“Forgive my lack of knowledge, m’lord,” Titus continued. “As the Lady Justice said, the captain left no instructions as to this.” He raised the casket slightly and lowered it. “I sought her advice on the matter and she offered to escort me to your residence.”
Quan stroked the ends of moustache. “That doesn’t explain the presence of the other two priests.”
“In Issura, there is always an official inquiry when there has been a death on one of our ships,” Luc said.
“And since I’m freshly ordained, Brother Luc is field training me,” Jeremy added. “Though honestly, I wanted to see the inside of your manor. I’ve heard rumors of the decadence.”
Both Luc and I glared at the young priest who shrugged. “Brother Kam says truth is always the best,” he said in a sheepish tone.
Jeremy’s addendum drew outright laughter from the ambassador. When he was able to calm himself, he called out, “Who was expecting a package from the Issuran captain?”
Silence reigned. Not even a whisper in the hall.
Quan leaned back in his chair, his gaze equally scanning his own people and his guests. “Now what could be so valuable or so dangerous that no one wants to claim their property?”
If the ambassador were attempting to fool us, he was doing an excellent job.
The Jing sorcerer rose, and for the first time I could see below his chest. The thing wrapped around his waist nearly made me choke on my bile. It was the hue of nothingness.
A section lifted a fraction. I felt its attention sweep the ensemble, then it fixated on me once it realized I was staring at it.
“This is surely an attempt by Issura to insult and embarrass your august personage, Your Excellency,” the sorcerer said. His words would have been more menacing if they weren’t the higher pitch of a eunuch’s.
However, I took his abilities as well as his demon very seriously.
Despite my own fear, I took a step closer to the sorcerer and the demon. “Something has been puzzling me, Your Excellency. Why send such an important item via an Issuran ship instead of a Jing vessel?”
Quan followed my attention to his sorcerer. His fingers curled around the handle of his table knife. “Something I do not understand either, Lady Justice.”
My gut said an internal matter of their nation was playing out. I was torn. Leaving would be prudent, but I feared letting a demon or one of their artifacts run loose in Orrin.
The sorcerer merely smiled at me. “So the rumors that you can see them are true.”
The demon uncurled from its master’s waist and leapt onto the table. Shouts of alarm rose from assemblage. Jing guards drew their weapons as did the concubine. She tried to insert herself between the sorcerer and Quan, but the ambassador shoved her back.
I didn’t bother reaching for my sword when the demon launched itself at me. I knew from bitter experience steel couldn’t harm it. Instead, I dropped to my back and used the demon’s momentum and my boots to propel it over my head.
As I rolled to my feet, one of the guards tried to stab it with his spear. Both the steel point and the wooden shaft shattered on impact. One swipe of the demon’s clawed hand gutted the poor man.
It whirled and raced toward me again, but something was wrong. It didn’t move like the ones I’d encountered last summer. It was slow in comparison. I easily evaded its rush.
“Kill the summoner!” I shouted. “Only way to banish it!”
Luc charged toward the dais, but Quan reacted first. He grabbed the collar of his sorcerer. With a flick of his wrist, he sliced open the man’s throat.
I counted silently to myself as I dodged the demon’s clumsy charges, but there was no pop of displaced air. No disappearance into its own dimension.
The demon paused, then barked, the low guttural sound that was their laughter. Laughing at us.
Horror engulfed me. Goddess help us. The sorcerer wasn’t the thing’s summoner.
The demon dived toward me, but a gesture from Luc drove it head first into the floor’s marble tiles.
That same instant the concubine screamed. She dropped the long knife she’d drawn and clawed at her throat. Jeremy raced to her side.
Frigid fingers wrapped around my ankle, and the landing on polished stone knocked the wind out of me. A swift kick with my free leg didn’t dislodge the demon. Ice formed inside my trapped boot.
I sucked in a deep breath past the pain. “Titus! Run!”
On my cue, he open the casket.
Everything in the room stopped.
The screaming. The panic. Even the casket hovered in mid-air.
Titus had done as I instructed. Open, drop, run. He was frozen half-way through his pivot for the main doors.
My spell had worked.
For the first time, I realized most of the diners had cleared out of the ambassador’s great room. A handful in the doorway peered over their shoulder for one last look.
The remaining guards were all Jing. Crimson terror glowed from their visages, but they had stayed, which said a lot about the loyalty Quan inspired. No doubt they’d heard the stories of the demon wars. They definitely had seen what one could do to their fellow.
I reached down and pried the demon’s talons from my ankle, wincing as the cold penetrated my gloves. Hopefully, there was no frostbite. The stinging in my toes reassured me that there was still some circulation. How long had the damned creature held onto Arturo before the captain had frozen to death?
Once I gained my feet, a few experimental steps cracked the thin layer of ice inside my boot. I limped over to the dais, sat down and emptied out the chips.
Luc was right. I needed a second half of a plan.
My next move required a little more thought. I stood and examined the room for what I could use.
Luc cupped something in his palm, his arm drawn back. I crossed to him and passed my hand over his. Active magic tingled through the leather. We’d need more than one light ball to eliminate the demon.
Over on the dais, Jeremy had managed to remove the jewel from the concubine, or more likely a body guard from her attempt to protect the ambassador. She slumped under the table. The skin at her throat glowed with raw flesh. Considering the amount of bright yellow blood, no major vessels were torn. She’d survive if I came up with a strategy.
Jeremy bent over the jewel where it rested on a plate. I peered closely at the jewel. Oddly, a thin layer of ash covered its surface. Again, magic tingled across my skin. I was a little relieved that Jeremy had devised a means to destroy the jewel.
Restarting time in this room would be necessary for Luc and Jeremy’s abilities to work, but the demon wasn’t going to lie still and let us kill it. So how to fix this?
I circled the demon. I couldn’t coordinate with Luc and Jeremy if I stayed inside the temporal hole I’d created. But I wasn’t sure I could extract myself without releasing the demon.
While killing whoever summoned the demon would be a far more acceptable resolution, I had a terrible feeling that person was thousands of leagues across the Peaceful Sea. I glanced at the jewel again. Something about it nagged me.
Focus. One problem at a time, Anthea.
The only certainty was to keep this room frozen in a single moment forever.
Until I died. Then my spell would fail, and the demon would be free to wreak havoc.
Movement at the edge of my vision drew my attention. One ebony claw slid inexorably across the dark blue tile to the lighter blue mortar. My heart threatened to choke me. It may take the demon years, but eventually it would reach the doorway.
I drew a deep breath and released it. The stakes were too high for me to fail this time.
Time appeared as threads around the edges of the room. Twisting, turning, weaving. And my spell had pushed a room-sized hole in that never-ending fabric. The threads weren’t torn or cut. Simply shoved apart the way a needle slices through material. And I was the needle, which was start of the problem.
I crossed to where Jeremy wa
s attempting to destroy the jewel and started tugging the strings back into place. Gently. One by one. Starting with ones behind me.
Once I had extracted myself, it was difficult to keep the hole intact. Sweat tickled my scalp, and I tightened my grip. Concentrated on each thread, verifying I wasn’t letting go of the demon accidentally, before I released the string.
Behind me Jeremy gasped. A muffled feminine moan followed. Then the odor of rotten eggs.
“Brother, to me!” My body shook.
“Justice?” His robes rustled behind my right shoulder.
“Can you create more balls like the one in Brother Luc’s hand, and keep them hovering by you until I tell you to release them at the demon?”
“How many?”
For the first time today, a bit of relief eased past the tension in my shoulders. “As many as you can, as powerful as you can, while I return Luc back into our time.”
Both Titus and the ambassador would have be dealt with first since they were closer to me than Luc. I nudged more threads back into place.
The casket crashed to the floor. Titus took two steps before he realized the Jing guards were frozen where they stood. “Lady Justice?”
“Pick up the casket and put the jewel on the table in it without touching the damned thing.”
“And me?” Quan said.
“Check the bleeding of your bodyguard’s wound, Your Excellency.” My voice wavered with the strain of holding back the time lines. “And keep the rest of your men out of my way.”
I ignored the building heat of Jeremy’s efforts behind me. Pushed the ambassador’s instructions to the back of my awareness. Concentrated on separating Luc from the demon.
With a gasp, Luc jerked and jumped back from the prone figure on the floor. The tingle of his magic flared. “It worked?”
“Stop doubting me,” I said through gritted teeth. “More balls before this thing escapes.”
His silent chuckle at my poor choice of words tickled my mind, but he added to the growing volume of magic around us.
The strain of keeping the demon in a hole of time took its toll. My limbs shook. Sweat soaked my smallclothes. Dizziness swept my brain. The strands started to slip from my grasp.
“Now!” Time snapped back with my shout. Luc and Jeremy’s magic converged on the demon.
It screamed. Not in pain or fear, but sheer unadulterated rage. It burned faster than Jing flash powder. Within a handful of heartbeats, nothing was left but a man-sized pile of cinders.
Luc caught me as my knees gave way.
“Wait!” Titus shouted. “No—”
We turned in time to see the concubine raise the casket. She brought it down on top of the jewel with a crack. The casket fell from her hands and bounced off the dais. When she wavered from her efforts, Quan wrapped his arms around her for support.
She looked at me. “This is not something you want to take back to your temple, Lady Justice.”
I shrugged off Luc’s hold and climbed onto the dais to take a closer look. The jewel lay shattered on the tabletop. There was no mistaking the tiny form among the shards. A baby demon. Dead and still.
“An egg.” Luc’s words were a harsh rumble behind me.
“And it stayed here because it was laid in this dimension?” I wrapped my arms around my body, staving off the shivers that threatened.
“That would be my guess.” He straightened and rubbed his chin. “This doesn’t bode well. If these ... eggs are stockpiled somewhere—”
“Whoever has them,” Titus interjected, “is doling them out. Otherwise, we’d have been overrun by demons before now.”
“It ... explains much,” Quan’s bodyguard whispered.
The ambassador glanced at her before he faced me. “It would be best if this was not spoken of outside my chambers until it can be rectified at home.” His grim tone promised fire and pain.
“I understand your position, Your Excellency, but I have duties to my people as well.” I paused for a moment before I added, “Would a day be sufficient?”
He nodded. “More than enough.”
~o0o~
Once outside of the mansion, all four men insisted I return to my temple for rest.
I started to argue, but wave of dizziness nearly threw me to the cobblestones. I had to grab my horse for support. “Maybe you’re right.”
Luc laughed. “For once, I have another priest to confirm your admission.”
I made an obscene gesture in response. More embarrassment followed when I needed Little Bear’s assistance mounting.
Luc patted my horse’s neck. “I’ll inform Magister DiCook and Duke Marco of the status of this case.” I’ll visit later tonight.
Warmth filled me at his silent statement, but I kept to the immediate matter. “Tell His Grace to instruct his ship masters not to accept any last-moment packages from Jing.”
“Of course, Justice.”
I turned my horse, only to have Titus lay a hand on the reins.
“M’lady…” His coloring turned brilliant yellow as he realized what he’d done and jerked his hand back. He stared up at me. “I beg forgiveness. I just wanted—” There was an audible gulp. “I wanted to thank you for discovering the truth about Captain Arturo.”
Except we didn’t know the truth. Had the captain been complicit in smuggling the egg into Issura? Or was he an innocent dupe? Either way, he’d paid with his life.
None of which Titus needed to hear. I inclined my head. “Please tell his kin that if his last declaration isn’t on file with the Temple of Death, to deliver it to my clerk in the morning. Given the circumstances, I’ll do what I can to expedite the process.”
“Many thanks, m’lady.” He released the reins, and Little Bear and I made our weary way home.
~o0o~
A long nap, and lots of tea, restored me. Later that night, I was relatively coherent as I stamped out my own report to the Reverend Mother concerning the day’s incident.
I still questioned why the Jing sorcerer had given Quan’s female companion the egg. In my head, I could hear the Reverend Mother’s querulous reply. Not our business as long as both demons are dead.
A crash from the kitchen jerked my hand. I dropped the metal tiles and raced for the rear of the temple. Little Bear and the rest of the wardens ran in my wake.
My entrance was halted by the bright white-yellow light of the room. I lifted my hand to shield my eyes from glare of the ovens and cook fire. The bizarre sight of my elderly, sweet-natured cook, holding a strange woman at bay with a butcher knife in one hand and a fish scaler in the other left me speechless.
“I caight this Jing wench sneaking through mah kitchen, m’lady.” Cook shook the butcher knife at the intruder to emphasize her point.
The woman bowed from her waist, empty hands outstretched. “Forgive me for the intrusion, Justice. After today’s events, it was deemed prudent to speak to you privately without the news of this meeting spread further than either of us would care.”
I blinked and tried to hide my surprise. The voice was that of Ambassador Quan’s concubine. Instead of the miniscule slip of silk from earlier, she wore the leggings and tunic of one of the temples.
“Forgive me as well. We were not formally introduced this afternoon.”
“I am Shi Hua, a priestess of Light.”
I gave up on shielding my emotions, confusion being paramount. Now, I knew why the sorcerer had targeted her, but it also opened numerous other questions. “A most unexpected pleasure, Sister.”
“May we speak alone?” she asked again.
“Of course.” I inclined my head. “I’m having my evening tea. Would you care to join me?” Fortunately, Cook took my hint and lowered her knives.
Shi Hua bowed again. “I would be honored.”
I led her to the very same receiving room where I’d started the morning. Once the sister was seated and the tea arrived, I dismissed Little Bear. He glowered. I stared right back. He finally stomped out of the room a
nd slammed the door for good measure.
“I seem to have upset him,” Shi Hua remarked as she accepted a steaming cup from me.
“Actually, I have. He’s throwing a tantrum because he missed the entertainment in the ambassador’s great room this afternoon.” I took a sip from my own cup. “To what do I owe the honor of a visit from a hidden priestess?”
She set aside her tea. “I am sure you have surmised I am not the ambassador’s consort.”
I nodded and waved for her to continue.
“Not only do Ambassador Quan and I owe you our lives, the emperor of Jing owes you a great debt as well. We had assumed the recent infiltration of Issuran nobility by demons was an isolated incident.”
She stared at the sculpture of Balance and her next words were hard, nothing like her previous dulcet tones. “The Imperial guard and our own wardens raided the School of Sorcery a few hours ago. Until you, until today, we had no idea the masters’ sashes were—” A shudder racked her. “My Reverend Father said there hadn’t been such a demon battle since the end of the wars.”
“Surely, your Temple of Balance received the incident report from the Reverend Mother of Issura. Why did they doubt—”
She faced me again. “Because human survival depended on our unity against the demons for a thousand years. Now, our nations bicker between themselves. Our own Reverend Father of War counseled that your temple’s dispatch was a ploy.”
Why was she telling me this? Then it hit me. She wasn’t just the ambassador’s bodyguard. She was a spy as well.
I choose a more appropriate phrase. “You’re a distance-speaker. The reason the ambassador’s sorcerer gave you the jewel was to take out a potential threat to him and his pet by alerting your temple.”
“Yes, and the School feared you would inevitably learn their secret. You were targeted next, according to my Reverend Father.” Shi Hua poured herself more to tea. She clutched the fine ceramic from her homeland as if it were a lifeline. “They found the cache of eggs that were laid here during the end of the last invasion.”
I tapped my forefinger against my lips. “That’s why the one today did not move as fast as the ones I encountered last summer. It wasn’t summoned. It was hatched here.”
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