Vision Voyage (The Weatherblight Saga Book 2)

by Edmund Hughes

  Marshal Luka made a disgusted noise. The Baron sighed, eyeing the scarred man and shaking his head.

  “Please forgive the good Marshal,” said the Baron. “He lost his father more than a decade ago, during one of the rare direct skirmishes between Cliffhaven and the Ravarians.”

  “We’ll lose more people if we let our guard down now, milord,” said Marshal Luka. “This discussion should not be happening.”

  “Silence,” said Baron Ogwell. “I see no reason why we can’t leave the past where it belongs. Lord Ari, I am very interested in speaking further with you and your Ravarian allies on how my city can solidify its ties, both to you and to them.”

  “Milord!” shouted Marshal Luka.

  The Baron surged to his feet in a movement that was faster and more energetic than what Ari would have thought the man capable of.

  “Enough from you!” shouted Baron Ogwell. “Erwin, you are dismissed. Don’t show your face in the dining hall until you’ve cooled off.”

  Marshal Luka glared at all in attendance, swishing his cloak over one shoulder as he stomped past Ari and his companions. Baron Ogwell waited for the sound of the chamber door closing behind him before clearing his throat and continuing.

  “As you can see, there is still tension between many of my people and the Ravarians,” said Baron Ogwell. “I think it is in everyone’s benefit for us to reestablish political relations and officially be at peace. With the Fairweather Fleet operating in the eastern ocean, we can develop proper trade routes, both to Varnas-Rav and Etheria.”

  “That’s… excellent,” said Ari. He scratched his head, wondering what would happen to his status once the Baron discovered that Etheria wasn’t actually a place that existed, in truth.

  Still, the meeting was going far better than he’d been expecting, and it was for that reason Ari pushed his will into the Ring of Insight, asking a simple question. Was the Baron a man to be trusted? He felt an answer come almost immediately, and it was a strong yes, though with an edge of wariness that implied that Ari shouldn’t let his guard down completely.

  “Please, stay for dinner,” said the Baron. “Tomorrow, we can go into the specific details. But for tonight, I would like to introduce you to the best cooking and accommodations this entire city has to offer!”

  The Baron let out a laugh and gestured to his attendant, who led Ari, Kerys, Rin, and Leyehl out of the audience chamber.

  CHAPTER 52

  They were brought to join the other nobles in the feast hall, most of whom had already begun digging into plates heavy with food. Ari found himself appreciating the money they’d spent on clothing as he surveyed the crowd and saw nothing but fine silk, ruffles, and carefully tailored bodices.

  “Ari,” said Kerys. “Where did Leyehl go?”

  Ari slowed and glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, their party was currently a member short.

  “She said she needed to use the privy,” explained Rin with an unconcerned shrug.

  “Does she even know where it is?” asked Ari.

  “Oh, I’m sure it won’t be hard to find out in a place like this, chala,” said Rin. “Lots of these nobles are privileged to the point of enjoying the smell of their own… Hey, is that wine?”

  The attendant sat them down at the largest of the tables at the center of the room, which was already occupied by around a dozen other people in various places around its considerable circumference. Ari, Kerys and Rin were next to a pair of noblemen dressed in green and gold, both of them with similar faces and black hair that suggested they might be brothers.

  “You’re the new arrival,” said the nearer of the two. “What fortunate happenstance! Clyde Remer.”

  He extended a hand toward Ari, who shook it with a smile.

  “Aristial Stoneblood,” he said.

  “You’re the lord of that, what was it now… Etherion?”

  “Etheria,” said Ari, though it was hard for him to keep from smiling at the ridiculousness of correcting a mistake in the name of a nonexistent place.

  “The Baron mentioned it to us,” said the other, similar-looking man. “I still don’t understand. How do you all stay safe from the weather monsters?”

  “This is my brother, Jean,” said Clyde. “He’s bad at introductions, always has been.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jean,” said Ari. “To answer your question, Etheria sits atop a mountain, which has a calming effect on the weather. But when the monsters attack, we fight them.”

  “You do this yourself?” asked Clyde.

  Ari nodded. “It’s better to run from them, if you can, of course. But sometimes you have to fight.”

  “Oh, how absolutely brutal!” said Clyde. “Fighting the monsters, negotiating with the Ravarians. You certainly live quite the life, and that’s without even mentioning this exquisite specimen on your arm.”

  Kerys was sitting in between Ari and Clyde, and he felt her suddenly tense up and slide a little closer to him.

  “Next to the Baron’s mansion, my brother and I have one of the largest estates in the Noble Quarter,” said Clyde. “Would it be too forward for me to ask for the privilege of offering a tour to Lady, uh…”

  “Kerys,” she finished, through gritted teeth.

  Ari sighed. He reached his arm over, searching under the table for a moment to find Clyde’s hand on Kerys’ leg. He lifted it up by the wrist, slammed it down on the table, and twisted one of Clyde’s fingers hard enough to make the man squeal.

  “Thanks,” said Kerys. She stood up and Ari switched seats to her, smiling as he sat down next to Clyde, who no longer seemed capable of meeting his direct gaze.

  A serving girl arrived with plates and a selection of foods. Ari loaded his up with steak, fresh buttered bread, and roasted carrots and turnips. A second serving girl sneaked past the first to fill Ari’s goblet, and caught a snippet of the conversation between them.

  “Storm scout just got in,” said the first one. “Best if we stay in the servant’s quarters tonight in case it hits the outer city.”

  “I can’t just leave my boyfriend at home with no notice!” said the other. “He’ll think I’m being plundered by one of these entitled twits, again.”

  The first serving girl shrugged, and they both continued on to the next guest in need of food and drink. Ari furrowed his brow as he cut into the steak, wondering if the city fared as well during storms as he’d been assuming.

  “Leyehl still isn’t back,” said Kerys. “Should we be worried?”

  Ari sighed. “Maybe. Let’s wait a few more minutes, and then…”

  He didn’t get a chance to wait, or even to finish eating. The door to the feast hall slammed open and Marshal Luka stormed his way in with his sword drawn. All of the conversation in the chamber cut off as he made his way forward, face red with fury.

  “Baron Ogwell just had a seizure on his way through the hall!” shouted Marshal Luka. “He’s dead. Poisoned.”

  Ari felt a sudden, sickening sense of expectation as to what was about to happen next. The Marshal lifted his sword and pointed the tip directly at him.

  “Guards!” shouted Marshal Luka. “Arrest Lord Stoneblood and his companions!”

  Kerys immediately surged to her feet. “What? We haven’t done anything wrong!”

  Ari rested a hand on the hilt of his sword as he moved to stand in between her and the guards. Rin also stood up, and her expression was as worried and puzzled as Ari currently felt.

  They were outnumbered at least ten to one. Ari gritted his teeth, forcing himself to accept the fact that fighting was guaranteed to lead to a deadly outcome, whilst surrendering would at least leave them with a potential chance to plead their case.

  It would also mean having their weapons confiscated, which he hoped would put Eva into a better, more advantageous position from which to help them. Ari lifted his hand from his sword and held both hands up.

  CHAPTER 53

  The guards were not gentle with Ari as they brought him down int
o the dungeons below the Baron’s mansion. He was relieved at the fact that they were easier on Kerys and Rin, at least, as much as he could be in between wincing from the barrage of elbow and fist strikes he took to the stomach and face.

  The three of them were thrown into a small stone cell with a heavy wooden door that had a thin, metal-slatted window at eye level. Kerys was crying, and she immediately pulled Ari’s head into her lap as he began to pull himself up from the floor.

  “I’m okay,” said Ari. He wiped a hand across his mouth, wincing as he felt a gash on his lip and tasted blood.

  “This is a mistake,” said Kerys. “We’ll just explain it to them. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

  Ari squeezed her hand and then slowly stood to his feet. Rin was standing in front of the door, clenching her hands against the iron bars of the window.

  “You know, it’s funny how Leyehl went missing right before this happened,” said Ari.

  Rin didn’t say anything, and she didn’t turn around to face him.

  “Did you know?” he asked. “Was this the plan from the very start?”

  His anger leaked into his voice, and he had to take a breath to hold himself back from seizing Rin and forcing her to look at him as he spoke.

  “It doesn’t make sense…” said Rin. “None of this does.”

  She dropped to the cold floor, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them. Her cloak had been taken when they’d first been arrested, and she wrapped her wings forward around her body and arms in its place.

  “I’m a mud damned fool,” muttered Ari. “The grudge between your people. Leyehl and the distance she kept from the rest of us. Bringing the two of you, and vouching for you, to a Baron who I’d never even met before.”

  “I don’t think she’s responsible, chala,” said Rin. “If she was, it would mean…”

  Rin trailed off, and Ari understood why as he considered what she was struggling with.

  “Your sister would have expected that this would happen,” said Ari. “This was as much her sending you into a situation that meant certain death as it was an assassination of the Baron.”

  “Tialese wouldn’t do that, chala!” shouted Rin. “We’ve had our issues, and we’ve been rivals, but we’re still sisters. She is my blood!”

  The temptation to shout back at her and vent his fury was almost overwhelming, but Ari felt the fight go out of him as Kerys reached up and gave his hand a small squeeze. He dropped back down to the floor and put an arm around her.

  “It doesn’t even matter,” said Ari. “As far as that bastard Marshal Luka is concerned, we’re the ones responsible.”

  “It’s all going to be okay, though,” said Kerys. “Right?”

  Ari waited for a breath too long before answering her. “Of course. We’ll figure something out.”

  An hour passed in near silence, with the three of them eventually huddling together in one corner of the cold, dank cell to keep warm. Ari felt his anxiety spike at the sound of footsteps drawing near to the cell outside in the hallway.

  It was too dark for him to see the face of the person who stared through the window of the cell, but as the door opened, Ari recognized Marshal Luka from his silhouette and general bearing. He strode into the cell slowly, flanked by a guard on either side and two more in the hallway.

  “On your feet, Lord Ari,” said the Marshal, in a slow, threatening voice.

  “You know, I was just thinking that now would be a good time to stretch my legs,” said Ari. “The cold is terrible for my knees. Whoever inherits this mansion should look into installing a brazier down here, or—”

  The Marshal struck him hard across the face with a metal gauntlet-covered hand. The force of the blow was enough to make Ari’s vision spin, in addition to creating a high-pitched whine in one of his ears.

  “Aristial!” shouted Kerys. She started to rise to come to his aid. Ari held a hand up and gestured for her to stay back.

  “Answer my questions,” said Marshal Luka. “If you’re straightforward, I’ll make sure you and your friends come to no harm.”

  Ari doubted that very much, but he still pushed a quick question into his Ring of Insight. The uneasy, suspicious sensation it returned to him all but confirmed that the Marshal was, in fact, lying.

  “How many Ravarians live in Varnas-Rav?” asked Marshal Luka. “Your bird whore is also more than welcome to answer.”

  “There are…” Ari coughed, spitting a glob of blood onto the floor. “More than you can count on your fingers, so it might be a number outside of your depth.”

  Another strike came, this time across Ari’s temple. He stayed on his feet even as his stomach threatened to rebel in the wake of an intense bout of swirling vertigo. It was painful, but nothing could compare to the way that taking a strike from a mesmer felt.

  “You pathetic worm,” said Marshal Luka. “Answer, or next time I’ll strike your woman in your place. This ‘Etheria’ that you mentioned… Does it really exist?”

  “It’s as real as your honor,” said Ari. “So in other words, no, it’s a total fabrication.”

  Marshal Luka surged forward, seizing Ari by the scruff of his fine blue shirt. He pulled a small dagger out from his belt and brought it to Ari’s throat, pushing it hard enough against his skin to draw a thin trickle of blood.

  “You will not be smiling for much longer,” said Marshal Luka. “I’ll enjoy drawing your death out.”

  Footsteps sounded in the outside hallway, and a breathless man slid to a stop in front of the doorway to the cell.

  “Marshal!” snapped the man. “The storm has intensified! The door to the Noble Quarter has been damaged by the monsters!”

  Marshal Luka held Ari’s gaze for another moment, his eyes cold and intense, and then finally turned around.

  “You two,” said the Marshal. “Keep watch over this cell. I’ll be back as soon as the situation is resolved.”

  “Yes sir!” said one of the guards. The Marshal hesitated for a moment at the door of the cell before slamming it shut and leaving with most of the men in the room.

  Ari, Kerys, and Rin exchanged knowing looks. This was their best chance, though their means of escape was still not entirely within their own hands.

  “Can you reach out to her?” whispered Kerys.

  Ari shrugged. “I can’t feel her, but maybe she can still feel me.”

  He took a breath, tamping down on his annoyance with himself for not strengthening the bond between them more in the time they’d shared. He tried to reach out to Eva in the same way he would while summoning her to his hand, and slowly, he began to feel her presence as it drew nearer to the jail’s outer door.

  “Hey,” said Ari. “Are you guys sure you can’t let us out of here?”

  “Shut up!” snapped one of the guards. “Or I’ll shut you up!”

  “I think I’ll keep talking, but thanks,” said Ari. “It seems like you’re all bluster and no bite.”

  Kerys picked up on what he was trying to do and let out a long, mocking giggle. The guard outside the door turned to look through the slits of the window, unsheathing his sword.

  “You pissant,” said the guard.

  “Relax, Mikael,” said the guard’s companion.

  “Yeah, seriously, Mikael, relax,” said Ari. “You should listen to your superior.”

  “You think you’re funny?” snapped the guard. “It’s just us in here, you know. Marshal Luka isn’t going to give a shit if we decide to teach a bunch of condemned criminals a lesson.”

  The guard slipped the key into the door of their cell, unlocking it. Ari hid his smile, reaching outward and calling to Eva through their bond with every ounce of will he could muster.

  She stormed into the jail’s hallway just as their cell door opened, running with sleek movements, still clad in her black dress and amethyst choker. The guard closest to the entrance stared at her in bafflement, making no move to draw his sword as Eva slammed a kick into his chest that sent him spr
awling across the stone floor.

  “You little bastard!” shouted the other guard.

  He already had his blade out, and he pulled it back, preparing to cleave into Ari. Rin flapped her wings, flying forward from the side and slamming her elbow into his neck. Ari took advantage of the distraction, stripping the guard’s weapon from his hand and flinging it aside before knocking his head into the wall, rendering him unconscious.

  “Aristial!” called Eva. “Is everyone okay?”

  “For now,” said Ari. “We need to get out of here. Do we have an open route to the outside?”

  “Most of the guests left after the Baron’s death,” said Eva. “The guards and Marshal Luka are holding back the Weatherblight assailing the gate leading to the rest of the city.”

  “How bad is it?” asked Ari.

  Eva shook her head. “I do not know.”

  She reached down to a small bundle that she’d set next to the stairs upon entering the hallway. Ari recognized it as his Feathercloak and scabbard as she unfolded it and passed them to him.

  “Thanks,” he said, quickly pulling them on. “Let’s get moving.”

  CHAPTER 54

  They didn’t encounter anyone on their way upstairs, and they were able to slip out of the Baron’s mansion and into the Noble Quarter without incident. It only took Ari a couple of seconds to see exactly why that was. A small hole had been torn open by the storm, letting in not just the pounding rain, raucous thunder, and harsh winds, but the true threat that the structure had been built to keep out.

  The guardsmen tasked with keeping order within the Noble Quarter far outnumbered the fishers that had made it inside, but none of them seemed to know how to handle the monsters. Ari watched a group of six men standing in a circle around one of the fishers, with none of them able to summon the courage to move forward and strike.

  The monster batted at them with its long, grotesque tentacles, probing for weakness until it finally found an opening and seized one of them by the ankle. The man screamed, and even then, his fellows only watched as he was dragged across the cobblestone and killed by a savage bite that left blood spewing from a gaping neck wound.