by Lisa Shearin
Baeseria’s eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“Yes, Tamnais. It is time. Take my people home, those who wish to go. And if you can do so without endangering them, you may carry me home, as well.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
If you can’t destroy the Heart, destroy the mountain around it.
Sounded simple enough.
However, it had been my experience that when a plan sounded simple, there were endless ways it could go wrong.
Fatally wrong.
I didn’t see this plan being an exception, since Phaelan Benares would be the one doing the destroying, but Bane trusted him, so I needed to.
My job was to tell the princess of the Cha’Nidaar, a people who had faithfully guarded said Heart for well over a thousand years, that we needed to blow up her city.
When I left my bedroom for the central sitting room, the Cha’Nidaar had once again brought food. Dasant had still been asleep, but the instant the covers were removed from the dishes, he stirred and sat up, eyes still closed.
“It’s alive,” Elsu noted dryly.
“That’s debatable,” Malik said, a serving fork poised over a platter of roast beast, perusing the selection—and scanning for unwelcome additives.
“Where are Talon and Indy?” I asked.
“Napping,” Elsu replied.
“Princess Maralah wishes to see you and meet your companions when you have finished dining,” one of the servers told me. “Will half an hour be sufficient?”
“That will be plenty of time,” I told him. “Thank you again for your gracious hospitality.”
“Stop it,” Malik snapped as soon as the door closed.
I turned to see Dasant with a fork full of eggs half way to his mouth. Eggs that, like the meat, were probably also courtesy of the dakkonan.
The big goblin lowered his fork with a grumble. “Be quick about it. My stomach doesn’t have all day.”
“Excuse me for trying to ensure that after that bite you’ll still have a stomach.”
“But they like us.”
“The princess likes us,” Malik corrected him. “That sentiment does not extend to all of the Cha’Nidaar. While you were asleep, other players have come onto the stage.”
“Again?”
“Again, and always. We’re goblins. There will always be people who want us dead, and those people will usually be other goblins. This instance is no different.”
Malik completed his scan of the food and determined it once again to be drug-and poison-free.
I brought Dasant up to speed on our situation.
“Did you have a chat with Her Majesty?” Malik asked when I’d finished.
“I did. She is agreeable to our plan to bury the Heart, and to take her people, her daughter—and herself—out of here. Which brings up another problem to add to our growing list. Elsu, I didn’t see any way into the queen’s …”
“Coffin?” she said helpfully. “Hey, I’m just calling it what it is.”
“She’s not dead.”
“It doesn’t make a box she sealed herself into any less of a coffin.”
“When I saw it, I didn’t see any kind of lid or a way to shift it off its base, so we may need your unique skills to cut a way in.”
Elsu flashed a grin and inclined her head. “At your command.”
“Maralah has offered to take me to see the Heart. I don’t believe she will have a problem with Agata coming along, but I don’t want to go trooping in there with all of us. The Cha’Nidaar won’t like it; the Heart is sacred to them. Most importantly, the Heart might not like it. We don’t want to do anything to possibly set it off.”
“You talk about it as if it’s alive,” Dasant said.
“If you’d ever met the Saghred, you’d know it was alive and had all the bad qualities that go with it. It was manipulative, seductive, desperate, vindictive, and more.”
Agata nodded. “Not all stones that are capable of using or bestowing power can reach out beyond their confines to influence individuals or events. In fact, few can. Unfortunately, those that do possess extreme power and will use it by any and all means possible to preserve themselves.”
“Survival at all costs,” Malik noted. “I can understand that.”
“Since the Heart doesn’t need souls to survive,” I said, “I had assumed that it wouldn’t attempt to influence those who got close to it. That may be a dangerous assumption. So we’ll be taking only those who need to see it. Phaelan, you’re one of them.”
Phaelan froze. “What?”
Malik grinned. “My, your bomb-building enthusiasm vanished quickly. It’s just a rock, my dear captain. To it, you’re a gnat. It won’t notice you.”
“My job is to blow up the mountain and city above the Heart. There’s no reason for me to pay the thing a visit.”
Malik rolled his eyes. “I repeat, the rock won’t notice you.”
“What if it does? The Saghred noticed Raine.”
“Your legendary cousin is not a null. You are. I doubt if the Heart could care less. Am I right, Magus Azul?”
“Probably.”
“See? Probably is a long way from definitely.” Phaelan pushed his plate away, his appetite apparently having vanished along with his enthusiasm.
“Phaelan, you’ll be fine,” I told him. “You need to see the ceiling above the Heart. Your job is to bury it. You need to see the room it’s in to ensure that it’ll be done.”
Phaelan did a full-body shudder. “I’ll go, but I won’t like it.”
Malik hid a smile behind his glass. “No one expects you to.”
“We don’t know for certain that the Heart possesses the awareness necessary to act intentionally,” Agata said. “Many of the lesser stones of power can cause sickness, delirium, even death by mere proximity. I didn’t sense any such danger from my contacts with the Heart. However, I have never encountered anything like it. I don’t believe anyone has.”
“Except the Khrynsani who have been here before,” Jash said. “I still believe they or the Sythsaurians know things about the Heart that we don’t.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “However, people tried to destroy the Saghred for hundreds of years. Raine figured out how to do it, and she did it.”
Phaelan chuckled, apparently having regained his confidence. “Anything can be destroyed—or buried. You just need to know where to stick the explosives. After all, Raine is my cousin. My family excels at making things go boom.”
“Which brings up a problem,” Jash said. “Bane could set charges and trigger detonations remotely—with magic. Phaelan’s a null.”
“That’s not a problem,” I told him. “Phaelan can set the charges, and you can trigger the detonations through him.”
At that, Phaelan and Jash froze, then slowly turned toward each other.
“You don’t mean …” Jash started.
“I most certainly do. Extreme situations call for extreme measures.”
“I don’t know what either one of you is talking about,” Phaelan said, “but I know I don’t like it.”
“You won’t feel a thing,” Malik assured him. “It’s Jash who has to rummage around inside of your head. All you have to do is visualize the charges; Jash will take it from there.”
“We’ll do a test first,” I said, “but I’m confident it’ll work. Elsu will be Jash’s backup, but he’s the most qualified.”
Phaelan looked horrified. “To do what?”
“Create a brief link between your minds.”
If anything, Phaelan’s horror increased. “A what with my where? Oh, hell no.”
Malik just looked at him. “Then it appears we came here for nothing.”
Phaelan blanched further. “You’re serious!”
I sat in the chair next to him. “Phaelan, listen to me. It’s very simple. Bane would visualize the charges and could remotely detonate them with his mind, magic if you will. Jash or Elsu can do that, but it will have to be through you.”
; “Why can’t he go with me, watch me make the bombs and set the charges, and then do the same thing without involving me?”
“To do that, Jash would have to assemble the bombs himself.” I paused, letting the implications sink in. “I don’t think anyone wants that.”
Malik laughed. “To quote the captain: ‘Oh, hell no.’”
“Physical contact with the materials is necessary,” Elsu told Phaelan.
The elf sat on the edge of his chair, talking fast. “Okay, okay. What if I make the bombs, then Jash can hold them after I make them? Ergo, physical contact.”
“It’s the making of the bombs that forges the link,” I said. “The thinking plus the handling. The knowledge of how this, this, and that come together to go boom, if you will.”
Phaelan’s head sagged, hopefully in defeat, because we really didn’t have time for this.
“Crap,” he muttered.
Victory.
Reluctantly given, but I’d take it.
Chapter Thirty
Now came the hard part, or at least the diplomatically delicate one.
“It might be best if I tell Maralah our plan without all of you here,” I said. “It might be a bit much.”
“Just so you understand that not being in the room doesn’t mean we won’t be listening,” Malik said.
“You’re goblins—and a pirate. I’d expect nothing less. In fact, I would be disappointed if you didn’t hear every word we said.”
“Just call when you’re ready,” Agata said.
“How about if I call loudly, or better yet, knock? Let’s at least give the illusion that you’re not all eavesdropping.”
When Maralah arrived, I was the only one in the room.
I told her that while I had slept, her mother had visited me.
“I had planned to tell you what she said, but I think it would be better if you heard it for yourself. Again, I welcome you using your gift.”
“Thank you. Again, your trust honors me.”
“It is you and your mother who have honored me. Would you prefer to stand or sit?”
“Sitting would be nice,” Maralah said. “Since your arrival, I have done far too little of it.”
We sat on a small sofa, and I closed my eyes and bowed my head.
The princess placed her cool hands on my temples.
And for the first time in almost a millennium, Maralah of the Cha’Nidaar heard her mother speak at length, about the plan to free her people—and of the concerns and fears of a parent for a child. I knew that Baeseria hadn’t only been speaking of Talon.
When Maralah released me, I opened my eyes and raised my head. The Cha’Nidaar princess was smiling, complete with dimples, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
“You have given me a gift beyond price,” she said.
“I’m glad I was able to share it.” I paused. “How do you feel about our plan?” I asked quietly.
I didn’t say anything about her mother having approved it. Maralah had just heard that for herself. But it was she who had been leading her people all this time. She was in charge. This was her call.
“I will put the plan before my people, and strongly encourage them to accept it.”
I blinked. “Strongly encourage?”
“Chancellor Nathrach, this is a decision my people must make for themselves. We have defended the Heart from outside invaders before. Yes, I could command them to obey, but Nidaar is more than their home; protecting the Heart is their sworn duty. It is the reason our people left Rheskilia so many centuries ago—to keep anyone from accessing power of this magnitude.”
“And burying the Heart would do this,” I assured her. “Didn’t you say that a colony left the city for three years?”
“Yes.”
“And they suffered no ill effects from being away from the Heart?”
“We could leave, but where would we go?”
“You can come home with us.”
“This is the only home most of my people have ever known.”
“And now you have the means to leave. We will take you. Do your people have a way out, other than the way we came in? A way that doesn’t involve running through a gauntlet of dakkonan?”
“We have an evacuation route out of the city and away from this mountain, should the Heart ever fully awaken. I have seen to it that we have yearly drills. Every citizen even keeps a bag packed with necessities should we need to evacuate quickly. They are divided into groups with their neighbors and each chooses a leader.” She smiled with pride. “It is a good system.”
“It certainly sounds like it. I’m impressed.”
“As to the route, there’s a tunnel that runs from our mountain north to the next mountain in the range. From there are multiple ways to the surface. The western side of that mountain offers shelter.” Maralah paused. “I believe when my people know the facts, they will agree with me that it is time to leave, but I want to give them that opportunity.”
“How long will it take to evacuate the city?” I asked.
“While they could leave from where they were, I would prefer that they be able to return home and retrieve their supply bags. In our drills, they have done this and been ready to leave in forty minutes. From the evacuation gathering point to the surface takes two hours at a brisk pace.” Maralah paused, concern creasing her brow. “Are you certain we will be welcome in Regor?”
“As I told your mother, Chigaru and Mirabai, our new young king and queen, would welcome you.”
“You say that with confidence.”
“I can do so because the night the Saghred was destroyed and Sarad Nukpana was carried to the Lower Hells, our young monarchs, with my assistance and that of Imala Kalis—the director of goblin intelligence, who will welcome you like a sister—cleaned house.”
“Cleaned house?”
“We rid the court of all Khrynsani sympathizers. Those who remain want to put everything the Khrynsani believed in and stood for behind them. You would not have to remain in the capital. We could resettle you anywhere in Rheskilia that you would like.” I grinned. “We even have an alliance with the elves.”
“I had heard there was an elf among your companions. I thought my men must have been mistaken.”
“No mistake. Our fleet is half elf and half goblin. In fact, the elf he saw is the captain of the fleet’s flagship.”
“I’ve never even seen an elf, let alone met one.”
“I’ll introduce you in a few minutes. Phaelan’s our team’s demolitions expert.”
“And the captain of a great ship?”
“Who loves nothing more than blowing things up.”
“Things have changed. I think I would like to see this new world; and if my people see this as a means to free them from their obligation, I believe they would be eager to leave. My people are explorers at heart. The desire for discovery is what brought them here from Rheskilia. Now, after over a thousand years, going home could be their new adventure. I think it will be helpful to hear from you how Regor has changed, and to assure my people that they would truly have a home to return to.”
“I would be honored to address your people on behalf of our new king and queen.” I stood. “If you are ready, I would like to introduce you to my companions.”
Talon and Indigo were barely awake when I asked my team to join us.
That changed for Talon the instant he laid eyes on Princess Maralah.
His greeting was coherent enough, though that was probably due to still being half asleep, but after that, all Talon could do was stare.
I didn’t know if it was Maralah’s exotic appearance, her beauty, or both, but Talon appeared to be smitten. I think Agata had just been supplanted.
Fickleness, thy name is youth.
Malik and Jash didn’t do so much as an eye roll, but I knew they would have plenty to say as soon as Maralah left. Some observations were too good to resist.
Maralah’s eyes kept darting to Phaelan. I couldn’t tell if the interest was
because she’d never seen an elf before, or was it something more?
We had an ancient civilization—small though it was—to convince to leave their city, then hopefully an evacuation to oversee and a city to destroy. Getting us and the Cha’Nidaar clear of the mountain was our only goal. Any personal interactions could and would wait.
“Your Highness, have any other Khrynsani or Sythsaurians been captured?” Malik asked her.
“Just you and your companions—and Lady Ghalfari and her three Khrynsani, who remain in our dungeons.”
My team and I exchanged concerned glances.
“That’s highly suspicious,” Elsu said. “Are the caves and tunnels outside the city patrolled?”
“They are,” Maralah replied.
“And they have seen nothing.”
“No.”
“Tam, we could hope,” Elsu said, “but I don’t think the dakkonan have been that thorough.”
I nodded. “Agreed. But there are only eight of us, and we each have jobs to do. There’s no time to go looking for trouble. If it’s there, it’ll find us. All we can do is get this done as fast as we can and keep our eyes and ears open. Your Highness, how long will it take for your people to gather in the throne room?”
“I can have all of them there within the hour.”
“Good. I take it that will be minus your mother’s guards?”
“Yes, they are loyal to me and my mother. I will inform them of the final decision.”
“Do you think they will be in favor?”
“They will go wherever my mother goes. If that is across the sea to Regor, then they will go there also. I must warn you about Advisor Karnia. Some of our people are loyal to him. When your ancestor was with us, he led those in favor of killing Kansbar instead of allowing him to leave. He believed it was too dangerous for anyone to come here and be allowed to return to Rheskilia. It would be a trail back to us. He was right. Not that Kansbar should be killed, but that the Khrynsani would find their way back to us.”
