Knight of Wands (A Steampunk Fantasy Adventure Novel) (Devices of War Book 2) (6 page)

Metallic heels clicked the stone pavement behind me.

I didn’t turn. I knew that cadence.

“There you are,” Nix said as she stood next to me, staring across the waters, blinking at the mist.

I didn’t acknowledge her presence.

“Are you considering how to ingratiate yourself into my ranks so I’ll knight you?”

I watched the water crash against the sheer metal cliff of the city. The more I thought, the more I realized what my answer was. “We both know you won’t.”

She gave a little “hmm” of approval.

“I’m leaving.” Was this the right decision? My gut sure felt it was. “Dyna has already said I can do so whenever I wish. You and I both know there’s nothing you can do to keep me here.”

Her gaze rested on the black tattoos lacing their way up my neck and along my jaw.

“There’s nothing I can do here, nothing good anyway. You want war. I want peace.” I met her gaze squarely. “And there is absolutely nothing I can do to talk you into giving us peace.”

She ran her fingertips on my arm, the sun glinting off the moving parts of her gear-work crown. “I’m sure if you put your mind to it, you could convince me.”

I pushed her hand away and took a step back, staring down at her through narrowed eyes.

Her eyes widened.

“You may see me as a toy, Nix, but I am in no mood to be played with.”

She pursed her lips, her cheeks drawn.

Her silence was the vindication I needed. This was the first time I’d been able to get that kind of reaction out of her, which meant this had to be right. I turned back to the city. There was nothing to do now except to see if Dyna was serious about securing me safe passage out of there.

“Synn,” Nix called.

I ignored her.

“Synn, wait!”

I paused, though what I was waiting for, I really didn’t know. There wasn’t anything she could offer me that I’d want. My heart told me what I needed to do. Dyna might have thought being Nix’s knight was the right thing to do, but she was wrong. There was no way I could pull it off. I wasn’t that kind of person, and I wasn’t going to allow her to break me. Not again.

Her heels tinked on the pavement in a hurried cadence as she came to stand before me. Her red painted nails and her one diamond studded claw flexed as she reached for me. She stopped and flinched, letting her hands fall.

Was that true vulnerability? Or was she playing me? Again.

“I will give you what you want. I will make you a knight.”

“That’s what Dyna wants.”

She took a step forward, her eyes searching mine, her ruby lips full. “But you stayed.”

I had.

Something flickered in the depths of her dark gaze. “You wanted to be here. With me.”

“Maybe then.” Bile rose in my throat at the truth in that statement. “But not now.”

“How could that have changed in the span of a few weeks?”

I shrugged and moved to step around her. I wish I knew.

Her nails dug into my arm.

I immediately reached for the power of my Mark, buried deep inside, nestled in a streambed of anger. The black rivers along my arms and neck sizzled. The smell of burning silk filled the air.

Her mouth opened, her chin raised as she let go and took a step back.

“I’m not your sky-felled toy, Nix,” I said through clenched teeth. “I will not be played with. You will not break me.”

“But I will not stop until I have you.” Her eyes shot pure fury. “You may leave me. My sister can even protect you for a mere moment, but I will destroy every—”

“Enough of this!” I advanced, shoving my face in hers. “When will you learn, spoiled princess, that you don’t always get your way. I will
never
be yours!”

Her body quivered as she stared at me. “You were,” she whispered.

“I was,” I whispered back. “But not now.”

She held my gaze in a vise-like grip. “I want you back.”

“I don’t.”

She grimaced. “What do I have to do?”

I took a step back. “Give up this idea of war. Forget your need to dominate through vengeance that isn’t even yours to take.” I shook my head, my lips tight. How could I make her understand? “I don’t know why you want me. It’s not because you know
who
I am.”

Her mouth opened, paused, then closed.

“I’m nothing but a thing to you.” My eyes searched the skies as my heart cried to be up there, listening to the creaking rigging, the snap of the sails, the groaning sides of the hull. Sky City was not my home. It was too still, the air too heavy, smelling of metal.

She invaded the space between us and put her hand on my chest. “I know the man you want to be.”

I took her wrist and removed it from my body. “No. You don’t. You think I want to be powerful, but you have no idea what you’ve already done to me, how your actions have shaped me. I don’t need power to rise above you.” I took a step back, throwing her hand away from me. “I already am.”

“You will never be free of me, Synn Primus!”

“I was never a Primus, Nix,” I shouted over my shoulder as I turned and walked away. “I have been and always will be El’Asim.”

This time, she didn’t follow.

I had no idea how Dyna was going to react to me leaving, but she’d told me if I didn’t feel I could do it, I was free to go. I closed my eyes, never slowing down, and opened them again. It felt really good knowing that Sky City would soon be a distant memory, one that I would never have to see again.

That brought several other questions to the surface. How was I going to get home? I had no way to communicate with the Families, no way of finding them. They were adept at hiding.

Another thought struck me. What if this was exactly what Dyna had hoped for? That I would want to leave, and then lead the Hands straight to the Great Families.

I’d just have to find another way.

Carilyn met me on the pale stone steps to the House of Swords, her arms folded over her chest as she leaned against the wall, a smirk on her face. As my eyes met hers, her shoulders with silent laughter shook and she pushed off the wall.

The heavy doors opened before us, light streaming into the massive great room. A throne had been brought in, set up on the far end. Did they have multiple uses for this room? I hadn’t remembered seeing it previously.

Queen Dyna sat on it, her uniform replaced by a state dress of silver and blue layers.

My hands went numb as I approached.

Aiyanna pulled herself from the shadows of one of the many square columns and joined Carilyn and I.

Drawing closer, it became apparent that Queen Dyna was far from upset. A smile curved her lips and her blue eyes almost twinkled.

I felt like a fly in a web. This whole thing had been a grand trap. I glanced at the priestess walking beside me. Her scarves swished and jingled with each hip-swaying step. Had she betrayed me, the secrets I kept? Had she endangered the Great Families?

Dyna’s fingers pressed and released, pressed and released the arms of her muted silver throne until we stopped.

Carilyn and Aiyanna bowed their heads, their hands fisted over their hearts.

I owed this woman nothing, no loyalty, no service. No respect. I remained where I stood.

Queen Dyna descended the three steps until she stood in front of me. She was a tall woman, taller than Nix, but without nearly the presence of the other queen.

I heard rustling behind her and saw the other two queens step around Dyna’s throne.

The Queen of Coins’ round figure was draped in folds of dark green velvet, her fading red hair wrapped in gold. She watched me through grey eyes, her thick fingers folded before her.

The Queen of Cups stared at me with sharp dark eyes, her brown hair severely pulled back. She hid her figure in full turquoise robes. The only thing that distinguished her as a queen, other than her carriage, was the circlet of gold around her head.

“You have done well, Synn El’Asim,” Queen Dyna said as her sisters joined her.

I stared at them confused.

Dyna lowered her chin. “I hear everything that occurs in this city.”

I watched them all warily. “So you know what I told Nix.”

She nodded.

“I thought you wanted me to be her knight.”

“And I did.” The Queen of Swords bowed her head, revealing a complex knotwork of blond hair. “But I was wrong, and I am glad you discovered it. Had you attempted to follow my instructions, we would most likely be in a much graver situation.”

I shook my head, a frown furrowed in my forehead so deep, it hurt. “I don’t understand.”

She smiled. “You don’t have to.” She turned to the Queen of Cups. “You can provide safe transport—”

“You called a council of the queens and didn’t invite me?” Nix’s voice was cool. Her metal heels sounded on the stone tile in a slow cadence. “How rude, sisters.”

The Queen of Cups snarled and opened her mouth.

Dyna rested a hand on the other woman’s arm. “This is not an official council.”

“Official or not,” Nix said, pushing Aiyanna out of the way to stand beside me, “you are convening with my knight.”

“I’m not your knight.” I ground my teeth and stepped toward Carilyn.

Nix turned an icy stare to Dyna. “Were you taking him from me?”

“I am leaving,” I said. “As I already told you.”

“And she is assisting?”

“Since you weren’t.” For the love of Sky, I was a man, not a shoe to be fought over. “I don’t need your permission.”

She turned her angry gaze on me. Gone was the woman I’d shocked into silence. Here stood the queen I’d grown to loathe and despise. “You would do well to seek it.”

“I don’t care what you do.” I took a step closer, my Mark heating with a sizzle. “I am
leaving
.”

She closed the gap, tipping her head slightly to look up at me. “I will blow you out of the sky or the water.”

“You’d really risk killing me?”

“If I can’t have you.”

My eyes flared. I didn’t know how to respond.

Her expression softened.

My shoulders tensed and I looked away.

“Give me one night.” She opened her hands. “One night to change your mind.”

“I’m not sleeping with you, Nix.”

She let out a breath, tossing her head gently one way then the other. “I don’t need you to sleep with me.”

“Then what do you hope to accomplish in one night?”

Her gaze latched onto mine. “To gain your trust.”

“You will never have that.”

She huffed. “Then what do you want?”

“To leave.”

Her chin rose, her gaze flicking down before rising again.

I wasn’t falling for her act. “There is nothing you can offer me that I would want.”

“What about peace?”

She’d never give it. She wanted war more than anything.

She laid her hand on my arm and leaned in. “I will give you one night to talk me into wanting it.”

“This is a trap,” I said softly, my words falling against her cheek. “You will never accept peace.”

She slid me a look from the corner of her eye, a slow slither of a smile on her lips. “That depends on how good you are at persuasion.”

I was many things, but good in this arena? No.

She stepped away, a sultry sway to her hips as she walked toward the door. “Your choice. Choose to leave and I shall kill you, or . . . ” She stopped, her diamond claw tracing patterns on her heaving chest.

I fought my body’s response. I was not going to be ruled by it.

Her smile grew in confidence. “It’s just one night, Synn.”

Instant death or a single night of . . . Nix?

She nodded and turned. “I will expect you in my room by the time Kala sets. I trust you remember your way.”

Carilyn raised an eyebrow watched the queen’s exit. “Well, that was interesting.” She met Dyna’s gaze and her grin grew wide. “Wasn’t it?”

CHAPTER 5

A NIGHT WITH NIX

It took
everything I had to walk across the city from the House of Swords to the House of Wands. I hated this game. It was the only one Nix played with me.

To ensure I was allowed to actually leave afterward, Carilyn and a small retinue of Swords went with me.

“So what’s the big deal anyway?” Carilyn asked as we walked across an empty courtyard. “Just bed the sky-felled woman and be done with her.”

I raised an eyebrow and shook my head. The last time I’d
almost
bedded her, she’d bound my soul to hers. Being on her leash endangered the lives of my friends and family. “No.”

Sang had set and Kala hid behind the buildings of the city. However, the orange sun still had enough life to prevent the stars or the asteroid field from showing. The smell of a storm filled the heavy, warm air. This would be a great night to be in the sky.

The House of Wands came into view. It looked similar to the House of Swords, except for the banners, streamers and flags. These were black with a circle of fire rising within it.

The guards at the large, double doors stopped us. “He’s allowed. Swords are not.”

“Then we’re leaving,” Carilyn said, taking my arm.

The doors opened and an older man in the long, black coat of a knight stood tall. Scar tissue replaced his once-black hair. One side of his face was covered in a burn scar. His dark eyes blazed.