Keeper: First Ordinance, Book 2 (9 page)

"Then it shall be thus."

"I will take him," Daragar offered. "I'll leave
the others to you." He nodded to Kaldill.

"Very good. Remember to add air in his sphere—with the
way he's howling, he'll run out quickly."

"The weapon managed to cauterize the wound, so he needs
little care," Daragar leaned down and examined Yevil in a clinical
fashion.

"Guards are coming," Justis pointed out.

"Then we should leave," Kaldill replied. In a burst
of brightness, we were inside Amlis' suite in Lironis. Amlis, shocked beyond
comprehension, shouted when we arrived. Rodrik slipped on the stone floor,
rushing to defend the Prince. He landed on his knees, finding himself
face-to-face with Yevil's sphere, his nose pressed against the solid
transparency.

It was then I noticed that Daragar had left Yevil's severed leg
behind in Vhrist—as food for the rats.

* * *

Le-Ath Veronis

"Kaldill said he was only attempting to protect all
involved. It merely happened that the weapon fired and severed the murderer's
leg while he was shielded."

"Where's the leg now?" Lissa asked Kooper.

"I believe it was consumed by rats, but I can double
check if you'd like."

"No, thank you," Lissa held up a hand.

* * *

Lironis

Quin

"Do they have any more of these weapons?" Amlis
asked.

"Not now," Daragar replied. "The two Yevil carried
are deactivated—I saw to it myself. The others still in Vhrist will no longer
operate, either. When someone chooses to target Quin, they will be treated to
the same."

"How is Rath?" Wolter asked.

"Recovering well—after Quin tended him. That healing could
have gotten her killed," Kaldill replied. "Omina is with Rath and
they are discussing Tamblin's plans."

"Can we remove this—whatever it is? I wish to see Yevil's
back," Amlis studied the sphere around the one-legged enemy.

"Deeds and I will hold him for you," Wolter
volunteered.

"No. Ardis and I will handle this—he meant to kill more
Avii, and would have without the help of Kaldill and Daragar," Justis
nodded his thanks to both.

I went still—he'd called me Avii. My breath stopped for a
moment.

Kaldill smiled grimly as he released Yevil from his
transparent cage. The moment he was free, Yevil attempted to stand and fight.

He should have known better.

Amlis ripped the shirt from his shoulders after Yevil dropped
to his knees with a yelp of pain. I peered at Yevil's back as he snarled his
hate.

There, on his shoulder blades, were nubs. At the base of those
nubs, next to his skin, grew the smallest, downy feathers.

They were red.

Yevil was half-brother to Jurris. Justis jerked Yevil about
and punched him senseless with a single blow.

* * *

"How old would he be?" Ardis asked. I was weary but
refused to leave while Justis, Ordin, Gurnil and the others discussed this
half-blood child of Treven's.

"Old by Fyrian standards," Gurnil replied. "Treven
went through the gate fifty turns past, and I imagine this one was old enough
to understand that Treven wanted his bloodline on the Avii throne instead of
Camryn's."

"Then he has enough Avii blood to stay young for an
extended period," Ordin said. He'd remained quiet through most of the
conversation, but chose to speak now. As a healer, he'd seen the sickness about
him the moment he'd stepped onto Fyrian soil. I knew it pained and angered him
in ways only a healer might feel.

"He has to be near seventy turns, at least," Justis
said. "Treven was watched carefully his last ten turns and he made no
flights to Fyris during that time—Camryn forbade it."

"The question now is what are we to do with him?"
Gurnil asked.

"I know what I want to do with him," Justis snorted.

"My question is what will Tamblin do now?" I
blurted.

"He has a choice, doesn't he?" Dena offered. She sat
next to me, quietly attending to the conversation. "He either attempts to
follow his plan of invasion, or he returns to defend his throne. He must know by
now that we've rescued Rath."

"Without Yevil at his side to pour poison in his ear,
perhaps Father will see reason, now," Amlis grumbled.

I preferred not to rely on Amlis' hopes—Tamblin had his own
demons and they drove him much of the time. I held no illusions that light
would shine upon his blackened mind now that Yevil was gone. After all, he'd
asked his eldest son to kill Yevil, likely knowing somewhere in the recesses of
his soul that the Prince could die at Yevil's hand.

Then, after knowing Yevil was responsible for Timblor's death,
he still allied himself with the known evil. Tamblin's senses had twisted long
ago and there were no delusions in my mind that he would find rationality at
last.

He'd killed his brother, too, as well as the Avii King and Queen.
That act had started the sickness overtaking Fyris. Whether at Yevil's coaxing
or by his own desire, he'd effectively killed the people of his kingdom. His
desire to sail away from Fyris and attack the unknown was ludicrous.

"Look, we're exhausted. There will be time enough to
discuss these things when we're rested," Amlis rose and stretched. "I'll
speak with my uncle in the morning and we'll decide what to do then."

I waited until I'd shut the door of Justis' suite to work the
kinks from my neck and shoulders. Justis stretched out his wings to relieve
cramping from the hurried flight to Vhrist.

"I can probably remove the knots in your neck and
shoulders," I offered.

"Please," Justis sank to his knees and allowed his
wings to droop beside him. Placing my hands on the affected areas, I healed
them of their aches. His skin was smooth and strong beneath my hands. I pulled
away the moment I knew he felt better.

"Thank you—I have never had relief so quickly."
Justis stood and without a backward glance, strode into his bedroom and shut
the door.

* * *

"I intend to clear out the old healer's quarters and set
up a clinic there for those who wish to seek treatment," Ordin announced
over a late breakfast the following morning. "Medics from Berel's ships
have offered to help and with their knowledge and the medicines they carry, it
is my hope to relieve some of their suffering."

"That is an excellent idea," Kaldill agreed. "It
will help in our investigation of the poison, I think. I wish to send samples
to some I know, so they may work on the same problem from afar."

"I have word that some will come who are immune to all
poisons," Daragar interjected. He sat with us, making himself smaller to
fit the chairs about the long table in the King's chambers.

Except there was no King, and never had been. Tamblin named
himself such, but he'd been deposed by his wife and son. Amlis would never call
himself King, but I was concerned that Omina would consider herself Queen no
matter what. I worried that things were moving too swiftly toward a less than
ideal conclusion, but I had no authority and less desire to share that
particular concern.

Who is coming?
I ventured to send mindspeech to
Daragar.

You will see
, he replied.

He was right—I would see. All I had to do was look at them,
after all. I'd seen what Daragar and Kaldill were, and they were very powerful.
So far, none had defied what I could read in them.

Justis had been silent throughout the meal, choosing to listen
to the others talk. I learned that Kaldill and Daragar had imprisoned Yevil—not
in the dungeons beneath the castle but on the highest level, where the Avii
once landed when they visited Tandelis.

I hadn't been to see the prisoner there, but many from the
castle had already made their way up repaired steps to look upon a one-legged
aberration. Yevil had no friends among the residents—he'd killed too many of
their friends and family to have allies.

Varnell and his loyal guards, on the other hand, were in the
dungeon—at Amlis' command. I hoped they weren't being mistreated, but had no
desire to walk down stone steps to find out. I'd had enough of dark places for
a while.

Instead, I considered helping Ordin clear out the old physician's
quarters on the ground level in the older section of the castle. He'd ordered
my nubs cut away every spring, and while that was always painful, Tamblin would
have killed me if he'd known what they really were.

It made me wonder that Tamblin never knew about Yevil's nubs.
Shaking that vision away, I turned back to the conversation.

* * *

Dena and I stood inside the physician's quarters later,
staring at the piles of papers, shelves of glass bottles with who knew what
inside them, furniture—broken and whole—scattered about and the windows tightly
covered with wooden shutters.

"Worse than I imagined," Ordin sneezed at the dust
covering everything. "Nevertheless, shall we?" He nodded at the task
that lay before us. "Save all writings and anything you think may be of
interest or have a bearing on the poison," Ordin added.

Lifting a wooden crate, I began to clear bottles off a shelf.
These things would be left outside and carted away by castle servants—Amlis had
decreed it.

* * *

Cloudsong

"Father, the ASD is here," Morid hissed. "Give
yourself up and beg for leniency. Surrendering to them is preferable to capture,
torture and death at Cayetes' hand."

"Surrender yourself. I don't intend to hand myself over
to the ASD or those criminals," Marid snapped. "I have another place
to go and plans to carry out. I care not what you and the rest of my family do."

"They are weary of running from the ASD, and even more
weary of looking for Cayetes' thugs at every turn," Morid said. "They
have no guilt in this matter."

"But you do," Marid's eyes narrowed. "Do you
wish to die at the Vampire Queen's hands? She hates us still, you know."

"If you'd been honest at the beginning," Morid
pointed out.

"Faugh, what would that have gotten us? We'd be dead."

"Cloudsong might have lived."

"How was I to know the bastard warlock would tap the
core?"

"Give up, Father. Ask for mercy from the Founder, then.
It will keep Cayetes away."

"He believes everything that witch tells him. She was a
witch, you know, before she was vampire. That's why her son sits the throne of
Karathia."

"We don't have time to discuss lineage," Morid
complained. "They are getting close. They've already tripped my two outer
sensing spells."

"Then stay and face their justice. I'm leaving. Come,
Geng," Marid motioned for the Sirenali to follow him while pulling a
leather bag into his arms. "Good luck, Son. I hope you live past sundown."

Marid and Geng disappeared, leaving Morid to shout after them.

* * *

Sector Two

Dorthil's Quarters

"Where is this Yokarun wizard you claim to know?"
Sector Two's President Pragg demanded. "If he is powerful as you claim, we
need his help now. Did he merely intend to trap you? If that's the case, I want
no part of this."

The tap at Dorthil's door interrupted the standoff. "Master
Crasz," Dorthil's guard appeared after Dorthil called out. "There's
someone here to see you. He says his name is Marid of Yokaru, but he bears no
resemblance to any Yokarun I've ever seen. He also has a strange one with him."

* * *

Le-Ath Veronis

"Morid, your crime is not reporting this sooner. Surely
you realize this is madness," Lissa shook her head at Marid's eldest son. "Do
you know where the spheres are buried?"

"No. Father sent them out and only told me he could find
them later."

"You say he has a mute Sirenali with him?"

"Yes. Geng's tongue was removed long ago by one who
wished not to have a Sirenali's obsession placed upon him."

"That would make sense," Kooper sat at the end of
the table, helping Lissa question Morid. "You don't have to speak to hide
criminals from everybody including the powerful, and there's no obsession if you
can't speak the words."

"Fuck." Lissa uttered the one-word expletive and
rose from her chair. "I have a good guess as to where Marid has gone; I've
already asked Kaldill and Daragar to
Look
for the blank spot. Since
Siriaa is a governed non-Alliance world, however, we have to ask permission to
actively hunt for Marid and the Sirenali."

"I suggest we approach them soon—Marid may have plans to
overthrow the government there—again. Once that happens, we'll never have
permission because he'll be running the planet."

"And selling that poison crap to anyone who wants it, no
matter the consequences," Lissa turned to level a gaze upon Morid. He
shrank from her anger.

One does not anger a Vampire Queen. It would be wise never to
anger Lissa, as she was so much more than that. Morid was only beginning to
have an inkling as to what she was.

"I'll contact the Founder—we have to approach Siriaa soon
or all may be lost," Kooper rose and nodded to Lissa. "Let me know if
more information comes to light."

* * *

Lironis

Quin

New guests arrived at sundown but I, covered in dust and filth
from cleaning the old physician's quarters, went in search of a bath before
meeting them. Dena followed, as did Ordin, and I missed the availability of
water from pipes as servants heaved hot water and a tub up castle steps so I
could clean myself.

Wolter led Dena and me to the kitchens after I was clean and
dressed, to meet our new guests. I wondered at the location of our meeting,
until I met the ones who'd come.

The men gravitated about the woman who'd arrived, and I could
see why. She was beautiful, with long, silvery-white hair hanging to her waist.
As powerful as Kaldill, too, although she was a quarter High Demon—a race naturally
impervious to any poison, just as the Larentii were.