by Ryan Muree
Grier chuckled. “He would have died from a heart attack. A Neerian casting? He’d be terrified of you, and it would have been the best thing ever.”
That certainly would have been worth it.
“Speaking of which,” he continued. “When we’re in Neeria, promise not to leave me behind and make me feel like an outcast.”
She laughed. “Oh no! Not a Keeper being an outcast! How terrible! Can you swim?”
“Of course, I can swim. Why?”
“Just wondering…”
“Are you going to swim away and leave me to drown?”
“Maybe.”
“We’ll see about that. You’ll be glad to know that I was top of my class in swimming.”
She laughed harder. “Keepers have swimming lessons as part of their training?”
“In full armor no less. We have to be prepared for everything.”
“For random oceans dropping into the middle of the continent?”
“Maybe.” He grinned. “You never know. And after I out-swim you, I’ll tell the story to your family of how you nearly got one of Stadhold’s best Keepers killed—”
“Oh,” she giggled. “Is that what you’ll tell them? Well, then, don’t be heartbroken when my mother asks me why I didn’t follow through.”
He kissed the side of her head. “It’ll be fun.”
“I thought you were just dropping me off and returning to Stadhold.”
“I can’t go all the way to Neeria to turn around and leave. But, yes, eventually I’ll have to return.”
“And what will you tell the library?”
He sighed and looked down at his boots.
Everything had changed in such a short time. So much had happened. Even something as simple as boots. Boots were far superior to those silly slip-ons at the library that felt like she might trip or fall over every little thing. Even Grier seemed to be settling into his new attire. He finally looked comfortable in his mechanic pants and black shirts.
He clicked his tongue.
“Well?”
“I’m taking a vacation?”
She lifted her eyebrows. “Good luck convincing them. I mean, you are a Keeper, and the best they have according to you, so I’m sure they’ll make an exception and accept vacation as a perfectly good reason.”
He leaned over. “Can I tell you a secret? I don’t miss wearing the armor every day.”
“Is it anything like wearing that horrible bed sheet?”
He reached his arm around her shoulder. “I always thought you looked nice in your raclar.”
“How could you say that? There was nothing to see of me in it. I looked like an algorin with a round head. All wobbly and topsy-turvy.” He burst out laughing. “You could push me over, and I’d probably get strangled in all that fabric. Don’t worry, Ingini. You don’t need to bring ether-cannons or bombs to the war, just knock us over.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“Yes, it was. And you don’t get to talk. You’re gorgeous when you’re all dressed up for duty.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “Am I?”
“You knew it, too.”
He pulled her closer and pressed his forehead against hers.
They might have been joking and relaxed, but those were mere stolen moments between reality. They both had to be careful. Her family, Revel, and Stadhold couldn’t find out she was a Caster until they knew what everyone would do.
“If anyone finds out I’m a Caster, I’ll be sent to Aurelis.”
His face grew serious, his stare intense. “Emeryss, if people find out you’re a Caster, you won’t see daylight again.”
She narrowed her eyebrows. “You think they’d lock me up in Revel, too?”
“Of course, they would. Think about it… It’s power. People needing grimoires is a lot of control.”
Those in power were always scared of losing it, and she represented a means for that power to be circumvented. She’d proven not all Casters were born, some were made, and grimoires were optional. It had the very real possibility of throwing the economy and the power struggle between the three nations out of balance.
“It could cause a firestorm.” She took a shaky breath, and he gripped her hand in his.
“Still want to go home?” he asked.
“It’s the safest place for me, I think. Still want to go with me?”
“Even more so.”
The doors of the observation deck opened and closed behind them, and they spun.
Adalai, Jahree, and Mykel were headed straight for them. Adalai’s new medal was large and distracting around her neck, but her scowl, more so.
“What’s wrong?” Emeryss looked at each one of them.
“A lot.” Adalai put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. “Sonora just told us that someone from the library is here for you, and Urla is bringing them in.”
“Who is it?” Grier asked.
“Sonora didn’t know. Urla never mentioned her name while Sonora was listening.”
“Her?” Emeryss looked to Grier. “It wouldn’t be—”
“It’s not Jgenult. The Librarian wouldn’t come.”
“Unless she knows about me.” Emeryss wrung her hands.
“How would she know that though?” Mykel asked.
She was probably being paranoid, but she had destroyed an entire chunk of the wall with one sigil and without a grimoire. It was easy to get paranoid about something so incredibly important. “I guess you’re right. I don’t know.”
“We have bigger problems, honestly,” Adalai said.
“Maybe you do…” Grier mumbled.
“The Ingini girl we captured,” Adalai continued, “she wasn’t carrying bombs. She had grimoires in those crates on her ship. And she didn’t steal them. She picked them up from within Ingini.”
“What?” Emeryss’s jaw dropped. “The Ingini have grimoires? How?”
Adalai’s arms crossed. “You tell me.”
The doors to the observation deck slid open again, and Urla, Sonora, Vaughn, and Captain Lerissa entered.
Grier’s body instantly tensed. The muscle in his arms tightened beside Emeryss. He stepped one foot and a shoulder in front of her—a barrier between them.
Lerissa stopped and lifted her hand. “I’m not here to fight, Grier. I came alone and off duty.”
Her full armor and bracer said otherwise. Then again, Keepers wouldn’t go out to advisor estates without it.
Urla smiled. “I brought her to the ship because she’d come to negotiate Emeryss’s return with Advisor O’Brecht. I caught her in time, however, and told her Grier had done a perfect job protecting Emeryss during the battle.” Urla’s eyes widened as she spoke the half-truths.
But Grier didn’t back down. His shield-arm was still up, despite Lerissa not making any threatening moves.
“Lerissa,” Emeryss said. “I’m not going back.”
Lerissa looked to Urla and then back to Grier. “May we speak privately?” After no one protested, she ushered them to the side.
The Zephyrs huddled together, undoubtedly discussing the crates. She had no clue what Adalai was implying about their knowing that grimoires were in Ingini, and she preferred to get back to that conversation instead of facing this one.
Emeryss and Grier followed Lerissa, however, to the side, and when she turned to them, her eyebrows were knitted together with a frown.
“Your father and I have been sick with worry since you left,” she said. “One letter from you over a week ago, and you were in an all-out war at the border?”
Your father and I?
Grier took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, but—”
Emeryss gasped. “She’s your mother?”
Neither Lerissa nor Grier broke their stare. Everything made so much more sense.
“I sent multiple letters to you. You were silent,” Grier whispered.
“I never got any messages.”
“How is that possible?”
“Maybe
Avrist was taking them?” Emeryss suggested.
Grier hesitated and returned his focus to Lerissa. “You sent Avrist after us—”
“I had to!” Lerissa whispered back loudly. “You two did the dumbest thing you could have done. They thought you were married. They thought you were running to defect to Ingini. The entire library has been upside down over it, especially with the stress of keeping it from the public—”
“He tried to kill us multiple times—”
“Don’t be dramatic, Grier.” The curl of her lip and the lifted eyebrow gave way with her nasty tone. There was little love behind any of her words. Only expectation and disappointment.
“He nearly shot us out of the air twice! He sent his Keepers on Emeryss in Delour and in the middle of the battle at Marana.” His finger jutted out at her with each of his points. “I’d suggest he be investigated, but he was killed—”
“We know,” she cut. “His pilots reported it back to us.”
The pilots of his ship. They had forgotten about them. They must have run out of Marana rather quickly when things heated up.
Emeryss took a step forward. “Grier has done everything he was supposed to. He protected me throughout the entire thing. I take full responsibility, and Grier shouldn’t be blamed—”
Lerissa’s glower hardened. “That’s obvious.”
Emeryss pulled back.
“Watch it, Lerissa,” Grier grumbled.
“Then stop acting like a petulant child!”
“Stop trying to murder your own son and his Scribe!”
Lerissa took a deep breath and eyed Grier’s shoulder protectively in front of her. Some new knowledge reached her eyes, and she lifted her nose at him. “Are you married?”
“No,” Grier said. “Emeryss was being refused transport home—”
“And who’s fault is that?”
“Avrist and Jgenult have been denying her the chance to go home for years—”
“Librarian Jgenult to you, and that’s because someone claimed he wasn’t prepared to protect her.”
“A year ago!”
Lerissa visibly centered herself and refocused. “We can fight about this plenty with your father and your brothers after you’ve come home.” Her jaw barely moved as she spoke. “I actually came to tell you that after Avrist’s report from his pilots, I’ve vouched for your bravery protecting Emeryss in the Battle of Marana and in the Delour riot. I’ve nominated you to receive a promotion.”
Grier bristled beside her and squinted back at his mother. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch.”
“There’s always a catch, a lesson, a consequence—”
“Does it matter? I’ll demote you if you prefer. Then again, our family’s reputation is pristine, and I will not let you mar it. You will not add turning down a promotion to your list of mistakes.” She straightened her posture and adjusted her armor. “I’m willing to let this whole ordeal go to keep our family’s honor, but you have to return immediately for the commanders to award the promotion. All of our patience is wearing thin. Enough playing house.” She eyed Emeryss and returned her glare to Grier. “This is real life. The war has started, and you have a duty to protect Stadhold.” Lerissa turned to leave.
“Haven’t I proven that I’m already protecting Stadhold? I fought in the Battle of Marana! Emeryss is safe and alive!”
Lerissa froze and turned with a smug grin. “I was going to tell you when you returned, but it’s probably best to tell you now.”
Grier breathed deeply. His upper-torso was slightly bent forward ready to pounce.
“The commanders have found your matches.” Her gaze flitted to Emeryss and then back to him. “Thanks to your father and I’s record, you were in high demand. The women you’ve been matched with will be expecting to start private meetings with you within a week. It’s time to grow up. I expect you back in Stadhold in five days time.”
“Why not drag us back now?” Grier called to her as she went to leave again. “Why not duel me and haul us off?”
She looked back over her shoulder. “I’m doing you a favor, Grier. Don’t be selfish and screw it up.”
Emeryss exhaled and lifted a hand to Grier’s shoulder. His jaw was clenched.
It was no wonder saying and fighting for what he wanted had been so hard. That woman had a way of sucking out the air and courage from any space. It was practically an art. To endure it for years… She shuddered.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
He stared straight ahead, not even blinking.
They’d only have a week with each other before he had to return and start planning his future. She wasn’t ready for that, but she wouldn’t get in the way of it either. She’d wanted to swim in the ocean with him, eat by firelight on the beach, have him meet her family and childhood friends, teach him how to haul cages and fish like a Neerian. She’d thought they’d have more time.
“Five days,” he muttered.
“I’m sorry, Grier.”
“She’s pressured the commanders into this, or my father has.”
Emeryss only knew the bare minimum when it came to Keepers and their traditions. “They don’t set up your paired matches this early?”
“They don’t even start the process for another three years, and it can take a year to find matches. They’ve done this on purpose.” His eyes darted left and right.
She rested her head against his shoulder and rubbed her hand over his back.
“They’re not getting away with this,” he mumbled.
The Zephyrs watched as Lerissa left the observation deck and moved over to them.
“Well?” Vaughn asked.
Grier was still staring at the ground, so Emeryss answered for him. “He has to return within five days, or he loses a promotion—”
“And my lineage.” Grier rubbed his hands over his face. “I’m stricken from all records if I don’t agree to select a marriage partner.”
The group lowered their gazes with various curses.
Grier shook his head. “Catch us up about these grimoires. The Ingini had some on her ship, but you think she stole them? Ingini wouldn’t be able to steal them. Stadhold is too protected. We have walls and Keepers stationed along it, too.”
“Is it?” Adalai crossed her arms. “Are you really trying to tell me that? You all forget I made it into the Great Library so easily.”
“And you’re RCA. Your airship was on a routine pickup.” He mirrored her stance.
Emeryss nodded. “You wouldn’t look suspicious at all, but an Ingini airship flying in would be impossible.”
“Then maybe it wasn’t an Ingini airship flying in,” Adalai said curtly. “Maybe it was a Stadhold airship sending them out.”
“What?” Grier huffed. “You think the library did this? You think Stadhold is giving Ingini grimoires? Stadhold doesn’t want Ingini to have any more power than Revel does. We’re not interested in working for the enemy.”
Jahree rubbed his chin. “Are you so sure?”
Grier’s nostrils flared.
“Avrist acted out of character and sent Keepers to attack you two.” Jahree shrugged. “They treated Emeryss like a prisoner while she was there. They keep you in the dark about Revel’s fights with Ingini. Maybe something is going on above your head.”
“And you’re the only ones who can make and ship grimoires,” Adalai added.
“Wait a minute,” Emeryss said. “Just because Stadhold makes and ships grimoires doesn’t mean they’re the only ones shuttling them out. You were shuttling some out. How do we know it’s not the RCA smuggling the grimoires into Ingini?”
Adalai squinted at her. “That makes no sense. We’re in a grimoire shortage. Things are really tight, and you saw Delour. People are barely able to keep their businesses open and live normal lives. Revel wouldn’t hand over grimoires and hurt our own people in the process.”
“Well, it’s not Stadhold’s fault,” Grier said.
“And it�
�s not the RCA’s,” Adalai countered.
“Couldn’t the REV be smuggling them over?” Vaughn asked.
Urla nodded. “It’s possible.”
Emeryss looked at Grier. “Then why can’t the library send someone to investigate?”
“It’s too delicate,” Urla said. “Stadhold can’t investigate Ingini without joining the war, which is who would need to be investigated. If Librarian Jgenult feels like they’ve taken every precaution, and she knows she’s not sharing them against the treaty, then it falls on Revel being careless or handing them over, which means investigating Revel—”
“And Revel won’t take that well,” Jahree said.
Sonora bit her lip. “It’s poor diplomatic relations all around.”
Adalai put her hands up. “The important thing is that we all agree it’s pretty catastrophic that they have grimoires, and we need to do something about it.”
“We could report it to Orr,” Mykel suggested.
Grier shook his head. “If the RCA’s handing them over, then Orr could cover his tracks better—”
“Orr isn’t a traitor!” Adalai burst.
“Are you sure about that?” he shouted back. “Put your rarest RCA members all on one team and assign them to a dangerous zone that just happens to be the location where Ingini starts a damn war—”
“It’s because we’re highly skilled and we needed to protect the advisor—”
They inched closer to one another.
“Or he needed a reason to off you! Are we going to forget that you lied to Emeryss about his escort?”
“I was following orders, you bastard!”
“You? Follow orders? That’s rich. You did it to save your own ass!”
“As soon as the escort showed up and didn’t look reliable, I had you and Emeryss hide in the ship! Which you’re welcome for by the way!”
Grier’s cheeks were already bright red. “And you’re not questioning why your precious, honorable general sent a glorified taxi service to pick up a Scribe?”
“Hey, tart-hole, not everyone has an evil bitch for a parent dictating our every move! I was being cautious, but it turns out he was trustworthy!”
“Enough!” Sonora shouted, tears bubbling in her eyes. “I’m not going to do this. If you want to fight, then I’m leaving. For good. If you want to do something about these grimoires, then let’s figure this out and stop screaming at each other.”
