On Blackened Wings

by James E. Wisher

  Another nod of understanding. “The man you require is waiting outside. He has a noble heart, especially for a human. Please do not damage him.”

  “Rest assured I mean you and your people no harm. He will be back in a few days none the worse for the journey.”

  Binder stood and the Underking followed suit. The blind ruler offered a bow from the waist, respectful but not fawning. What a welcome change from the humans. Pity he was the last of his kind. Binder would have welcomed more.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Damien landed his conjured chariot in front of the inn just after midday, twenty minutes after he left. Only two horses were tied up outside, which was good. The fewer guests the better at this point. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Uncle Andy simply ordered the place shut down for the time being. They couldn’t very well work around the merchants and other travelers that would be arriving near dark tonight.

  Behind him Edward groaned and staggered around.

  “Still not used to flying?” Damien asked.

  “I’m never going to be used to flying and heaven willing I’ll never have to do it again.”

  “I wouldn’t count on that,” Jen said. She grabbed Louis by the back of the neck and squeezed, drawing a pained squeal. He really did sound like a pig. “Behave or I’ll make you regret it.”

  “No need to act like a savage,” Louis said. “Surely we can all behave in a civil fashion.”

  “I’m not in the mood to be polite,” Jen said. “Your father’s making life more difficult than it has to be and I don’t appreciate it. We’ve got more important things to do than deal with a duke that doesn’t know his place.”

  “Father is the highest-ranking member of the Binder’s cult. With the archangel preparing to invade the kingdom, surely there is no one more appropriate to handle the transfer of power. It will be better for everyone if my father surrenders the kingdom peacefully. Surely you know you have no hope of defeating the Binder.”

  “This is a waste of time,” Damien said. “Let’s get him up to the king. He can decide what we do next.”

  Jen nodded and shoved Louis toward the steps. “Move.”

  Her squad started to follow, but she said, “You guys keep watch out here. I don’t want any surprises.”

  They stopped and took up positions beside the entrance. An intimidating bunch for sure; if any of them got tired of serving as a warlord, working as a bouncer might be a good option. Damien doubted any more guests would be stopping today.

  “What should I do?” Al Elan asked.

  “Come with us,” Jen said. “The king will want to hear what you saw as well.”

  Damien caught a flash of anger from Talon when Jen invited Al Elan inside, but it vanished as soon as it appeared. Seemed the two men still didn’t seem to like each other. As long as it didn’t interfere with the job at hand, he didn’t care if they hated each other.

  As Damien guessed, there were only two guests in the common room seated at the bar, both of whom stared as Jen shoved Louis toward the stairs to the second floor. She ignored them and Damien shrugged and waved. This business would be settled long before those two could tell anyone what they saw, assuming anyone would listen.

  At the top of the stairs Jen asked, “Which room?”

  “On the right,” Damien said. “All the way down.”

  His master poked her head out of the second-to-last room. She looked each of them over before saying, “I’m going to want to hear this.”

  The archmage emerged from her room and took the lead. She knocked once on Uncle Andy’s room before pushing the door open. They followed her in with Al Elan bringing up the rear. The king sat on his bed reading the scroll Damien had abandoned when he went to rescue Jen.

  The moment Uncle Andy’s gaze landed on Jen his face brightened for the first time in days. “Karrie and Audra?”

  Jen shook her head. “I’ve got bad news.”

  “They’re not…”

  “No, no,” Jen blurted out. “Neither of them are harmed, but I failed to free them. Also, Audra is with the Binder cultists. She betrayed us to the guards, otherwise I might have succeeded.”

  The light went out of his eyes. “You’re certain?”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Uncle Andy got up, his face ashen and twisted. His fingers pulled at his short hair. He stalked around the room, his soul force boiling. Damien reflexively increased the power to his shield. He doubted Uncle Andy would do anything truly stupid, but if he’d learned one thing in all his training, it was better safe than sorry.

  A minute passed in silence as the king got himself under control. At last he stopped and said, “Tell me everything.”

  Jen obliged, finally stopping with them reaching the inn. “When I couldn’t get Karrie, I figured the next best thing was to grab Carmichael’s son and see if we could trade. It was the best idea I could come up with.”

  Uncle Andy patted her shoulder. “It was a fine idea. Whether it will work or not, we’ll know soon enough.”

  “How did you know we needed help?” Al Elan asked. He was so quiet Damien had almost forgotten he was there.

  “Dreamer told me. Seems like the dragon can tell what’s happening through your connection.”

  “Lucky for us,” Jen said.

  “He also told me the Binder isn’t far from wrapping up his conquest of the Old Empire. I didn’t get an exact date,” Damien quickly added when he saw the question forming in his master’s expression. “But the dragon gave the distinct impression that it wouldn’t be long. I’m thinking weeks, not months.”

  “He still has to cross the ocean with his army,” the archmage said.

  “Yeah, Dreamer mentioned that for an archangel, that wasn’t going to take an awfully long time.”

  “You’re just a fountain of good news,” Jen said. “Anything else? Undead invasion from the Haunted Lands? Maybe a hell gate opening above the Citadel?”

  “No that was all.” Damien resisted the urge to banter with his sister, much as he would’ve enjoyed it. This wasn’t really the time.

  “Surely you can see the wisdom of surrender,” Louis said. “If you return me unharmed, my father might allow you all to live out your days in exile.”

  If he was trying to convince Uncle Andy, that wasn’t the way to go about it. Three long strides brought the king nose to nose with Louis. Damien suspected only the hope of trading him for Karrie kept the king from strangling him on the spot.

  Uncle Andy grabbed Louis’s right wrist and ripped a ring from his finger. “One more word out of you and I’ll add an ear to the package proving we have you in custody.”

  Louis’s throat worked as he tried to swallow. Having an angry king in your face would do that to you.

  “Want me to deliver a message?” Damien asked.

  Uncle Andy tossed him the ring, a heavy gold thing set with a ruby big enough to buy a small farm. “Louis for Karrie. Noon tomorrow at the southern crossroads. If he doesn’t show up with my daughter I’ll leave his son’s eyes for him.”

  “The queen?” Damien asked.

  “He’s welcome to keep the traitor.”

  “Right, I’ll be back shortly.” Damien pocketed the ring, turned and marched out. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Nathanial’s face when he arrived.

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  The breeze Marie-Bell had so enjoyed at the start of their voyage and that had pushed the ship along at a good pace was now a memory. The sails hung limp and lifeless. Hot, humid, dead air weighed on everyone and everything. Paladins and crewmen crowded up on deck, even Sir Collin had been forced out of his little cabin by the heat.

  The worst of his seasickness had passed, but a calm stomach did nothing to improve his mood. He stalked around the paladins, finding fault with any little detail that caught his eye. Marie-Bell kept herself as far from him as possible. No easy task given the relative size of the ship.

  She’d settled in the front of the Wing, even ducking down a li
ttle in hopes of avoiding notice. Whether she’d succeeded or Sir Collin preferred to keep his distance she didn’t know. Nor did she especially care. The less they had to do with each other the better she liked it.

  Boots thudding on deck drew her gaze back from the empty ocean. Captain Morrow stomped up beside her, arms crossed and furious. “If your commander tells me once more to get this ship moving, I’m going to throw him overboard. And frankly I can’t imagine anyone jumping in to fish him out. How did he end up as your leader anyway?”

  “I don’t know,” Marie-Bell said. “He’s been the leader of the paladins since before I was born. In my more generous moments I like to imagine he wasn’t such a jerk in his youth, but I’m not sure I believe it.”

  “For heaven’s sake what does he think, that I can control the weather?”

  Marie-Bell frowned. Of course she couldn’t control the weather, even a paladin couldn’t do that, but maybe they could control the wind. Or more accurately conjure a wind of their own.

  “Maybe I can calm him down if I get us underway,” Marie-Bell said.

  “All the angels bless you if you can,” Captain Morrow said.

  Marie-Bell climbed down a short flight of steps to the main part of the deck. Sir Collin bellowed something about a speck of rust at an unfortunate paladin who didn’t even have his armor on. She caught the eye of a female paladin and motioned her over.

  The woman shot a look at Sir Collin before sneaking over to Marie-Bell. “He’s lost his mind. If he hasn’t found it by the time we reach land the mission’s doomed.”

  “Speaking of getting to land, I’ve got an idea that might get us going. Do you think you can find a couple more people to help?”

  “I could find you eighteen volunteers if it gets us off this ship ten seconds sooner.”

  Marie-Bell grinned. “Meet me back by the wheel.”

  The woman went off to do some recruiting while Marie-Bell made her way to the back of the ship. A bored man in a blue-striped shirt leaned on the wheel and sighed as she approached.

  “Is he always like this?” the sailor asked.

  “I don’t think ocean travel agrees with him,” Marie-Bell said. “How hard a wind can the ship stand?”

  He waved a lazy hand. “A lot stronger than this, why?”

  “We’re going to try conjuring a magic wind to get us moving. I don’t know how much we can muster, but in case it’s a lot I didn’t want to risk damaging the ship. If we get carried away, shout at me, okay?”

  He looked dubious but nodded. Half a minute later Marie-Bell’s partner in crime came up with three others. None of them seemed thrilled to find her waiting, but they didn’t complain.

  “So what’s the plan?” the woman asked.

  “I want to conjure giant fans and set them to blowing us forward,” Marie-Bell said. “If each of us conjured a fan and then made them spin, the continuous breeze should get us underway.”

  They all stared for a moment before a middle-aged man with a salt-and-pepper beard said, “Are you crazy? I’ve never heard of anything like that.”

  “Me either,” Marie-Bell said. “But unless you want to spend however many days it takes for the wind to pick up on its own listening to Sir Collin carry on from dawn to dusk, I figure we need to try something.”

  “Sometimes it takes a week for the winds to return,” the sailor added. Marie-Bell would have to thank him later.

  One of the older paladins grimaced. He didn’t seem eager for a week of complaints either. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to try.”

  “Great!” Marie-Bell conjured a pole to give them a central point to rotate around then added her fan, making it about twenty feet tall. When the others had conjured their own, equal distance around the pole, they set them to spinning.

  At first the breeze barely ruffled the sails, but it encouraged them to increase the speed. The ship creaked and lurched as the wind picked up. The sails billowed out and they were underway.

  “What’s going on up here!” Sir Collin stalked up the stairs.

  “I thought we could just make our own wind,” Marie-Bell said, careful not to break her concentration. “If we take turns we should be able to escape this dead area in no time.”

  “You didn’t clear this plan with me.”

  “No, sir. You seemed busy and I didn’t want to interrupt.” What she meant was she didn’t want to have an argument when she wasn’t even sure it was going to succeed.

  His jaw worked and she could almost see the gears in his mind working as he tried to find fault. But unless he wanted them to stop, there wasn’t much he could say. The ship was moving after all.

  Finally he said, “Next time interrupt.”

  He stomped off to either bother someone else or hopefully return to his cabin. Either way Marie-Bell was happy to see him go. She put Sir Collin out of her mind and focused on her fan. The sooner they reached the Old Empire, the better.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  The capital looked the same as always to Damien, at least from a distance. Jen seemed to think the people bought Carmichael’s lies about Uncle Andy being dead and him keeping Karrie and the queen under protective custody. And why wouldn’t they? Most people were too busy trying to make a living to worry about the games nobles played. Sometimes Damien envied them that indifference.

  Not today though. Today sticking it to the bastards holding Karrie hostage was very much something he wanted to do himself. Just because he didn’t end up marrying her didn’t mean he wished a husband like Louis on her. He didn’t wish a husband like Louis on anyone.

  A trio of sorcerers dressed in red robes patrolled the skies above the city. Whether actual Crimson Legion members or fakes he couldn’t tell. He’d gotten to know a few of them since becoming the archmage’s apprentice and he liked to believe most of the ones he met had sense enough to stay loyal.

  Didn’t look like they’d noticed him hovering on the outskirts. That alone made him think they were imposters wearing legion colors. He’d just have to get their attention.

  Don’t overdo it.

  “Relax, I doubt any of us wants a battle directly above the city. I’m just going to send up a signal.”

  Damien drew from his core and sent enough power to his personal shield that the air crackled around him. That should be enough to get Nathanial’s attention directly.

  The patrolling sorcerers all stopped and turned his way. Damien held his place, content to wait for someone with actual authority to show up. And they would. The duke should know by now what happened to his son. Assuming he wasn’t a completely cold-blooded snake he should at least want to talk.

  Sure enough half a minute later three figures rose up from the castle and flew his way. Felt like Nathanial and two of the sorcerers that had failed to rescue Louis the first time. Maybe this was their punishment.

  When the three sorcerers reached him Damien flipped Louis’s ring to Nathanial. “A gift for the duke. His son is fine and enjoying the king’s hospitality. He’d like to return him as soon as possible, or at least before he eats us out of house and home.”

  “I assume you want the princess in exchange,” Nathanial said.

  “You assume correctly. If you like I’d be happy to discuss it with Duke Carmichael in person.”

  Nathanial barked a laugh. “Like I’d let you in the castle.”

  That would have been too easy. “That’s what I figured you’d say. Still, couldn’t hurt to ask, right? Is he willing to trade?”

  “Yes. Where and when?”

  “Noon tomorrow at the southern crossroads. You and Karrie, me and Louis. Anyone else shows up and I send the duke his son’s head. Clear?”

  “Perfectly. Fighting us is a mistake, Damien. You can’t win a war with an archangel. Whatever the dragons are planning is bound to fail and when it does the kingdom will suffer for Andrew’s arrogance.”

  “You might be right,” Damien said. “Hell, I don’t know what’s going to happen any more than anyone else, but
to me it looks like you and Carmichael are setting yourselves up to run things after you surrender the kingdom to your master. Self-serving bastards like you don’t fill me with confidence. I’ll take my chances with the king. See you tomorrow.”

  Damien flew east, careful to make a long loop around toward the inn so he’d have time to scan behind him for spies and scout bugs. Damned if he was going to lead Nathanial to Uncle Andy. The traitor had already failed to kill the king twice, that was enough chances.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  The next day Damien stood at the crossroads beside Louis. Despite the late season, the noon sun was warm on his shoulders. Hopefully the trade would go off without a hitch and he’d have Karrie reunited with her father in time for a late lunch.

  He sighed. Much as he wanted things to go smoothly, he seriously doubted it would. Karrie was too valuable to the cultists to just let her go. Beside him Louis fidgeted and rubbed the spot on his finger where his ring had been. The young nobleman had been silent and on his best behavior since Uncle Andy threatened to cut his ear off. He would have done it too. He was that mad.

  Jen, Damien, and the archmage had to work together to persuade him not to come along to the exchange. Eventually he’d given in. And thank heaven for that.

  “Did you talk to my father?” Louis asked when the silence had stretched for a while.

  “No, for some reason they didn’t trust me to behave if I entered the castle. Can’t imagine why.”

  “My father isn’t a trusting man,” Louis said without a hint of humor. “He’s afraid of you.”

  “Me?” Damien asked.

  Louis nodded. “The reason he sent me by carriage rather than having a sorcerer bring me to the capital was the fear that you’d sense it and snatch me away. That turned out to be a poor idea.”

  Damien was spared having to answer when he sensed Nathanial approaching. He had a single person with him, but Damien couldn’t tell if it was Karrie yet.