The Last Lies of Ardor Benn

by Tyler Whitesides

  “Your fate is more straightforward, Raekon,” said Abeth. “You and Quarrah will face the firing squad at dawn.”

  “What?” Quarrah shouted.

  “Hold on,” Ard interceded. “Quarrah didn’t do anything—”

  “We’re well past that,” said the queen, turning to Quarrah. “The noble council has had their teeth set on you since you showed your face to petition on Ard’s behalf.”

  “Quarrah?” Ard said. “You did that for me?”

  A mistake, apparently. Quarrah stepped toward Abeth. “I had your word that I wouldn’t be held accountable for anything I said at that meeting.”

  “And you weren’t,” she replied. “But now that you’ve been officially arrested, the other council members are seeming to remember things you may or may not have said about your past associations with Ardor Benn.”

  Quarrah shot a glowering gaze at Ard. It wasn’t enough to be executed for her own merits over decades of thieving? In the end, she’d meet the firing squad just because she’d spent time with Ard…

  “You don’t want to execute us,” said Ard. “Any of us.”

  “And why not?”

  “We’re valuable. We know things.” Ard cleared his throat. “We have good ideas.”

  That was the best Ard could do right now? Quarrah shook her head.

  “The noble council isn’t going to be appeased with good ideas,” said the queen. “But if you could give me something concrete… Perhaps the name of the man who impersonated my emissary?”

  “And what happens if I remember it?” Ard asked.

  Quarrah gasped. He wasn’t really thinking about betraying Elbrig?

  “Then the noble council might be satisfied long enough for the three of you to escape.”

  “I like the sound of that,” muttered Raek.

  “How?” Quarrah asked.

  “There could easily be a miscommunication among the Regulators after the queen visited the dungeon.” Abeth straightened the bodice of her gown. “Your cell was left unguarded. And I hear one of you is an expert at picking locks.”

  “You’re serious?” Ard said.

  “The name and location of the man,” demanded the queen.

  Quarrah leaned back against the wall. So much for their one chance of escaping. Ard would never betray the disguise managers…

  “Elbrig Taut,” said Ard. “He goes by a lot of names, but I know him as Elbrig Taut. His partner is a woman named Cinza Ortemion. They are masters of disguise and they spend years developing well-connected personas to sell to criminal contacts. They’re difficult to reach, and you can never be sure what they’ll look like on any given day. But this is my method of reaching them. Have your people go to Drune’s Haberdashery on Leaf Street in the Eastern Quarter. Have them tell the attendant at the front desk that they’d like to see something more exotic. The attendant will ask if the fabric is for them. They should reply by saying, ‘It will be, if the season is right.’”

  Quarrah stared at him, mouth agape. Was he seriously doing this? Turning Cinza and Elbrig over to the queen? Of course not. This was a lie. Just something to convince Abeth to let them go. By the time her people tracked down Ard’s lead, the three of them would be long gone.

  “How can I trust you?” the queen asked, obviously coming to the same conclusion.

  “It’s the truth,” Ard said. “I swear to you.”

  “You’ll understand if I have a hard time believing your word.”

  “Raek will confirm it.”

  Abeth scoffed. “Oh, that’s much better.”

  “Why would I lie?” Ard asked. “If I give you a fake lead, it’ll only put you back on our trail faster. If you get Elbrig and Cinza, we’ll have a little breathing room after we escape.”

  Sparks! Maybe he was telling the truth. When he put it that way, it seemed quite convincing.

  The queen pursed her lips in thought. Then she took a step closer to Quarrah and conspicuously dropped something on the dirt floor. Quarrah recognized her thief’s tools immediately.

  “In one hour, the Regulators on the first floor will change,” said Queen Abeth, turning to leave. “The hallway that leads to the palace’s east exit will be vacant. I hope you can make my decision easier before sunrise.”

  “Abeth,” Ard said, forgoing the formality of her position. “Thank you.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at him. “We’re even, Ardor Benn. Do not expect mercy the next time we meet.”

  Then she closed the heavy cell door and Quarrah heard her footsteps click clack up the stairs.

  “Please tell me that was some Heg she dropped.” Raek sat up on the cot again.

  “Better,” said Ard. “Quarrah’s lock-picking tools.”

  “Though it doesn’t matter much.” Quarrah picked them up and put a hand to the door. “I still can’t reach…” She trailed off as the door swung open on its own. “She didn’t even lock it.”

  “This is how legends are born,” Ard said. “Palace Reggies for decades to come will talk about how Quarrah Khai picked a lock through a solid door.”

  Raek staggered forward, bumping into her. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Not yet, big guy.” Ard grabbed his friend’s arm to stabilize him. “Got to wait another hour for the guards to change.”

  He helped Raek back to the cot while Quarrah pulled the cell door shut. Safer to maintain appearances in case a guard peered in over the next hour.

  “See,” Ard said. “I knew we could get out of this.”

  “Cinza and Elbrig…” Quarrah turned to look at him. “Was that an honest lead to find them?”

  He shrugged. “Didn’t seem like we had another choice.”

  “But you…” she stammered. “You betrayed them.”

  “I don’t really see us needing a disguise in the near future,” Ard said. “Those Glassminds would see right through anything we put on.”

  “So you turned them in?” Quarrah cried. “Because their services no longer suit you?”

  “No skin off my teeth,” Raek replied. “Never liked the crazies anyway.”

  “It’s not like that, Quarrah,” Ard tried. “I had to get us out of here. Abeth would’ve seen through a lie.”

  “Elbrig put his neck out for you with the Trothians,” said Quarrah.

  Ard nodded. “And now that neck is going to meet the chopping block. It was either his or mine. Elbrig would’ve done the same in my position. He’ll understand.”

  At the back of the cell, Raek groaned and Quarrah thought he might throw up.

  “I promise we’ll get you some Heg the minute we get out of here.” Ard went to his friend’s side. “Once you’re fixed up, we’ll swing by and check on old Vethrey.”

  Quarrah felt goose bumps racing down both her arms. “What did you say?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” said Ard. “Just a little something Raek and I have been working on.”

  “Say it again.” Her heart was hammering.

  Ard cleared his throat. “Um… Vethrey?”

  “What does it mean?” Quarrah’s voice spiked. “You have to tell me what that means!”

  “Sparks! Relax, Quarrah,” Ard said. “It’s nothing to worry about.”

  “They were saying that word,” she muttered. “When I was in the Ucru… the night I stole the piece of Moon Glass. They were chanting it.”

  “Who was?”

  “Lyndel and the other priestess,” said Quarrah. “They were burning that turroc root. The whole place was full of smoke. And they were chanting that word. Vethrey. What does it mean?”

  Ardor Benn covered his mouth, a look of pure astonishment on his face. “It’s a Trothian word I learned from Nemery,” he whispered. “It means Motherwatch.”

  Ard’s thoughts were racing so fast, he could barely focus long enough to verbalize one. Quarrah’s words had brought sudden clarity to everything—Hedge Marsool, Motherwatch, Gloristar’s reappearance, the scriptures. And above all, they had given Ard the first gl
immer of hope that they just might take down these impossible Glassminds.

  “Through Settled smoke they will chant a name,” Ard began to recite. It was a verse he had memorized because it referenced his name. “And the one who restored life will send all hope to the Homeland in the red of night. Behold, this is zeal and ardor beyond perfection.”

  “What the blazes are you carrying on about?” Raek asked.

  Ard looked at Quarrah. “You said they were chanting the name Vethrey. Motherwatch. She’s going to save us.”

  “The dragon?” Quarrah asked. “How?”

  “By becoming something even more powerful than she is right now,” said Ard. “Think about it. Humans and dragons are the only two species known to get Moonsick. If we can evolve into Glassminds… what will a dragon become?”

  Raek shuddered, sucking in a deep breath. “A god.”

  “You can’t know that for sure,” said Quarrah.

  “It says it right there in the verse,” Ard replied. “The one who restored life will send her away to get Moonsick. And she will become something beyond perfection. Beyond a Glassmind.”

  “The one who restored life?” Quarrah questioned. Ard nodded, but she obviously didn’t understand. With a humble bow, he gestured at himself.

  “You?” she cried. “You think that scripture is talking about you? How did Ardor Benn restore life?”

  “The dragon egg,” said Ard. “I saw to the fertilization of that bull dragon egg. I restored a dying species. Trust me. I spent the last year studying these things. It even mentions my name explicitly. I’m supposed to get Motherwatch sick and help her transform—send her to the Homeland in the red of night.”

  “Even if you’re right,” said Quarrah. “Even if that verse does talk about turning a dragon into a god, I see one big problem.” She stared at him as if expecting him to see it, too. “We don’t actually have Motherwatch anymore.”

  Ard scratched behind his ear. Time to come clean with Quarrah. “Yeah. About that… Raek and I sorta decided to stash Motherwatch somewhere else.”

  There was a speechless pause, and then Quarrah attempted a response. “How could you… When did…” She trailed off into something that sounded like a growl of frustration. “What?!”

  “We couldn’t risk letting Hedge get his hands on her,” explained Ard.

  “Hand,” Raek corrected.

  “But we thought she might be good to keep around for a bit,” he said. “After all the work to steal her…”

  “I saw her!” said Quarrah. “In the cavern below Helizon.”

  “You saw the Illusion Grit likeness of Motherwatch,” explained Ard. “With a detonation of Heat Grit to make it feel convincing.”

  “Where was the real dragon?”

  “She had quite the trip,” Ard said. “We had to bring her to Helizon first so we could create the Illusion Grit image to fool Hedge. But she was only in Baroness Lavfa’s cave for about a half hour. Then I stayed behind and Gloristar returned Motherwatch to the Stern Wake. We needed Captain Dodset’s influence to get the dragon through Beripent’s harbors unseen, so I paid her a hefty fee. Most of my life savings, actually. Raek was waiting at the other cave. The one we told you about. South of Beripent, in the Pale Tors.”

  “You knew about this?” Quarrah spun on Raek.

  “It was why I had to leave Pekal early,” Raek affirmed. “Needed to square things away with Jaig Jasperson and make sure he had enlarged the cave’s opening so we could get her inside.”

  “But the escape…” said Quarrah. “Hedge said the warehouse exploded when the dragon broke free. Killed two of his men.”

  “That was the work of Cinza and Elbrig,” Ard said. “Or as you might remember, the hunchback, Pincher, and the hag, Otella.”

  Ard knew this truth would sting, but he was surprised by the depth of the betrayal on Quarrah’s face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I knew you wouldn’t like it,” he said.

  “How about next time, you let me decide what I don’t like.”

  “Well, do you?” he asked. “Like it?”

  She clenched her jaw. “No.”

  “See?”

  “I think it’s one of the stupidest things you’ve ever done,” said Quarrah. “Keeping a live dragon in the largest city in the Greater Chain…”

  “Technically, she’s outside Beripent’s city limits,” said Raek.

  “Who’s been watching her all this time?” Quarrah asked. “Doesn’t she need regular detonations of Grit to remain in Stasis?”

  “Jasperson’s on it,” Raek explained. “And I told San if we didn’t return from the harbor by morning, he should instruct Jasperson to release the dragon.”

  “San knows about her?” Quarrah cried.

  Raek shrugged, a childish grin on his face. “No secrets among lab partners.”

  “I should have told you, Quarrah,” Ard said. “But I didn’t. I’m sorry. What’s important is that we still have her! We’ll keep her locked up through the coming Moon Passing. Away from the other dragons, she won’t get the rays she needs. Once she’s Moonsick, we’ll expose her to the Metamorphosis Grit and see what happens.”

  “See what happens?” Quarrah threw her hands in the air. “This is a huge gamble, Ard! If Garifus succeeds in destroying the other dragons, Motherwatch will be the only hope we have to shield anyone from Moonsickness.”

  “I know,” replied Ard. “It’s right there in the verse. We will ‘send all hope to the Homeland in the red of night.’”

  “I think you’re grasping at straws,” said Quarrah. “We need to release her. Let her fly back to Pekal and get the Moon rays that she needs to stay healthy.”

  “And be right where Garifus wants her so he can slaughter Motherwatch along with all the others,” said Ard. “The number of Glassminds is going to soar after the Passing. Do you doubt that they can track down and kill every single dragon on that island?”

  She shook her head.

  “But think about what could happen if this works,” pleaded Ard. “We’ll have a god on our side.”

  “Probably a goddess,” Raek interjected, “but I guess we’ll see.”

  “A more powerful ally than Gloristar was,” said Ard.

  “We don’t know that,” Quarrah emphasized. “And if it doesn’t work, then our only hope will be as raging violent as Grotenisk was.”

  “Then maybe she’ll put up a better fight against the Glassminds,” said Ard.

  “And maybe Dale Hizror will write an aria about her,” added Raek. “I heard you like to sing about killer dragons.”

  She scowled at him.

  “For all we know,” said Ard, “a Moonsick dragon can still absorb Moon rays. We have nothing to lose in trying this.”

  “Nothing to lose?”

  “In fact,” Ard pressed, “keeping Motherwatch in Beripent gives us two things we want. We get a Moonsick dragon to experiment on.”

  “Can’t say we want that,” muttered Quarrah.

  “And we keep her away from Garifus a little longer. I think we can safely assume that no one knows we have her.”

  “What about this Jasperson fellow?” said Quarrah.

  “Okay, well, obviously he knows,” Raek said.

  “And we did everything we could to keep this from Hedge,” Raek said. “We’re pretty sure we’ve stayed ahead of him. Even though he was the one to hire us for this job in the first place.”

  “No,” said Ard, holding up a finger. “He didn’t.” He took a deep breath, assuring himself that this had to be the truth. “I did.”

  Oh, boy. If it had been hard to sell them on the concept of a transformed dragon goddess, then this next bit was going to be a wild ride of naysaying.

  “Wait… what?” Raek and Quarrah shared a look of confusion.

  “All right. Bear with me for a moment,” Ard began. “I’m going to say something that’s not going to be easy to digest.”

  “Well, that’s new…” muttered Quarrah.
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br />   “When Garifus completed the Sphere, he said that any Glassmind can go back in time to leave Urgings—feelings and whispers—so long as they didn’t jeopardize the creation of his kind.”

  “Based on what Hedge said to me, he’s been manipulated by a Glassmind all this time,” Quarrah added.

  “Yes,” Ard agreed. “But not just any Glassmind… me.”

  “But you’re not a—”

  “Not yet,” Ard cut her off. “But there’s still time to reach the summit before the Passing. I’ve got nine days.”

  “And Nemery said an experienced hiker could make it to the summit in ten,” Raek said.

  Ard nodded. “It’ll be quite the hike, but it’s doable.”

  “Why in the blazes would you even consider this?” Quarrah cried. “The moment you transform, Centrum will be in your head. He’ll know what you’re planning and he’ll kill you on the spot.”

  “Not if I disconnect myself quickly enough,” Ard explained.

  Raek nodded. “Just like what happened to Gloristar.”

  “We have no idea what kind of a crack that takes,” argued Quarrah. “Too much, and you’ll shatter your own skull.”

  Ard held up a hand. “It’ll be all right. I have a way to do it safely.” That was mostly a lie, but he had studied Gloristar’s glass scalp quite closely. A solid blow to the skull would—

  “Let’s say it works,” Raek interrupted his thoughts. “You become a Glassmind and you reach back in time to hire us to steal a dragon. Why would you pick Hedge Marsool as your mouthpiece? We hate that guy!”

  “Exactly,” said Ard. “I have to hire someone intimidating enough to scare us into doing his bidding. You know that’s not a long list, but Hedge is at the top of it.”

  “If it was Hedge,” said Quarrah, “then how did he know which vase to put the note in at Lord Dulith’s manor?”

  “Because you told me,” Ard said. “And I’ll tell him. A whisper in his mind. Isn’t that what Hedge said? It’s the very way Garifus described the Urgings!”

  “But which happened first?” she questioned. “I told you about the note because I’d already found it. But you haven’t passed that information along to Hedge yet. How can something happen if it hasn’t happened yet?”

  “Look, this is going to get messy.” Ard tried to remain calm. “I don’t claim to fully understand this time travel slag, but hear me out.”