The Canard Case (The Artifactor Series Book 4)

by Honor Raconteur

  “Well, if we don’t have a god on hand that specializes in this sort of thing, then we’ll make do with the talent we do have.” Master shrugged as if this wasn’t a big deal of any sort and they’d be fine. “In other news, has anyone managed to reach the Jade Emperor yet?”

  “Oh, were you trying to reach me?”

  The whole tent went deadly silent, the strain and quiet so absolute that it would make a graveyard look loud. Everyone’s heads creaked around to stare in the corner where the voice had come from. There, looking quite innocent, sat a grandfatherly figure with a long white beard and mustache, white hair streaming along his shoulders, dressed in a plain robe that had seen better days. There wasn’t a patch of hair, skin or clothing that wasn’t covered in filth. He’d clearly been hard at work all day and did not look like some towering or imposing figure that was the head of a pantheon of gods.

  Sevana’s surprise kept her rooted for two full seconds and then she was on her feet in a split second, hands slamming against the top of the table with a bang. “You’re the Jade Emperor?!”

  “I am, young woman,” he responded as calmly as if they were discussing the best types of tea. “Why are all of you looking for me?”

  Her focus was so funneled on reaching him that Sevana went half-blind to her surroundings, so that she was almost rough as she pushed past people to reach him. Aran was quick to catch her before she could actually physically leap on the god, although her rage was intense enough that even he had to struggle.

  The Jade Emperor regarded her with mild surprise. “You are very angry, young woman.”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” she snarled at him. “Because you stupidly put a phoenix on top of a dormant volcano, you threatened the lives of every living creature in this area! And then you disappear? We lost seven people! How thoughtless are you?”

  Most of the villagers were now flat against the ground, and a few of them vocally winced at her confrontation, but Sevana was of the opinion that decorum could go hang itself. Someone had to take this man to task for being so stupid.

  The Jade Emperor regarded her with a blank face for several, agonizingly long seconds. Then he bowed his head slightly to her. “You speak in anger on behalf of those that do not have the courage to confront me. You have my respect, young woman.”

  Sevana wanted to take that respect and shove it down his throat.

  His next words stopped her from doing so. “Sealing Feng-Huang here was an error on my part. I was in too much of a hurry to truly think of the consequences. It is now a judgment I very much regret. I came as soon as I felt the seal break to help right the situation as much as I can.”

  A god that could apologize? Her anger cooled a notch, but not by much.

  “Who are you?” he asked her gently.

  Still too upset to answer calmly, she gritted out the words between clenched teeth. “Artifactor Sevana Warren. Sellion of South Woods. I am the person your gods called when they couldn’t reach you.”

  “Ah,” he intoned in complete recognition. “I know of you. And the man standing at your side?”

  “Arandur of South Woods,” Aran introduced quietly with a slight bow of the head. He had not released his hands on Sevana yet, which was probably for the best.

  “You both have my thanks, and my apologies, as you worked hard to protect my people. This situation should not have happened and this destruction is inexcusable.” The Jade Emperor sighed and most of the room flinched at the sound. “Rise, my people, rise and continue to eat. You worked long and hard today and you need to regain your strength.” No one dared except the foreigners in the room, and even they did so hesitantly. The Jade Emperor’s expression said he understood why so he continued in a gentler tone, “Know that while I am angry, it is not directed at any of you. You did very well handling a terrible ordeal. I will reward all of you as I am able, and I will not rest until this isle is restored to what it should be.”

  That, finally, did the trick. They timidly got back into their seats and at his silent encouragement, went back to eating. All of them stole glances at the Jade Emperor with awe sketched on their faces, as if they couldn’t believe he was actually in their presence.

  Sevana was too angry to be awed and kept at him. “Do you know who is responsible for this?”

  “Tian-Mu, I believe.” The Jade Emperor’s mouth went flat in an angry line. “You are a witness to what she did?”

  “I am.”

  “I see. You stated earlier that you have been trying to reach me. Why?”

  “I have a promise to keep with a phoenix and a score to settle with Tian-Mu.” Sevana crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. “Why do you think?”

  He stared back at her with that blank expression from before. “You want my assistance in tracking Tian-Mu down. But what if I say that I will not cooperate?”

  The whole room once again held its breath.

  Unexpectedly, it was Aran that dared to step into the breach and continue the argument. “Jade Emperor, there is one thing that you should know before you make any decisions.”

  Those dark eyes shifted to Aran’s face. “And what is that?”

  “It is not just the mortals that have suffered here. The Unda territory took a huge impact because we were not able to completely shield the sea from the volcano’s fury. They are very…upset.” The way Aran said the word made it clear ‘upset’ wasn’t even close to describing how they felt. “Their queen, Nia Reign, has vowed vengeance on Tian-Mu for the destruction of her territory. The only person she has agreed to share the vengeance with is Sellion.”

  The Jade Emperor wasn’t quite able to hide a wince at this news. Ruler of the skies and gods he might be, but he still had to respect the territories of the other mythical races, and angering the queen of the Unda was an extremely bad move. Even if he had played no part in it, he was responsible, and it would be on his head to make amends.

  Aran, seeing that he had found a chink in the armor, pressed on. “Nia Reign has enough on her hands that I do not think she would choose to hurry off and track Tian-Mu down.” Everyone heard the unspoken words of, At least for the time being. “If you negotiate this with Nia Reign, I believe she will be content to send Sellion as her ambassador with you.”

  In other words, the Jade Emperor could pick his poison. Taking Sevana with him was definitely the more palatable option.

  The Jade Emperor locked eyes with her for a long moment before sighing again, this time in resignation. “It is true that this offense is not listed in our laws, and so it does not have a punishment prescribed to it, which means we must call Tian-Mu before a counsel of seven to review her deeds. I will need a witness for that as I was not here to see her actions for myself.”

  That sounded like a ‘yes’ to Sevana.

  “I will work here another two days, to renew everything that I can, and then we will make retrieving Feng-Huang a priority. At that time, Sellion, you will accompany me.” The Jade Emperor paused and studied Aran for a moment before adding with a distinct twinkle in his eye, “Do not look at me in that way, Arandur. I would not think of taking her without bringing you as well.”

  Sevana twisted about to see for herself what kind of expression Aran had on his face. On the outside, he looked completely straight-faced, but she knew him well at this point. Internally, he pouted so hard he was likely to leave a depression in the ground. The Jade Emperor got points for being able to see past the surface.

  In the past months, Aran had made it clear that she was not allowed to go into unknown or dangerous situations without him. Sevana reckoned it was half-guilt that motivated him, as she wasn’t able to protect herself as well right now with her magic screwed up, and he was trying to keep her safe until things could go back to rights. The other part of it was that he was strangely fond of her and seemed to like being around her. For some inexplicable reason. So she wasn’t surprised that he was in his own way insisting on going with her.

  She was surprised that th
e Jade Emperor was going to allow it. And what did that gleam in his eye mean, anyway? It looked like he was plotting something.

  Aran gave him a lower bow this time. “My thanks.”

  “For now, we should finish our dinner. I, for one, worked hard for it. After that, we will go and speak with Nia Reign.”

  And wouldn’t that be a fun conversation. Wait, come to think of it, “Who put you to work? Or did you just join in?”

  “Ah.” Jacen tentatively raised a hand. “I did. I, ah, well, you told me to put anyone new to work….”

  Sevana gave him a look of considerable asperity. Of course it would be the person that barely knew what was going on to make this sort of slipup. “You didn’t ask for his name?”

  “He did, and very politely,” the Jade Emperor assured her with a sort of grandfatherly indulgence. “And I told him. Yu-Huang.”

  Rolling her eyes to the ceiling, Sevana started to pray for patience, and then realized she was doing so in front of multiple gods and stopped. Even if they were in a different pantheon than her own, they could likely hear her internal prayers. “Jacen. You don’t remember this pantheon that well at all, do you?”

  “Basically the bare bones of it,” he admitted with a wince. “It’s not exactly in my field.”

  That part was true. In fact, they were so far out of his chosen field that she might as well be asking a monkey for advice.

  “Don’t be harsh on him, Sevana,” the Jade Emperor scolded with a slight chuckle. “He was polite, and I was happy to have a direction, as I wanted to work. I will depend on his kindness tomorrow as well.”

  Yu-Huang had become the Jade Emperor due to his wise judgement and benevolence, after all. It was to be expected that he wouldn’t be upset with Jacen.

  Master cleared his throat in a deferential manner. “Jade Emperor, if you don’t mind, I’d prefer you come and speak with me tonight. There are a number of tasks that need doing but we have insufficient knowledge or power to accomplish them.”

  The Jade Emperor inclined his head. “Of course. I will speak with you after I have negotiated with Nia Reign.”

  “My thanks. I will be waiting.”

  Sevana went back to her seat and her cooling dinner. It took several minutes before people finally gathered up enough courage to go and speak with the gods in their midst. They did so tentatively, one brave soul at a time, and then in a steadier stream when it was apparent that the gods were actually happy to speak with them. The Jade Emperor was almost swarmed, and he beamed so hard that he leaked light out like a halo.

  Watching him, it became obvious that his love of his people ran true and deep, and Sevana’s anger toward him dissipated a little more. He had likely told her the truth—he’d made a snap decision concerning the phoenix and it turned out to be a bad one. Nanashi Isle was not the only place where his people dwelt and he had a rather large pantheon of gods to manage as well; it was understandable that his attention was diverted elsewhere before he realized how dangerous it was here.

  Understandable, but still highly regrettable, as it all could have been avoided.

  Even in this moment, Sevana knew that they wouldn’t have been able to completely stop the volcano or keep it from affecting the isle. But they could have contained the larger part of it and avoided the complete disaster that they were facing now. Part of that blame could be laid at the Jade Emperor’s door. But the lion’s share of it was definitely Tian-Mu’s, and Sevana was more than willing to divert her anger toward the goddess. Especially since the Jade Emperor was doing his best to make amends.

  Aran seemed to read her mood and he gave her a slight smile. “No longer angry?”

  “Not with him, anyway.” Reminded, Sevana asked, “In all the madness and confusion, I lost track of our young dragon. He left?”

  “He did, when the volcano started to blow. I sent him on so that he wouldn’t be caught up here. He was also tasked with warning his clan so that they wouldn’t try to fly this direction.”

  Smart of him to think of that. Sevana had been so busy trying to protect the people she’d momentarily forgotten about their young dragon. In fact, she hadn’t remembered him until this morning.

  “You’re just now thinking of him?” Aran asked a little incredulously. “I thought you could keep track of multiple things without strain.”

  “Rule of seven,” Sevana grumbled at him, only a little defensive. “I can remember six things at once and handle them all, but not a seventh.”

  For some reason this amused him. He smiled at her, head propped in his hand, his dinner completely ignored. “Do tell. Six things, hmm?”

  “Shut up and eat, Aran.” Sevana stabbed her fish with a little more force than necessary.

  Chuckling, he did so. Although she was sure she hadn’t heard the last of it; he’d use it to tease her later. It was as inevitable as the sun rising in the sky.

  It took another hour before the Jade Emperor was able to wrench himself from his worshippers, and then they walked down to the beach. The half-cleared beach. At least around the docks it was clear, but they still had many miles to go yet. Sinking down to one knee, he put a hand in the water and called clearly, “Nia Reign. I would speak with you.”

  She couldn’t respond instantly, of course, she had to travel to where they were. The Jade Emperor stood again to wait.

  Seeing she had the opportunity to do some probing, Sevana took it. “How do we track Tian-Mu?”

  “I can see her trail as she fled.” The Jade Emperor turned and pointed to it unerringly. “Also, I can sense Feng-Huang quite clearly. Tian-Mu only broke the first level of the seal in order to take her from the volcano. She did not break both levels.”

  “Meaning Feng-Huang is still sealed?” Aran asked in interest.

  “Indeed, young Fae. If she had broken free entirely, Tian-Mu would have had a fight on her hands. Feng-Huang is quite powerful in her own right. I do not believe that Tian-Mu will win an engagement between them.”

  Hence why Tian-Mu kept Feng-Huang sealed? That made perfect sense to Sevana. Carting around an unconscious person was cumbersome to say the least, but it was still easier than trying to kidnap a person who was equal in strength and fighting back. Sevana carried that thought a step further and winced. “I’m almost grateful, then, that she left her sealed. If they’d had a fight right there on top of the volcano it would have escalated beyond control. Our barrier wouldn’t have been able to contain them.”

  “It would have led to the complete destruction of the isle,” the Jade Emperor confirmed and there was a hard set to his jaw that spoke of silent anger. “I am glad as well that she chose what she did. Otherwise she could never be forgiven.”

  “Will she be forgiven, then?” From the ocean waves, Nia Reign stepped out of the water and onto the gravelly beach. She was much calmer than the last time that Sevana had seen her, and this time she looked more like the ethereal Fae only a darker version, her hair lying wet and dark over one shoulder, robes clinging to her from the sea water. “Jade Emperor.”

  “Nia Reign.” The Jade Emperor gave a long, low inclination of his head, possibly the deepest bow that Sevana had seen him make yet. “Many apologies for making you wait. Forgive this incident. I am entirely to blame.”

  If Sevana was reading the mood correctly, the Jade Emperor had given her the most humble apology that he could, while making no excuses.

  “Your people have been my neighbors for centuries, Jade Emperor. I have found them to be good neighbors. They are respectful. For their sake, I will forgive you. But understand this: Tian-Mu is not to be forgiven.”

  The Jade Emperor raised his head only to bow again, this time a little deeper. “You are magnanimous, Nia Reign. I am not worthy of your kindness.”

  Snorting, she turned her face away, deliberately not looking at any of them. “Thankfully, this is your first offense. Do not encroach upon my kindness again.”

  “I will strive not to do so.” The Jade Emperor seemed to realize that h
e was not on smooth ground just yet, that he had only passed through a rocky patch and was about to step onto another one. “It is my understanding that you wish vengeance upon Tian-Mu.”

  “That is correct.”

  “It is also my understanding that the only person you have agreed to share vengeance with is Sellion?”

  Nia Reign exchanged wolfish smiles with Sevana. “She shares my bloodlust for that woman. Her anger is not any less than mine.”

  “In that case, will you send her as your representative?” the Jade Emperor asked with all the caution of a man walking on eggshells. “I must leave soon to track Tian-Mu down and retrieve Feng-Huang. I do not wish to take you from your people, as you are sorely needed here, but I do not wish to disrespect your interests either.”

  Nia Reign regarded him coldly for several moments. “I am not pleased to be absent from the chase.”

  The Jade Emperor was wise enough not to comment but instead spread his hands in an open shrug as if to say, What would you have me do?

  This stand-off lasted for several moments before Nia Reign let out a sound of aggravation. “However, you are correct, I cannot afford to leave in the near future. Sellion accompanying you is…a compromise I can live with. As long as you understand that she speaks with Our voice and witnesses with Our understanding.”

  Sevana’s ears perked at those official ‘ours’ and knew that Nia Reign had just entrusted her with the interest of the whole of First Moon.

  The Jade Emperor caught it as well and assured her, “She will be treated as your ambassador and her words will be your words.”

  This satisfied Nia Reign and only then did she face Sevana. “Sellion, you will go and see properly to our revenge. Do not let her off.”

  Sevana had no problem with promising, “I won’t.”

  “And after it is all done, come and report properly to me. I expect every detail.”

  “I’ll capture it all in a crystal so that you can see it unfold for yourself.”

  Nia Reign’s interest perked visibly. “Human magic can do such a thing? Excellent. I look forward to that. Jade Emperor, I will let Sellion be there through all of it, but I want an official notice from you on what Tian-Mu’s sentencing is.”