Alador pushed off the door. “Radney!” he shouted.
The servant appeared before Alador had hardly turned around. “With me.” He strode to the library. “I don’t ever want that woman in this manor again unless I have given you orders to the contrary. Am I clear?” He did not look back because he could hear the man stumbling behind him.
“Yes Lord Alador,” Radney stated, his tone indicating worry.
“I am out, dead, absent, I do not care. She does not come in,” he snarled.
“Understood.”
“Good!” Alador picked up the invitation and eyed it with repulsion. He broke it open and his heart sank even further if that were possible. The night of Lady Morana’s ball was the same night that he was supposed to be assaulting the mine. “Get my cloak, I am going out.” He tossed the invitation on his desk. He had to make a counter move and quickly. Every notable person in the city was going to be at that ball.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Sordith watched in amusement as his half-brother, Alador, paced back and forth in front of his desk. With each passing day, he reminded Sordith more and more of their father, or at least the man they called father. He still had not gotten his head around the fact that Henrick was really a dragon in disguise. He had not even known that was possible. His brother’s last words brought him out of his musing.
“I don’t know where Keensight stands. The few times that I have gone to see my family he has been absent.” Alador stopped pacing and turned to Sordith. “Do you think going through his hoard could have lost his support?” The words were more muttered as if his brother had been speaking to himself rather than to the Trench Lord.
“Wait, I missed something.” Sordith’s eyes grew a bit large as he stared at Alador. “You went through his hoard?”
“Bells and bats, Sordith, were you even listening to me at all?” Alador plopped down in the chair that had been provided for him, sinking into it with a heavy sigh.
“I fear you lost me for a bit at fancy balls and such. I fail to see what you are all worked up about?” Sordith got up and poured them a drink. “So this priestess throws a ball intent on sending you into a proper bonding. May not be such a bad idea. We could get chained the same day.” He walked over and handed a silver mug to Alador. The amused grin on Sordith’s face did little to mollify his brother.
Alador gratefully took the mug and continued on his brotherly rant. “Okay, first of all, I am not marrying any woman who has served in that temple. I might find a snake in my bed rather than a woman.” He took a sip. “Lastly, it is not who is throwing the ball, it is when.” Alador took a drink glaring at Sordith over the edge. I can’t believe you stopped listening.”
Sordith chuckled as he returned to his seat. “Well, you must admit; you have gained Henrick’s skill for prattling on.” Sordith set the mug down and leaned forward. His eyes gleaming with greed as he asked, “So how big of a hoard is it?”
“Hoard...what?” Alador frowned. “Oh… Keensight’s.” He sat for a moment. “It would fill the council hall. I would say he has been collecting it for a while.”
“Then your answer is yes.” Sordith knew he had completely twisted the conversation, but he rather liked to watch his little brother struggle to keep up.
“Yes? To WHICH question?” Alador frowned at Sordith. “Can we talk in a straight line please?”
“I was. I cannot help it if you can’t keep up.” Sordith chuckled. “Yes, I believe that you could have lost support by mucking through a dragon’s treasure mound. It would be like going through a lady’s finer things. There are some things you just don’t do.” Sordith picked back up the mug. “Well, unless you intended to steal from him.”
Alador stood up again and began to pace. “I have to go to him I guess. I need to know. Without the dragons’ support, the plan will fail and people will die uselessly.” He leaned on Sordith’s desk. “How do I approach him, Sordith?”
“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Sordith pointed to the door.
Sordith watched as Alador spun to see where Henrick was leaning in the door frame much as Sordith, himself, often did. His arms were crossed. His jet black hair was loose today and he had a feral look about him even in this form.
“About time you came to realize that you need dragons… that you need me.” Henrick pushed off the frame and walked into the room.
“Sordith…” Henrick began.
“I already know. You need food.” Sordith was already moving to the bell pull. “Wine is there on the table.” At least Henrick’s constant wish for food now made more sense.
Alador had fallen silent and remained so while Sordith ordered food to be brought into his office, as he did Henrick moved to the drink table and filled a mug of his own. Alador stood like a fish, mouth opening as if to speak, then shutting again, a silent gasp for words instead of water. Sordith found it fairly amusing.
Finally, Alador found his words as Sordith returned with a chair from the side of the room and set it next to the one Alador had been occupying. “Henrick… father… I have come to you so many times to apologize.”
Sordith watched as Henrick gracefully sat. The man’s robes were a deep red trimmed in black. He went around the desk and settled into his own chair watching the two men closely. It was clear that Henrick was still rather miffed at Alador.
“I did not wish to hear your apology.” Henrick looked over at Alador then looked at Sordith. “How would you feel if someone pawed their way through your weapons collection?”
“I would be right pissed off.” Sordith admitted. That was an understatement. He would likely skin anyone who dared to paw their way through it.
“Traitor,” Alador murmured. Sordith toasted him bringing a bigger frown from his brother.
Henrick looked at Alador. “However, you have swung in the wind long enough. Your apology is now accepted.” He waved his mug at Alador before taking a long sip.
The large exhale of the relief that escaped the mage seemed to ease his bottled tension. “Thank you," Alador said.
Henrick toasted Alador silently. “Now, what is amiss? I could sense something was wrong even as I approached the door.”
“Morana,” both men replied simultaneously.
Henrick’s eyes narrowed. “All right, what has the witch done now?” Henrick took a sip of his wine as Alador began to explain.
“She has decided to marry me off to some princess. But that is not the worst part.” Alador rubbed a hand over his face.
“I would hope, as my son, that would be the best part,” quipped Henrick.
Sordith laughed. “My thoughts exactly.”
Alador glared as he spoke. “She has set her ball for the night of our attack. Now, do we move the attack?” He glanced between them.
“Good question. My thought is… is there a way we could turn this to our advantage?” Henrick tapped the mug with his forefinger.
Sordith slowly grinned. “Ooh, I have a wicked idea.” He waited till he had both men’s attentions. “We throw our own party the same night. A far more sordid affair. I can provide the women. You can invite as many as the Blackguard as you need and some extras. Between myself and the High Master, we can keep everyone quite entertained, and you all can slip off in pairs.” Sordith grinned even larger. “With enough alcohol, women, and good music we can provide a cover for your absence and save you from this princess you seem afraid of meeting.”
Alador rolled his eyes. “I am not afraid to meet her. I just have my sights set elsewhere right now. Well, that and who the person is wanting to introduce me. First she tries to kill me, tells me it was not personal, then wants to marry me off. I swear her brain is addled." Henrick chimed in with a murmur. “But the idea has merit.” He looked up excitedly when an older woman wheeled in a loaded cart. Henrick jumped to his feet. “Ah my good woman, you are truly a treasure,” he said. He moved to her and grabbed her hand, sweeping it up to his lips.
Sordith looked on in amazement as his usua
lly stoic housekeeper flushed like a young maiden and hurried from the room. The fact she had arrived so quickly indicated she had already been laying food out on a cart. Owen must have given her a warning that Henrick had arrived.
“She won’t wash that hand for a bit, I will bargain.” Sordith mused as he smiled and took a sip from his mug.
“With the way you two have women swooning about you, you would think I would have better luck,” grumbled Alador.
“Yes, well some of us have learned where the ice is thin, boy.” Henrick said with a mouth full of food. His words were barely understandable.
“Yes, I suppose you are right.” Alador admitted. The younger mage joined his father at the cart. “So, you two wish me to throw my own party?” he asked. “I really do not know the first thing to it other than writing invitations.”
Henrick swallowed down the meat from the piece of fowl he had been gnawing on. “Did you keep my staff?”
“Yes, they were loyal and I wanted people I could trust, not spies of Luthian.” Alador nodded as he picked at some pieces of tree fruit.
“Just tell Radney you want to hold a low tier affair. He will know exactly how to set up the manor and what to order.” Henrick waved the bone at him. “Fine servant that Radney. I was half a mind to take him with me. Of course, he might not like the quarters as well.”
“What, a small treasure pile to sleep upon of my own, sir?” Sordith grinned wide, making his best impression of a servant. “I would serve you to your heart’s content.” He really wanted to see a dragon’s treasure mound. It must be a wondrous sight.
“Not if I eat you first,” growled Henrick. “Besides, I was meaning in Smallbrook.” Henrick tossed his cleaned bone at Alador’s head. “How many people are you blabbing to?”
Alador caught it and laid it on the cart. “Sordith is the only one I have told of your duality or your treasure trove.” He shook his head. “I have even kept it from Rena.”
“Ah yes, Rena.” Henrick eyed Alador carefully. “How are matters there?”
Alador smiled as he replied. “We are fast friends.”
“Just friends, yes?” Henrick pressed.
Alador looked away from Henrick as he answered. “Just friends.”
Sordith watched the two of them carefully. There was something here that he was missing. “Isn’t Rena one of the dragons helping you?” If he were right, then Alador’s response was odd. He looked like a young lad with a crush.
“Yes.” Henrick and Alador answered. An uneasy silence settled around the three of them as Henrick returned to munching, and Alador was suddenly interested in the hem of his mage robe.
Sordith realized that this was a nut for later cracking and moved the conversation along. “Speaking of dragons, I thought you would want to know. There are tales on the docks of a great blue dragon that guards the merchant ship. No one has seen a pirate since the last one was sank in a dancing arc of lightning that ignited the strange gas the dragon breathed over it.”
“I am glad to hear that goes as planned.” Alador flashed Sordith a look of relief.
Henrick nodded. “That dragon is going to be bored when this is over.”
“Speaking of boring, let us plan out this party. It will be a nice twist to things.” Sordith offered.
“You just want the women and wine.” Alador accused.
Sordith put a hand over his heart. “I am a changed man. Just one woman for me now.” He smiled at the thought of Keelee. She always seemed to know when Alador was about and put herself far from his path. While he was not a jealous man, his brother had bedded her first and Alador was turning into his own striking figure as he matured. He preferred keeping the two of them apart.
“Right.” Alador shook his head with a grin. He picked up a piece of pie and took it back to his chair to eat there. “That is like saying Henrick will settle down once more with a single mate.”
“Seriously, I have all the woman I need.” Sordith defended.
“Back to the party,” Henrick interrupted. “Have the High Master bring a few of those that instruct at the caverns. It will give some legitimacy to your party. If Luthian suspects, we can assure him that many people saw you that night. I am sure you have some beautiful woman that you can be caught in bed with should he decide to descend upon you.”
Alador frowned and his fork paused halfway to his mouth. “How long do you think it will take him to know about it?”
Henrick looked Alador in the eyes as he answered in low tones. “That depends on how long it takes us to lay them all low. Each minute of time means there is a chance that someone gets away with a message of what occurred, or is able to send a message by magical means.”
“I will get home then and begin those preparations.” Alador began stuffing the last of the pie into his mouth.
“I will speak with Reynel. Just leave me a list of the Blackguard you need off duty for the attack.” Sordith offered.
Henrick was absently stuffing his pockets with food as he chimed in. “I will get the dragons together, and we will descend at the first sign of fire on those ballistae.”
Alador nodded. “We will be making that our first priority.” He swallowed down his forkful. “If the plan is to go off as we have laid it out, I need every ballista aflame first. Do not move in till most are on fire,” he said firmly.
Henrick smiled. “Giving orders now?” He put a hand up before Alador could defend. “Pruatra will be there early. She is going to ensure that the men on guard duty have a very thick fog to deal with after she gets done drenching them in a vicious rainstorm.”
Sordith laughed. “Sounds like my kind of evil.” He kicked his feet up onto his desk. “Too bad I have to stay home and mind the defenses. I suspect this is something I would very much enjoy doing.”
“I need someone I can trust to vouch for my presence in our worst case outcome.” Alador pointed out.
Sordith shook his head. “Luthian is not your worst case outcome.”
“Then what is?” Alador frowned.
Sordith eyed his brother then his impostor father for a long moment before answering. “Not coming back at all,” his low tones were factual and held an edge of concern.
“Right,” Alador answered and by the look on his face, Sordith was fairly certain that Alador had not considered that possibility.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Everything was set for the party and yet Alador paced through the dining room with great anxiety. Radney had taken care of everything, just as Henrick had predicted. The amount of food and drinks that had been laid out along the wall would have fed a village for a couple of days. The tables had been moved to allow for a small area to dance and mingle. Musicians were now setting up and the first guests would be arriving at any moment. Sordith had not arrived yet, and Alador found himself needing his brother’s calm demeanor about now.
He had dressed for the first part of the evening in a simple blue tunic and pants. Though the outfit was simplistic in style, he had ensured it was of the finest materials. His hair was tied at the base of his neck, except for the white streak which he had left loose. It was a reminder to others of the power he was capable of pulling; a mark of status in his position as a fifth tier mage.
When a knock came at the door, Alador took a deep breath and headed down the hall. Radney would open it, but he was hoping Sordith would get here first. Sure enough, Radney was taking Keelee’s cloak. Their eyes met and she flushed as Alador could not help staring at her. She was the most breathtaking that he had seen. The emerald eyes were lined in kohl making them stand out more than usual. Her dress was a deep green bringing those eyes out further. Her hair was loose except for the hair that would have crossed her face, this was braided until it met at the back of her head then fell in waves with the rest to her waist.
Several women were coming in the door behind the couple. Each was dressed in a similar fashion as Keelee, a low cut flowing fabric despite the cool spring weather. All the dresses were in a diff
erent color obviously chosen to match their eyes and features. Keelee’s dress stood apart by the decorative stones where the material met just below her largely exposed breasts. A punch in the arm brought him out of his stunned observations
“Quit ogling my woman,” Sordith said. His voice held humor instead of outrage which was a bit relieving to Alador. “They do look amazing, don’t they? Keelee spent all day making sure they did not clash with one another.”
Alador could barely hear him over the din of women who were laughing and talking. “I think you found every beautiful woman in the city,” he murmured.
“Yes, well I do have at hand quite a few that are willing to do a little show of appreciation for a chance to step out of the trenches.” Sordith indicated the women.
Alador was saddened by the truth of what Sordith meant, but he could not fix everything for everyone. Alador moved to the rest of the women, attempting to look away from Keelee. “Right this way ladies. Let me show you the lay of things.” He showed them all the library that would be open for their use, the privacy closet locations, then led them into the dining room. There was appropriate appreciation as they marveled at the manor. Alador could not help smiling with pride.
The next hour was spent in welcoming people to his home. Radney had helped him with the invitations, and had been quick to point out who might rather be at Alador’s party than Morana’s ball. He had added an invitation to General Levielle as an afterthought. The man was married, so it was unlikely that he would make an appearance. If he did, it would help confirm the legitimacy of the social gathering. Alador had almost thought twice about it. Levielle had a way of discerning things that were not meant for him to know.
Those invited from the Blackguard had been the last to arrive. High Master Reynel Bariton led in a large group which was just as joyous and talkative as the first group of ladies with Sordith had been. In addition to those that Nemara had gathered, a number of men had been invited to pair off with the women that Sordith brought. Radney had been sure to point out that an equal number of men needed to be invited to match the women for dancing and other ... Activities. Most of the group of his classmates had shed their leathers for more casual clothing. Most appeared to have done their best to dress up their simple selections. Blackguard rarely had opportunities such as this party, so clothing options were limited.
Pseudo-Dragon (The Blue Dragon's Geas Book 4) Page 33
