The Spirit Siphon (Magebreakers Book 4)

by Ben S. Dobson

  “Is thing you should learn,” Kadka said. “Everywhere we go, they find reasons to fear us. Is better some places for the pretty races. Not for orcs. Not for goblins.” More sombre a lesson than Kadka liked delivering, but she’d had to learn it at the same age Tinga was now. The price of travelling outside Sverna. If the girl wanted to take secret rides on airships—which Kadka wholeheartedly approved of—she should know what the world was really like.

  “But there has to be a way to make things better,” Tinga insisted. “Otherwise what are we doing here? What is Lady Abena doing with all these talks and treaties? Or Iskar?”

  Kadka had to grin at that. She appreciated the optimism. “You see better side of things. Also good lesson to learn. Is always chance for change.” She glanced out the window once more. “Looks same now as ten years ago, though.”

  “Well, that says more about their architecture than their culture,” Carver pointed out. “I’m more interested in what the Kaiser has to say to us.”

  “I’m just hoping we haven’t already managed some kind of diplomatic disaster,” said Indree.

  “I can’t say for certain,” Althir said. “But I believe it is more curiosity than anything. Rumors of the Magebreakers have crossed the Channel. As much as the people here distrust the Audish, they do love a good story about someone without magic outsmarting a mage. Many Belgrian folktales share that theme.”

  “What are we getting into here, as far as customs go?” asked Indree. “I don’t want to get this wrong.”

  “You’ll be brought to the Chancellor first,” said Ambassador Althir. “Wilnam Urnt. I’ll have to go join the other guests, but he’ll explain any specifics he believes you need to know before presenting you to the Kaiser and his court. Whatever you feel about the way they do things here, you’ll have to kneel when the time comes, to show respect. And obviously you mustn’t use any magic while you’re within Belgrian borders, Inspector, or voice any overtly pro-magical sentiments. However, you are representatives of Lady Abena and here with the Kaiser’s invitation, so you’ll be given some leeway. And of course you have nothing complicated to report yet. I shouldn’t expect anything too fraught with pitfalls until your investigation is underway.”

  “Until we find something they don’t like, you mean,” said Carver.

  “That is precisely what I mean,” Althir answered without hesitation. “I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise to you that the results of your investigation are rather important, Mister Carver.”

  Carver rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Right. I know. That’s why we’re here.”

  Kadka grinned. Carver could be amusing, but she respected anyone who could throw his comments back in his face like that. “Is close yet?” she asked, and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. There were no discs to travel by here, and the carriage was cramped and boring. Belgrier wasn’t her favorite place, but meeting a kaiser might be interesting.

  Althir nodded. “A few minutes. You should be able to see the Kaiser’s palace around the next corner.”

  She was right. The carriage trundled around the bend, and the palace came into view through Kadka’s window. It was nothing like the Brass Citadel in Audland, or any of the manors she’d seen—this was a castle like out of a story, built of stone with parapets and tall steepled towers. She’d only ever seen it from a great distance the last time she’d been in Belgrier. Her kind wasn’t very welcome in the fancier districts.

  Tinga leaned over her once more to look. “That’s one big pile of rocks. Everything around here looks so old.”

  “The palace was built well before the Mage War,” Althir said. “Although it has been greatly modernized over the years. You’ll see what I mean when you’re inside.”

  The carriage drew up to the outer gate, and Kadka heard the driver exchange some words with someone. The gates opened, and they continued through.

  “Some of us will see,” said Carver. “Tinga, you’re waiting in the carriage.”

  Indree nodded her approval. “Right. We’ve been invited, but no one’s expecting you. Best to keep this simple.” She gave Tinga a pointed look. “And stay here. If you go wandering around the palace grounds, I swear I will tie you up in the embassy basement until we’re done our investigation.”

  Tinga’s face fell, but for once she didn’t argue. Apparently she’d been scolded enough for one night. “Fine. But if anything exciting happens you have to tell me about it later.”

  Kadka felt sorry for her—this wasn’t an experience that came along every day. “I will tell you any good story.” She grinned. “Unless is so exciting they put us in Belgrian jail.”

  “Astra forbid,” Althir said. “Just do as you’re asked. No need to complicate matters so early on.”

  Kadka waved her hand dismissively. “Just a joke.” But she snuck a wink at Tinga, who grinned back.

  The carriage came to a stop in front of a wide stair leading up to the palace doors. A footman greeted them at the entrance as they piled out, leaving Tinga to forlornly watch them go.

  “Please come with me,” the footman said in Belgrian, translated into Kadka’s head by the artifact in her ear. It was strange, feeling that sudden sending pressure. Carver complained about it sometimes, but she’d only experienced it rarely.

  The footman led them inside, and Kadka felt a sudden tingle pass over her as they walked through the door. “Is warded here?” She hadn’t expected that.

  “Not just that,” said Indree with a frown. “Astrally isolated too. I couldn’t cast a spell if I wanted to.”

  “Then how do these work?” Kadka pointed ahead down the hall—it was lit with globes of silver-blue magelight.

  “The wards are actually quite complex,” Althir explained as they walked. “The Kaiser consulted with Audish mages to have them made—he wanted to keep mages from casting spells while still allowing a number of conveniences. He is quite enamored with modern artifacts and ancryst technology.” They came to a fork in the hall, and she gestured ahead as their escort turned to the right. “I must join the other guests in the throne room. I’ll see you again shortly.”

  After parting with Althir, they followed the footman down the halls, turning here and there until he stopped before another door and knocked politely.

  A deep voice from the other side answered in Belgrian. It didn’t translate. Kadka wasn’t sure why—perhaps the required amount of focus wasn’t possible through a door.

  The footman pushed the door open, and held it for them to enter.

  “Let me do the talking,” Indree said quietly, and stepped through first.

  Inside, a middle aged human man dressed in a crimson topcoat and black trousers sat before a large desk. His grey-haired head was bent over something he was writing. He gestured for them to come closer, but didn’t look up.

  “Chancellor Urnt?” Indree said. “It’s an honor to—”

  The man held up a finger, finished what he was writing, and finally raised his head. He was older—perhaps in his late fifties—but actually rather handsome for a human, with a firm jaw and deep blue eyes. “Audlanders,” he said. “I am Kaiser Gerrolt’s chancellor, yes. Wilnam Urnt.” Again, the translated words rang in Kadka’s head, with that strange pressure.

  “I am Inspector Indree Lovial, and these—”

  “I know your names,” Urnt interrupted. “His Grace is very interested to meet you.” The way he said it made it very clear to Kadka that he did not share that interest.

  “And we him,” Indree said, with a politeness Kadka would not have been able to muster. “We were told you would let us know what in particular he expects of us tonight?”

  “No one expects very much from you, Audlanders,” Urnt said. “You will be on your way in a quarter hour. He simply wishes to meet you. You will follow me in to the throne room. A small stair leads up to the throne; you will stop before it and kneel when I tell you to kneel. I will present you, and the Kaiser will ask you some questions about the tales he has heard.
Address him as Your Grace at all times, and say nothing when you are not spoken to. Needless to say, you must keep your… Audish proclivities to yourselves.”

  “Of course,” Indree said. “We don’t want to offend. We’re only here to do our jobs. Isn’t that right?” She glanced back at Carver and Kadka.

  “Is true.” Kadka said. “Evil spells are in other pants.”

  Carver smirked at that, and Indree shot them both a glare.

  Urnt just grunted. “Spare us your humor when you speak with the Kaiser, as well. Come. It is time.” He beckoned for them, stood, and strode through a door behind his desk—not the one they’d come in by.

  The passage took them out just in front of what had to be the throne room. Two guards stood outside of a huge pair of double doors embossed in gold with the Belgrian royal arms—a crowned bear rearing on its hind legs.

  Urnt motioned to the guards, who pushed open the doors to reveal a vast chamber with a high ceiling and a long crimson carpet down the middle. On either side of the carpet crowded what everyone kept referring to as ‘the court’, Kadka assumed—a throng of pale humans in overly fancy clothes. Ambassador Althir was the only figure that stood out, towering above the men and women around her.

  At the end of the carpet was a short stair that led up to a round dais, as Urnt had described. Centered atop it was a massive golden throne tall enough to require another smaller set of stairs all its own, just to get to the seat. It was polished to a shine, and topped with Belgrier’s rearing bear sculpted in gold. Excessively gaudy, to Kadka’s eye.

  A thin, balding human man sat on the throne, wearing a crown of gold and crimson. The Kaiser. Kadka had never met actual royalty before, though she supposed Lady Abena and the various senators were as close as it got in Audland. For her money, the Lady Protector was considerably more impressive than this man. Despite his rich attire, he looked rather ordinary.

  The chancellor strode ahead of them, and they followed him along the carpet—Indree first, with Kadka and Carver just behind. There were murmurs of conversation in Belgrian from the crowd on both sides, but Kadka’s earpiece translated little of it. As Althir had warned, she couldn’t focus on a single voice among all the ambient chatter.

  At the bottom of the stairs before the throne, Urnt stopped them with a gesture, and then continued up the steps to stand at the Kaiser’s right-hand side. The throne was high enough that even standing his head didn’t reach the Kaiser’s chest. Two others already stood on the left side of the dais—a woman in a crimson military uniform, and a well-dressed nobleman with brown hair turning to grey. The man was staring at Kadka with particular intensity. People like him never knew what to make of a half-orc. There was no one else—as far as Kadka knew, Gerrolt was unmarried, and had no heirs.

  Urnt turned to Kadka and the others once more, and in a rather more ostentatious tone than the bored ones he’d greeted them with, he said, “Audlanders, kneel before Kaiser Gerrolt Vurgen the Third, Lord of the Six Provinces.”

  They knelt. It felt wrong. Kadka had never knelt for anyone before, nor been called upon to—not even for Lady Abena. To do it for a man she didn’t know or respect was… unpleasant.

  “If it please Your Grace,” Urnt said after they had all bent their knees, “I present to the court Constable Inspector Indree Lovial of the Audish constabulary, and the Magebreakers, Tane Carver and Kadka of Clan Nadivek.”

  “Rise,” said Kaiser Gerrolt, and waited until they had. “Be welcome in Stelihn, honored guests from Audland.” He raised his voice for the court. “Many of us have heard stories of the Audish Magebreakers outsmarting mages with nothing but their wits. I must admit, I have been curious to meet you in person.” He directed that primarily at Carver.

  Carver looked distinctly uncomfortable. “I… hope we don’t disappoint, Your Grace.”

  “Tell me, did you truly best a nine-foot-tall golem?” the Kaiser asked, leaning forward slightly in his seat.

  “I didn’t,” said Carver. “That was Kadka. And Indree, actually.”

  “Ah.” The Kaiser sounded disappointed. “So there was a mage on your side after all.” He brightened slightly, then. “But the golem was real? I thought for certain that part was a fabrication. What a fascinating application of artifice that must have been!”

  “Was big, at least,” Kadka said. A murmur went through the crowd; she couldn’t tell if it was amusement, or indignation that she’d had the gall to speak before she was spoken to.

  Indree jumped in before it had the chance to go any further. “Your Grace, we would like to start our investigation as soon as possible. As you say, the Magebreakers are experienced in such matters. I’m certain they can provide valuable insight into what happened to your airship.” Also out of turn, but apparently she’d decided it was worth the risk to change the subject—or at least that she was more likely to be given leeway here than an orc was.

  Gerrolt didn’t seem to mind. “The Gerthine,” the Kaiser said. “After my dear departed mother. Your dedication is admirable, Inspector. I will not keep you from your work, but I thought it might benefit you to know the people who have been advising me on the matter.” He gestured to the man on his left. “My dear cousin, Baron Henred Klenn. He has been the eyes and ears of my council regarding this tragedy.”

  Klenn nodded his head at them, but his gaze didn’t stray from Kadka. If she’d been anywhere but a foreign court, she would have told him to take his eyes elsewhere before she did it for him.

  Gerrolt indicated the uniformed woman beside Klenn. “And this is Lieutenant Thilde Berken, of the Belgrian Guard. She has headed up the investigation on our end, and will accompany you in your efforts for as long as you are here. Whatever official arrangements you require, she will handle.”

  Berken stood at attention, and favored them with a slight incline of her head. A severe-looking blonde woman, she immediately gave Kadka the impression of competence—she carried herself like a fighter.

  “I’m certain you will work well together,” said Kaiser Gerrolt. “I look forward to seeing the Magebreakers in action. It would please me to find an answer to this matter that suits both of our nations. I have great plans for Belgrier’s airships, and I would very much like to move forward with them. Properly controlled, artifice can be a great boon.”

  “I agree, Your Grace,” Indree said. “And I’m sure the results of our investigation will be mutually beneficial.”

  “Let us hope so,” said the Kaiser. And then his eyes darkened, and his genial demeanor fell away all at once. “Because I lost a dear friend, as I’m sure you know. Detehr Angred was a loyal companion, ever since we were boys. I would hate to find that Audland had anything at all to do with the circumstances that led to his death.”

  Kadka didn’t need her earpiece to understand the implication there; all she had to do was look at his face.

  “Now,” Gerrolt said, not waiting for a response, “you must be eager to rest after your long flight. I grant you leave to return to your embassy. But there will be a gathering here tomorrow evening. You will be my guests for dinner, and the revelry afterwards.” It wasn’t a question.

  “We would be honored, Your Grace,” Indree said.

  “Lovely.” The Kaiser gestured toward the door. “I look forward to speaking at greater length tomorrow.” He stood, then, and descended from the throne before striding toward a door at the back of the room. A pair of guards followed him away.

  Apparently, the audience was over.

  As the crowd dispersed, Chancellor Urnt led them out of the room. Kadka spared a final glance over her shoulder toward the Kaiser’s cousin, Henred Klenn.

  He was still watching her as the chamber’s doors swung closed.

  Ambassador Althir was waiting outside, and she gave Urnt a respectful nod. “I’ll take them off your hands, Chancellor Urnt.”

  Urnt acknowledged her with little more than a glance, and made no move to leave. Instead, he turned to Kadka and the others. “His Grace is grac
ious, but he wishes you to understand the situation. You will investigate this matter without any of your Audish tricks. The mage”—he shot Indree a dark look—“will not interfere with her magic.”

  “Of course not,” Indree said firmly. “I am only here as Lady Abena’s liason. The Magebreakers will be in charge of the investigation.”

  “Yes, well, if one can trust a mage to control her impulses.” Urnt gave Indree a withering glance that expressed how likely he thought that was. “And if your findings fail to satisfy…” He smiled for the first time Kadka had seen, but it was thin and humorless. “Well, the Kaiser’s wrath is equal to his graciousness. And Duke Detehr was very dear to him.”

  Chapter Six

  _____

  THE MILITARY HOSPITAL was a stark grey slab of stone surrounded by a half-dozen others like it on the Belgrian army campus. Snow fell lightly from clouded skies, dusting the grounds with white powder. Four uniformed soldiers escorted Tane and the others toward the building, and he was fairly certain they weren’t there for the sake of his safety.

  He and Indree had arranged to start their investigation with a visit to the survivor of the crash who had made claims about glowing silver eyes. Rolf Ungren was his name, an engineer on the crew, trained to maintain the ancryst engines despite a lack of magical ability. One area where Belgrier is ahead of Audland. Though at least Tinga’s class at the University aimed to change that.

  Which reminds me. He turned to Tinga, who was walking between him and Kadka. “Remember, you need to stick with us and behave. Your parents weren’t exactly thrilled with me when I spoke to them, and I don’t want to have to tell them you got thrown in a military jail. You’re only here because I’d rather have eyes on you than leave you to escape from the embassy and cause trouble on your own.”

  “Right, I know.” Tinga said. And then, with a slight smirk, “I’ll try my best.”