“How was the trip?” I asked as they climbed out.

Cruix stretched. He ran his hands through his long white hair. “It was passable.”

As always, it was weird to see the dragon wearing my face. His elf form was a side effect of our sharing the same body for several weeks. His mind had been threatening to take over and I’d barely managed to separate us, building him a new body in the process.

The process had saved my life, but not without a price. My right arm was a prosthetic all the way to the shoulder.