by Lisa Shearin
“If they no longer need to protect the Heart, there’s no reason for them to stay here,” I told him. “They would be free to go further inland, though having been trapped in these caves for centuries, they don’t know what would await them there. Or they could return with us. We could resettle them wherever they desire. I don’t intend to force my will on any of them, but I am determined to give them a choice beyond endurance or suicide. They were once our own people, and now there are fewer than a hundred. If they had remained in Rheskilia, the Khrynsani would have killed them. In that, they are very much like ourselves.”
Malik held up a mollifying hand. “I never said I disagree with your intent or sentiment, but this is a substantial departure from our ‘blow it up and get out’ plan.”
Agata had been silent until now. “Tam, you said Baeseria is ‘bonded’ to the Heart.”
“Correct.”
“The bonding, the extended lifespan, the unsuccessful attempt to destroy it—”
“I know. It sounds way too much like the Saghred for my comfort.”
“Not only that, but if the Heart did act on its own as Maralah believes, then it is likely sentient as well. Even if there was a way to destroy it, that option has been taken off the table.”
“Agreed.” I sat in the closest chair. “I’ve been thinking.”
Elsu winced. “Good rarely comes from that. It usually involves us running for our lives.”
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees. “If we can’t destroy the Heart and we can’t take it with us, the only choice I see us having is to bury the thing.”
“Bury?” Talon asked. “If it’s that big, how—”
“The city is between the summit of the mountain and the Heart chamber below.”
Phaelan slowly sat up straighter, getting where I was going, and no longer worrying about his fully functioning body parts. The pirate captain knew he was about to earn his keep.
“Are you talking about bringing a mountain down on top of the Heart?” he asked, eyes sparkling.
“Yes, I am.”
Phaelan positively beamed.
“Oh, Bane is going to hate that he missed this,” Jash muttered.
Phaelan was instantly on his feet, pacing and thinking. “I’ll tell him every detail when we get back. This almost makes the risk of shriveled parts worth it.”
“I’m not sure it can be done—” I began.
“Oh, it can be done,” the elf pirate assured me. “I’ll need a detailed map of the city to locate the load-bearing places and any vulnerable spots.”
“Uh, Tam, have you told Princess Maralah you plan to destroy her city?” Elsu asked.
“Not yet, but she knows I intend to do everything I can to free her people and disable the Heart, and I can’t think of another way to do both. We can’t leave the Heart unguarded, and if we can’t destroy it, we need to ensure no one can get to it.” I turned to Agata. “I’ll need your help with the Heart—and Queen Baeseria.”
“I was wondering when you’d get to the part where we didn’t leave her behind,” she said.
“Now’s the time, and you’re the lady who can do it,” I told her. “The Cha’Nidaar couldn’t sever the bond between their queen and the Heart. I’m hoping that with your connection to the Heart you can do it.”
Agata smiled very slightly. “Hmm, the need to sever an unbreakable magical bond,” she mused. “Where have I encountered that before?”
I eyed her, which only made her smile wider.
“There’s also the problem of the Heart striking out,” I continued. “Either at us or Phaelan and the city engineers—or both. You talked the Heart into not killing us at sea; I’m counting on you being able to do that again. The rock might be protective or even possessive of Baeseria since she’s been bonded to it for so long. The rock doesn’t know us; it knows you.”
“Not very well,” Agata said, “but I’ll do everything I can to convince it that we mean Baeseria no harm.”
Jash snorted. “We don’t mean the queen any harm, but we’re talking about burying the Heart, taking away its best friend, and all its worshipers. That’s bound to piss it off.”
“That’s where Agata’s convincing comes in,” I told him.
“Sounds more like strong-arm and body-slam,” Agata said. “Talon, I might need an extra strong arm.”
My son’s eyes brightened. “At your service, my lady.”
“I haven’t met Maralah yet,” Elsu said, “but she sounds practical-minded. I think she’ll go along with your plan.” She flashed a quick grin. “I especially like that she didn’t buy Sandrina’s twisted tales, and knew what she was with one glance. A smart young lady.”
“Actually she’s not so young,” I said. “She was there when her mother gave Kansbar the ring and pendant.” I fumbled around in a pocket for the necklace, and returned it to Agata. “You’ll be needing this. Her Highness will take us to the Heart in the morning, which is apparently five hours from now.”
Agata blinked in amazement. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
Malik saluted me with his wineglass. “Never underestimate Tamnais’s ability to coax a beautiful woman into doing nearly anything. She is beautiful, isn’t she? And charming and brilliant and brave?”
I chose not to answer.
A very slow smile crept over Malik’s lips. “I’ll take that as a yes to all of the above.”
Phaelan had his pack on a nearby table, inventorying the contents with far too much zeal. “I’ll need to go with you.”
Oh joy.
He noticed my lack of enthusiasm. “Hey, the Heart’s a target just as much as the city is. The job is to bury the thing. I have to know how big it is. I’ll also need to know the rock composition of the mountain on top of the city. The harder the rock, the more boom needed in the city to bring it down.”
“I’m sure Maralah’s engineers can provide you with all the information you need.”
“Speaking of coaxing,” Malik continued, “your nose may not have noticed because of the scent of delectable roast beast—I’m sorry, ‘roast dakkonan’ simply doesn’t have the same flair—but we have all bathed. Unfortunately, our armor is still filthy, but at least we’re clean beneath it all. May I suggest you take the opportunity to do the same.”
I felt a smile tug at one side of my mouth. “Are you saying I stink?”
“I’m sure you do, Tamnais, but this past month, my nose has been traumatized beyond its ability to function. I can only hope that once we return home it will recover.”
Phaelan glanced uneasily at the front of his trousers. “Fully recover.”
“The water is hot and comes out of metal pipes running through the walls,” Jash said, delighted.
“No buckets?” I asked. “No fire?”
“No and no,” Jash replied.
“That’s an offer I can’t and won’t refuse.”
Malik took my now empty plate. “May I make another suggestion?”
“Would my saying no stop you?”
“Has it ever? We have five hours until the princess calls for us. We will keep watch while you get some sleep. And since you have your ring back, hopefully you can have a lovely chat with her mother about blowing up her city.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
My clothes and armor were piled on the floor by the tub.
I told myself that I’d clean my armor as well as I could once I got out of the bath. The problem was, I didn’t foresee me getting out of this tub. Ever.
The last proper bath I’d had was the night before we’d set sail. That had been over a month ago. While I could do what I had to for as long as I had to, there were limits. Until now, I hadn’t had a choice. Now I had, and like my team, I’d taken full advantage.
A hot meal and a hot bath.
There was a bed a few steps away, but I didn’t think I could make it that far.
Hopefully, if I fell asleep in the tub, I’d wake up before I drowned. Though if troub
le did come to our suite, I’d be naked and in a bathtub. I’d fought naked before and had absolutely zero modesty, but I’d rather be armed and armored, and if I slept that way while sprawled across a bed, I’d at least stand a chance at survival.
“I hate being disciplined,” I muttered.
In the end, I had to force myself to get out of the tub. Once I’d partially dressed, I washed the dust off my armor and flight jacket as best as I could. I armored up and cleaned my weapons before allowing myself the luxury of a bed. I knew I’d be needing them again before this was all over.
I lay back across the bed, and couldn’t stop a groan from escaping as I sank into the soft mattress. The blankets were far too fine for a goblin in still-dirty armor, but I stretched out on top, facing the door, blades within easy reach, and within moments was asleep.
Almost instantly, Queen Baeseria of the Cha’Nidaar was in my bedroom, sitting in a chair next to the tub.
I was too exhausted to be surprised, and apparently that exhaustion extended to being unable to get off of the bed to greet the queen properly.
“You came twice to my throne room,” she said. “It is only right that I repay the courtesy.”
I managed to pull myself up to sit back on the pillows. Barely. “I wouldn’t exactly call this proper, Your Majesty, but it is your palace, so it is your choice.” I paused awkwardly. “Your daughter took me to see you.”
“I know. You must forgive me for not having risen to greet you.” She gave me a bleak smile. “Physical movement is beyond me now.”
“I’m feeling much the same way at the moment. I am dreaming again, correct?”
“That is correct.”
I huffed a laugh. “You know you’re tired when you can’t even stand up in your own dream.”
I wasn’t sure how to begin. How do you tell a queen who is so devoted to her people that she would put herself into a centuries-long sleep to protect them that her beloved subjects were killing themselves rather than continue to live with no hope of their situation changing? They had no escape from the city they built with their own hands, a city that had become their prison. They could never grow old, never hear the laughter of their children. They were trapped in an endless cycle where the only escape was death at their own hands.
“Several things weigh heavily on your heart, Tamnais. One of them is your son.”
“How do—”
“I have touched you, seen into your thoughts, your memories. Even though it was in a dream, that doesn’t make it any less real. I know of your fears for your son. I know what it is to have concern for a child. To protect the Heart, I had to leave Maralah, trust her to care for and guide our people. Children resent being defined by their parents. Yet they fear who they may become as individuals. Sometimes it is easier to blame the parent for their own shortcomings, whether real, imagined—or deeply feared.”
“Talon’s fears may be all too real,” I told her. “That’s my fear.”
“He is a powerful mage.”
“Yes.”
“He fears that power.”
“We both do.”
“You fear what he will do with it.”
It wasn’t a question.
It was a statement of fact.
“Am I that obvious?”
“Any parent who loves their child does not bother to hide their concern. It is born out of our desire to protect our young.” She paused. “Especially if that fear is from themselves. His fear is even stronger.”
“I know.”
“And as is the way of the young, they will deny that they fear anything. To admit fear is to relinquish control. Talon desperately wants to be in control of his power, but with much of his power still unrevealed, his fears are renewed and intensified every day. It is unrelenting. He does not know if he will help—or harm.”
“My former teacher and I are instructing him. We’re there to help. I brought them both to Aquas so we could continue to teach, even though I know the danger.”
“That is his second fear. That one day he will be alone again, with only himself to rely on. But at the same time, he is torn. It is the way of young men, that they step away from their elders, to prove themselves, to gain the respect and admiration of their family, their people. Normally, a young man has had the support and care of his clan from the time he was born. Then it is a natural progression for him to want to cut those ties, to become independent, to grow into his own man.”
“Talon never had that,” I murmured.
“No, he did not. And it is for that reason that he is now torn. He has both the desire to step away and be a man, and the need to remain close to learn to manage his growing power, to become the kind of mage he desperately wants to be.” She paused. “To become a man and a mage that his father—whom he loves and admires above all others—will be proud of. That is his greatest desire—to be worthy of your respect and admiration, to make you proud of him.”
“I am.”
Baeseria shook her head. “He strives to earn your regard and admiration as a man, one mage of great power to another.”
“But he’s—”
“Not a child any longer. He knows this, and he needs you to acknowledge this, while still reassuring him that he will continue to have your support and teaching as he travels this difficult path to power, so that one day, he could become your equal. That is his greatest desire.”
Again there was silence between us, but it was the comfortable quiet that came from being with a friend.
“How much do you hear in your sleep, Your Majesty? How aware are you of what is happening in your palace, your city?”
“I feel the hum of activity around me much as a bee in a hive.”
“A queen bee who is cared for by her subjects—”
“A queen who is unable to leave the hive. The comparison is even more accurate than I imagined.”
“Your daughter misses you.”
“She is a strong leader.”
“Stronger than you know.” I hesitated, unsure of how broach the subject. “Why haven’t you spoken to her?”
Baeseria stared at me for a long moment, her eyes bright and hard. “Don’t you think I have tried?”
I briefly bowed my head. “Of course, you did. Forgive me for implying otherwise, Your Majesty.”
“I do not know why I have been unable to speak with Maralah as I do with you. I have no way of knowing if the Heart is responsible, or if it is a natural consequence of my state.” The queen actually huffed a laugh. “Natural. Nothing about my state is natural.” She stared blankly at the far wall. “I cannot sense the passing of time, which is a blessing. Otherwise I surely would have gone mad. Years feel as minutes. Centuries as hours. Perhaps that perception of time was the Heart’s gift to me.”
I had no words.
Baeseria’s eyes flicked back to mine. “Tell me the truth of how my daughter and our people fare.”
I didn’t mince words, telling her what I had seen and what Maralah and her people had endured since she had bonded herself to the Heart to protect them, but instead had consigned them to a life that had become a lingering death.
When Baeseria spoke, her voice was quiet and unflinching. “I had to bond myself to the Heart to prevent its use by anyone. I knew it would only be a matter of time until the Sythsaurians returned or the Khrynsani were successful in finding Nidaar and again infiltrating the Heart’s chamber. The Heart is connected to the very roots of the world. Its influence runs deep. It is like a tumor in a body that I have kept from awakening and destroying that body. The body is our world, Tamnais. What would you have had me do?”
“You did the right thing, Your Majesty. Never doubt that. And no one could ever doubt the love you have for your people, the enormity of what you sacrificed to protect them—to protect all of us. Your daughter said you tried to destroy the Heart after you sent Kansbar away.”
“Yes. All our efforts accomplished was to open more paths to the underworld and allow more creatures out of n
ightmare to infest our city.”
“We believe we have a solution,” I said quietly. “A way to seal the underworld and the Heart, to entomb them all. But first, I want to free you from your sleep and take you with us.”
“Take?”
I told her the plan: taking her and her people to the surface, explosives in the city bringing the mountain down on top of the Heart, sealing it away forever, or at least for a very long time.
“My bond to the Heart is complete, Tamnais. It cannot be broken.”
I got off the bed, went and knelt at her feet. “I believe our gem mage can help. It was she who calmed the Heart when it attacked our fleet with giant waves. I believe she can find a way to safely separate you and the Heart.”
Baeseria shook her head sadly. “Our engineers told me that even when the Khrynsani turned half of our continent into a wasteland, only a fraction of the Heart’s power had been released. Their calculations indicated that if the full power of the Heart was ever unleashed, it could easily split our world, causing massive earthquakes that would crack it like an egg. I was left with no choice but to preserve the lives of not only my people, but all people, as best as I could. Take my daughter and my people, Tamnais, and leave this place. Leave me. To attempt to free me from my bond could do more damage than the Khrynsani ever dreamed.”
“Your daughter and your people would never leave you, Baeseria, and neither will I, and neither will my companions. The Khrynsani temple lies in ruins, the few that are left are being hunted down. The new goblin king and queen are good and compassionate people, I am their chancellor, and until they have a child of their own, I am their heir. It is the beginning of a new age. Please let me take you home. Let me try.”
“My people have guarded the Heart for over a thousand years,” Baeseria said. “Finding it and keeping it safe was our uniting purpose in coming to Aquas. It is not a responsibility that can be easily relinquished.”
“The Heart will only be buried, not destroyed,” I told her. “There will be a need to watch over this mountain, or what will remain of it. I cannot think of more faithful guards than your people—those that wish to remain. Garrisons can be built that are close enough to guard, but far enough away so that those posted there won’t be affected by the Heart. They can still guard, but they can also have a life beyond these caves.”
