“And, recently, to their side of Korin’s Pass,” Vitel told him.
Sarsal’s eyebrows rose in surprise, then he shrugged. “Those are our two most common trading places, it would make sense to speed up commerce.”
“Indeed,” Vitel agreed. “And I’ve been urging the king to consider doing the same with Soria.”
“Build these steam tractors?”
“They call them locomotives,” Vitel said with a sniff. “They run on iron rails and can haul many carriages behind them at the same time.” He made a face. “It is most efficient and far more economic than carrying goods by road.” He paused a moment, in thought. “And, I think, even more beneficial to commerce than carrying goods by sea.”
“Really?” Sarsal seemed impressed.
“A while back King Markel asked if Soria was interested in acquiring ‘rail lines’ of our own, perhaps even linking ours with his,” Vitel said.
“They are tracks of metal, are they not?”
Vitel nodded.
“So it would not be difficult to destroy one of these lines if the need arose,” Sarsal guessed. Vitel nodded again, this time, grudgingly. “So why did not our king accept Markel’s offer? Surely it makes sense to let them do the work for us.”
Vitel drew breath, then paused. “I had not considered this, my prince.”
“But you were worried about these ‘locomotives’ and Markel’s army?” Vitel nodded in agreement. Sarsal frowned. “Why?”
“It occurred to me that goods can include soldiers,” Vitel replied. “If Markel used his locomotives to move his army to our borders quickly, he might gain some surprise.”
“He might,” Sarsal agreed slowly. “But our army is stronger, why would that matter?”
“Our army is spread out and would take time to gather,” Vitel said. “We have two full divisions at the South Pass, it’s true, but only the garrison in the fort to guard Korin’s Pass —” Vitel gasped, eyes going wide. “And we haven’t heard from them in nearly a week!” He jumped from his chair and turned to the door.
“Where are you going?” Sarsal demanded imperiously.
“I must warn the king!” Vitel cried, moving quickly. “Kingsland may be attacking!”
“No,” Sarsal said, rising from his chair and moving quickly, drawing his belt knife and grabbing for the spymaster’s shoulder. He spun the surprised man quickly and struck with his knife — once, twice, three times. Vitel had no time to defend himself. As the blood spurted from the wounds in his throat and chest, his vision darkened and the last words he heard were from the prince, “I can’t have you doing that.”
Sarsal eyed the bloody mess with a frown, flicking the dead spy’s leg with his foot to be certain. He leaned down and drew the spy’s knife from its sheath. He smelled it quickly to determine if it was poisoned. Satisfied that it wasn’t, he took a deep breath and ripped the knife across his chest, tearing his silk shirt and drawing a long line of blood to drip down his chest. He knelt and placed the knife in Vitel’s dead hand, dropped his knife artfully beside the body, drew a deep breath and roared, “Guards, guards! I’ve been attacked!”
As he heard the alarm spread, he looked down at the dead spy and told the corpse venomously, “You’re lucky I only killed you. You cost me my favorite shirt.”
Chapter Seven
Ophidian and the others were out of sight, their footsteps faded to silence before Queen Diam turned to Granno, her trusted aid, general, and friend.
“Would the kingdom follow a dragon?” she asked him in a small voice.
“The kingdom would follow Imay, your majesty,” Granno assured her. He saw the queen’s distraught look and added, “She is your daughter and she is more than a match for an immature dragon.”
Diam snorted. “I suppose.” She sniffed, before adding, “She took an oath to Ophidian.”
“That, I think, was masterful,” Granno said. Queen Diam nodded in agreement. Then she shook herself.
“Back to work,” she said sternly. “How quickly can we close the old entrances?”
“I’ve got crews working now, your majesty,” Granno told her. “But we have many entrances to close and new ones to open. For the moment we can only close the old ones for a short span.”
“Good,” Diam said decisively. “We might need them again. Remember, we must always have four openings.”
“I remember, your majesty,” Granno replied gravely. “Does the new work count?”
“No,” Diam said. “Our escape must be to the air.” She gave him a grim smile. “Too many sky-touchers think that we can only live underground. Our safety has always been to come above ground.”
Granno nodded in agreement, adding slyly, “And remind them of their errors.”
Diam smiled fiercely. “We should keep the rails up near the entrances, just in case,” Diam said. “And have a company at the ready.”
“Already done, your majesty,” Granno said with a nod.
“Excellent!” Diam said, her eyes cutting to the door.
“Your majesty,” Granno said with an amused look, “I think the kingdom’s affairs can wait while you check on your treasury.”
Diam was out the door before he finished speaking. Chuckling, Granno rose and followed.
#
“So what is our plan, great god?” Reedis asked as they once again entered the corridor toward the locked treasury. Ophidian turned to glare at him with red eyes. Reedis sighed. “So… no plan, as before.”
“Reedis,” Annabelle said in a warning tone, shaking her head. “He can kill you.”
“Only once,” Reedis said.
“Really?” Ophidian asked him silkily. “Are you certain of that?”
Reedis’ face went white. He gulped. “It’s just that — god Ophidian — I always work better with a plan.”
“How about this?” Rabel said. “We do our best. No one dies.”
“That sounds more like a wish than a plan,” Ophidian remarked.
“It was the best I could do on such short notice,” Rabel allowed. After a moment, he continued, “If anything happens to me, please revive Ibb.”
“The metal man?” Ophidian said, cocking his head. “Who else has the knowledge?”
“I believe he might have been training an apprentice,” Rabel said.
“Lyric?” Annabelle and Reedis said in unison. “The one who stole Krea?”
“Stole Krea?” Rabel repeated, turning his gaze back to the dragon-god.
“It didn’t last,” Ophidian said with a wave of his fingers. “But if she was the one he was training, she’ll not be available any time soon.”
“She stole a kitsune and fled,” Reedis said.
Rabel glanced toward him. “I’d like to learn all about this.”
“Later,” Ophidian said. They halted in front of the treasury and the nervous guard, Dermon. “For the moment, we have a different issue.”
“Actually,” Rabel said slowly, “perhaps not.”
“My son is in danger,” Ophidian said warningly.
“I know,” Rabel said. “But if something happens to me, there is no one who has the knowledge to restore Ibb.”
Ophidian’s jaw worked as he considered this. Finally, he said, “What is your plan? Remember that there are two girls — humans —”
“One human, one zwerg,” Annabelle corrected. Ophidian glared at her. She shrugged it off. “Just wanted to be accurate, especially as one of them is a princess and all.”
“Are you done?” Ophidian demanded.
“Well,” Anabelle said slowly, “they’re girls, right?” The dragon-god nodded, fighting to keep his temper in check. “So, like all girls, they can’t stay in that room forever, can they?”
“And they’ve been in there for a while,” Rabel said in agreement. “They’ll be getting hungry and they�
��ll need —”
“A rest break,” Reedis said, glancing to Ophidian who accepted the reality with ill grace. Reedis turned to Rabel. “That puts a limit on how much longer we can leave them unrelieved.”
“Can you fix Ibb?” Rabel said, looking at Ophidian. “You’re the god of fire and changes.”
“And tricks,” Annabelle added with feeling.
“I cannot fix Ibb,” Ophidian said. “Even with the zwerg, even with Geros, I cannot fix Ibb.”
“So, we now know that we can’t allow Rabel to die,” Annabelle said.
“I like the plan where no one dies,” Reedis said in a small voice.
“Ophidian,” Rabel said, moving around the zwerg guard, “open the door.”
Dermon, the zwerg guard looked from Rabel to Ophidian and back again before, pulling the key out of his pocket and passing it to the black-haired smith.
Rabel nodded in thanks, put the key in the lock and turned it quickly.
It made a loud noise. Beyond it, they could hear the sounds of coins and treasures spilling and moving in the treasury. From the amount, Rabel had no doubt that the major contributor was Jarin, in dragon form.
Rabel turned back to Ophidian, gesturing grandly toward the door. “You’re his father.”
Fast moving footsteps approached around the corner and they all paused to see who owned them. It was Diam and Granno.
“You’re going in?” the queen of the zwerg asked. She raised an eyebrow as she saw Imay. “All of you?”
“We’re sworn to Ophidian,” Imay said.
“Well, not all of us,” Reedis said, pointing at himself. “Some of us were drafted.”
“I rather imagine that Ophidian will find some suitable reward for your services,” Granno remarked.
“The last reward was bringing me here,” Reedis grumbled.
“See?” Rabel said. “You are enjoying the benevolence of the great god.”
“Come on,” Ophidian said, pushing the door open. He glanced to Diam. “Except you.”
Rabel was the first through, followed quickly by Imay, then Annabelle who tugged Reedis along after her.
“Ellen, how is he?” Rabel called softly as he spied the young girl, raising her head from under a mound of gold coins.
A gout of flame answered him. Ophidian moved in front of the smith and waved the flames into the ground.
“Not well,” Ellen said, moving hastily away from the larger mound which contained the dragon.
“He is confused and in pain,” Annabelle said, sounding concerned.
“Jarin, what can we do to help?” Imay asked, moving up to stand to the left side of Ophidian. “Are you in pain?”
The dragon replied with a piercing moan of despair.
“I’m sorry, my son,” Ophidian said, moving forward. “I didn’t know.”
“They got here as soon as they could,” Rabel said, moving up to stand on Ophidian’s right side.
“Mother!” Lissy cried, rushing out from under a pile of coin and treasure.
The dragon bellowed in terror and rage and opened its mouth —
“No!” Reedis shouted, racing forward to bat the dragon on its snout. “We do not harm children!”
Jarin’s head reared back in surprise. His eyes narrowed at the small human in front of him. He snapped his jaws, swallowing Reedis whole in one blinding motion.
The others were shocked to silence. Annabelle found breath to sob, her hand going to her mouth. Ophidian looked imploringly to Rabel who stared, wide-eyed at the black dragon, unable to speak.
And then the dragon disappeared. It collapsed on itself in a flash of white light which coalesced down and down, darker and darker, becoming a solid —
“Well, I showed him,” Reedis said proudly, turning back to the others. “He only needed to be told — he didn’t mean any harm…” He broke off as he caught their expressions. “What are you all looking at?”
“Reedis,” Annabelle began slowly, “where’s the dragon?”
“What?” Reedis twisted around, staring toward the empty mound of gold. Idly he picked one coin up and pocketed it before turning around again to stare at the others. “Well, he was just here. I’m sure he’ll turn up soon enough.”
Ellen rushed back up the mound of coins and stood in front of the mage, her hands planted firmly on her hips as she demanded, “What did you do with Jarin?”
“What?” Reedis began worriedly, looking down at the young girl. “You’re just a girl, don’t you know it’s rude to —”
“Where’s Jarin?” Ellen cried, looking around the man, her eyes filling with tears. “He was just here. I was guarding him.” She rounded on Reedis once more and shouted, “What did you do to him?”
“You were guarding me?” the voice belonged to Reedis, the expression did not. Ellen’s eyes widened as the mage wrapped her arms around her and hugged her tightly. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m here, Ellen, this is me.”
Ellen broke up, looking up in awe. “Jarin?”
“Have we met?” Reedis asked her.
Ellen’s eyes widened once more. “What did you do with my friend?”
“Ellen,” Ophidian’s voice came from behind her. “He is your friend.”
“I am?” Reedis asked, looking pale. His eyes rolled up and he fainted onto the mound of coins and treasure.
“Becoming a twin soul is difficult,” Imay said, moving up toward Ellen.
“That man?” Ellen said, pointing to the unconscious mage. “He’s Jarin?”
“Technically, he’s Reedis Jarin, now,” Annabelle said, moving forward and looking down to the unconscious mage, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her lips.
“Jarin Reedis,” Ophidian rumbled in correction. The others stared at him. “I’m given to understand that Reedis is the mage’s last name.” He leaned down, grabbed the unconscious form’s right arm and threw the man over his back. The others stared at him in surprise. “May I bring him to your infirmary?”
“Of course,” Diam said. She held a hand out to Lissy who ran to take it, before saying to the dragon god, “He’ll need rest.”
“And we’ll need to work on Ibb,” Rabel said. He looked over at Imay and winked. “Would you like to learn some ancient secrets?”
Imay’s eyes bulged and she nodded eagerly.
About
The Twin Soul Series
Currently spanning 19 books and over 200 characters, the Twin Soul Series keeps on growing!
If you’d like a list of characters, scan the QR Code below, it’ll take you to the characters page on our website, http://www.twinsoulseries.com
Acknowledgements
No book gets done without a lot of outside help.
We are so grateful to Jeff Winner for his marvelous cover art work.
We’d like to thank all our first readers for their support, encouragement, and valuable feedback.
Any mistakes or omissions are, of course, all our own.
About the Authors
Award-winning authors The Winner Twins, Brit and Brianna, have been writing for over ten years, with their first novel (The Strand) published when they were twelve years old.
New York Times bestselling author Todd McCaffrey has written over a dozen books, including eight in the Dragonriders of Pern® universe.
http://www.twinsoulseries.com
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