by Joe Jackson
“As you wish, Your Majesty,” Haicer said.
“If I understand correctly, you said you are headed west to the other major cities of the island?” Queen Omalias asked her guests, and Aeligos responded affirmatively. “Tell me: if we are to mobilize our forces, would you be willing to act as our emissaries to the western cities, since you will already be ahead of our armies?”
“If Your Majesty trusts us with such a task, we will perform it gladly,” Sonja said.
“Is there anything else the crown may do for you today, then?” the queen asked, and she sat back down upon her throne.
“No, Your Majesty,” Aeligos said.
“Very well then,” she said. “Please, enjoy the hospitality of our city and return here tomorrow at high noon. Then we will render our decision unto you.”
Aeligos and Sonja bowed before the queen and followed the chamberlain from the throne room. In the antechamber, Haicer returned to the bench he’d been sitting on, took up his red leather book, and began crossing off names and appointments. He looked up after a minute when he realized the two half-demons were still waiting, and he gestured for them to depart. “Return tomorrow at noon,” he said simply. “I will see you then.”
Aeligos and Sonja returned to the inn and found the others finishing lunch. Sonja sat among them and Aeligos stood at the end of the table to address them. He glanced around at the sparsely populated common room before he spoke. “Pack your things and begin heading north along the mountains to Saint John’s pass first thing in the morning,” he instructed them quietly. “I have to meet with the queen again at noon tomorrow, but there’s no reason for the rest of you to delay here while we wait to see what her decision will be. In fact, I should’ve sent you to the next city as soon as I found out we’d have to wait three days to see her in the first place.”
“What about you?” Typhonix asked.
“I should be able to catch up to you easily enough,” he said. “Assuming the queen and her council really do make up their minds by tomorrow. Either way, our priority now is to make sure that whatever the shakna-rir decide, the rest of the major cities and their ruling bodies are in agreement.” He looked to Sonja. “I hadn’t really considered it, but what you said makes perfect sense. We’ve been sent to stop a war, but no one said anything about a short siege or a battle.”
Sonja nodded. “I hadn’t thought about it myself until I considered what Erik said about someone else replacing Gaswell if he’s simply killed. If we can align enough of the island’s major armies against him and then kill him, his men will likely disband in the face of a superior force if they have no one to lead them.”
Aeligos nodded. “And the armies will draw out his forces, making a covert strike more likely to succeed. All right, forget what I said. Pack your things and start making your way north this afternoon,” he said. The others looked at him with raised brows, but he shook his head. “I’m not joking. Erik would do the same in my place. Get to it, we’ve got work to do and our timeline is getting shorter by the hour.”
The rest of the group looked to Sonja and she nodded, which sent them all into action. Once the others headed up to their rooms to retrieve their things, Sonja approached Aeligos and touched his shoulder. “Be careful,” she said. Her tone left little doubt as to what she meant, and he nodded and made his way up to his own room.
Aeligos saw his siblings and human companions off at the edge of the city an hour later, and passed the remainder of the day looking for trouble. His efforts still yielded him no results in finding a thieves’ guild or anything remotely like it, so he passed the night playing cards at a local tavern. He made back much of the money he’d spent during the trip before the other players grew tired of him and he returned to his room at the inn.
When the sun drew high overhead the next day, he returned to the castle and was quickly escorted into the queen’s audience chamber. She seemed surprised that Aeligos had come alone, and he was likewise surprised to find the throne room much fuller than the first time. A half-dozen other shakna-rir flanked the area before the throne, three to a side, and Aeligos approached to stand between them and bowed to the queen. Each of the others was dressed in regal finery, five males and one female, and they appeared to be the generals the queen had spoken of at the previous meeting. They all regarded Aeligos for a moment before everyone turned their attention to the queen.
Queen Omalias shifted in her throne and spared a glance toward her mate before she stood up and held her hands out to the sides. “Welcome back to our court,” she said to her half-demon guest. “My mate and his generals have conferred long with me on this matter, though we still have a few questions to make certain our chosen course is the correct one.”
“I will be of any aid I may to Your Majesty,” Aeligos said.
“To your knowledge, what is Zalkar’s ultimate goal with respect to General Gaswell?” she asked. “Does he want him captured or killed, and what of his progeny, if any?”
Aeligos scratched absently at his snout. “We weren’t given specific instructions outside of preventing a war. How Gaswell is removed from power was left up to us. Personally, I believe it would be best to capture him so we have the luxury of interrogation to determine if he was working for another. Killing him may simply make him a martyr, but he may leave us with little choice.”
“Working for another? How do you mean?” the female general who stood at Aeligos’ right asked.
“As I explained to Her Majesty yesterday, my elder brother Erik was the one tasked with coming here to stop Gaswell and war,” he said. “He sent us ahead to speak to your Queen on his behalf because he was also tasked with finding and killing a demon. It’s only speculation, but it’s quite possible whatever demon he hunts is related to Gaswell and his plans. Until he and Kari – his partner – return, we won’t know for sure.”
The general nodded appreciatively and turned back to her queen. “I agree with Maktus on this, Your Majesty,” she said, her voice clear and confident. “If these are to be trusted as you believe, then our best course of action in my opinion is to send our armies out in preparation, and then follow the lead of these servants of Zalkar.”
The queen sat back down and rubbed a finger thoughtfully across her chin. “I would like further confirmation before we proceed,” she said, and she clapped her hands once. A young page appeared from a side door and bowed before his queen. “Go to the church of Zalkar and bring their highest ranking priest to me right away. Go.”
The page rushed from the throne room and the queen stood once more. “Our court shall recess until the priest has arrived,” she said. “Evanja, please show our guest to the dining hall for refreshments and then show him around should time permit.”
The female general nodded her head and gestured for Aeligos to follow her while the queen, Maktus, and the other generals made their egress through a side door. She led Aeligos through the opposite door and down a long hall decorated the same way as both the throne room and its antechamber. At its far end was the dining hall, a massive rectangular chamber with a table that had to easily seat fifty people. It was stately and warm despite its size, with several stone hearths standing at intervals around the room to keep it heated should the need arise.
Evanja made her way to the table and sat at its end, and she gestured for Aeligos to sit beside her. As he took his seat, he studied the woman more thoroughly, noting that she seemed to be at least a decade older than her queen. She was attractive, with wavy brown hair tied back in a neat tail and matching eyes that studied the half-demon warily and questioningly. It was a stare he was used to: he received it any time he tried to get information on an uncomfortable topic.
“Your queen doesn’t seem to trust me entirely,” he said as a servant brought them both goblets of wine.
The shakna-rir female beheld him curiously. “If Her Majesty didn’t trust you, she would not have listened to your counsel,” Evanja said before she took a sip. “She has sent for the priest merely fo
r the sake of being thorough, not because she doesn’t trust you.”
“And what about you?” he asked, meeting her eyes.
Evanja seemed surprised by the question, and she took another sip of her wine before answering. “I was raised in Aurun Ch’Gurra, where I served in the military for many years,” she said. “I only came here a few summers ago to escape the endless bickering of the nobility, to find a more peaceful and quiet kingdom to live in. I was made one of the warlord’s generals because of my experience, but my contributions go well beyond the military. The Queen listens to my counsel where half-demons are concerned, as Aurun Ch’Gurra had many more of them than this kingdom sees.”
“Oh? And what were your experiences with my kind like?” he asked.
She managed a slight smile. “Normally your kind weren’t a problem, so long as the children were never subjected to their father’s presence growing up. Of course, I’ve never been too familiar with your kind as such: I’ve never dealt much with anything other than half-corlypsi, half-brys, or rarely half-elites. You’re half-guardian, unless I’m mistaken.”
“You’re not,” he said with a smile. “So you trust half-demons normally?”
“No more or less than anyone else,” she answered, and she took another sip of her wine while she thought to herself. “You see, the others don’t seem to realize that we risk making the same mistake that Gaswell does: he relies solely on his own kind, and oftentimes we shakna-rir do as well. When the gods send a group of half-demons to our doorstep to ask something of us, clearly it requires a more open mind than we are accustomed to.”
Aeligos nodded. “I can see you’re very valuable to the crown. I wish every city, county, and kingdom had someone like you in it.”
She smiled but said nothing, and the two finished their drinks in silence. Just after they finished, a page came to inform them that the priest of Zalkar had arrived and the court was about to reconvene. They made their way back to the throne room and found a robe-clad human among the others, and they took their places. The members and guests of the court stood at attention until Queen Omalias was seated on the throne and motioned for them to stand at ease.
“Good afternoon, Your Majesty,” the human said. “I am Tomas Davidson, priest of Zalkar and representative of the Unyielding. What does the crown require of our church?”
“We welcome you to our court, Master Davidson,” Queen Omalias returned. “We have called upon you this day to verify the words of this half-demon, Aeligos Tesconis. While we have no reason to distrust him, we have a decision before us that will affect the entire kingdom and all her people. We would like confirmation as to the Unyielding’s role in this matter.”
“I will be of what assistance I may, Your Majesty,” the priest said formally.
“Does the Unyielding have demonhunters on the island named Erik Tesconis and…”
“Erijinkor Tesconis and Karian Vanador,” Aeligos amended when the queen paused and glanced at him.
“I was not aware they had arrived, Your Majesty, but our priesthood here on the isle was expecting them,” the human said with a nod of his silver-haired head. “What has his brother said that you need verified?”
“He has told us that the Unyielding has sent them here to prevent a war,” the queen said, and the eyes of the entire gathering fell onto the priest.
Tomas looked to Aeligos for a few moments before turning his gaze back to the Queen. “Your Majesty, I am aware of no such orders,” he said. “I know only that two demonhunters were dispatched here to the island to deal with an infestation of a possibly underworld nature. However, it is also possible the Unyielding has issued other orders to his hunters that we are simply not privy to.”
“It was supposed to be kept a secret as much as possible, Majesty,” Aeligos said. “My brother’s Order didn’t want Gaswell to know who or what to expect, if anything.”
Queen Omalias considered the two males’ words for several long, silent minutes before she looked up to her mate. “I do not want to take our nation to war,” she said.
“I understand, my queen,” Maktus said. “The decision is yours, but we must consider that attacks upon our neighbors will soon become attacks upon us. It is better that we prevent war by destroying its source than to hide from it and hope it passes us by.”
The queen looked to the sole female general before her. “And you trust the words of this half-demon?” she asked.
Evanja nodded and regarded Aeligos for a moment before turning her full attention back to her queen. “I do,” she said. “We have verified his brother’s existence and presence; now we need only decide whether we prepare for battle in defense of our island.”
“And indeed we must,” Queen Omalias said, though her quiet sigh told Aeligos it was not a decision she made lightly. She looked up to Maktus once more. “Mobilize the army. You are in command.”
The warlord saluted his queen and motioned for his male generals to go carry out their monarch’s orders, and then he gestured for Aeligos to come closer. “You will carry word to Fahrem and Raugro,” Maktus said when Aeligos approached. “Inform them of our intentions, and tell their leaders that our armies will be stationed on the plains south of Brehl, where we will meet them should they wish to join us. I will prepare official documents for you to take with you, and have them ready by morning.”
Aeligos cursed silently in the back of his mind, but he masked it behind a smile and bowed before the warlord and queen. “Thank you,” he said. “I will carry word to your neighbors and convince them to join you. When we meet again on the plains in the place you’ve specified, we will further develop a strategy.”
“Go safely under the watchful eyes of the gods. We thank you for your warning, and your patience in delivering it,” Queen Omalias said.
Aeligos bowed once more, and Evanja touched his elbow lightly. “Would you like to sleep the night here in the palace?” she asked quietly while Master Davidson bid the court farewell and made his way from the throne room.
“If that’s not going to be an issue with Her Majesty...?” he asked. The last thing he wanted to do was sabotage his own work.
Evanja shook her head. “I know how it might seem, but she won’t mind.”
Aeligos considered the possibility the queen would want someone to stay close to him and gauge his behavior in the wake of their decision. On that note, he decided it might be even more suspicious if he refused than if he accepted. “Then I’d love to,” he answered with a smile.
*~*~*~*
Kari decided to stop in the city of Talvor on their way back to the rainforest. She knew Erik didn’t want to delay, but channeling Zalkar’s power to heal her wing had managed only to stop the bleeding and protect it from infection. The membrane tore a little more every time Kari jolted it, and she wanted to find a healer that could at the very least repair the structural damage and prevent it from compounding. Erik and Makauric offered no argument, and after three days they arrived at the open archways of the bay city. Kari brought Makauric along with them to the gates, intending to bring him to Zalkar’s church. He was initially unwilling to go, but she convinced him by assuring him he would be under her protection.
The guards wasted no time aiming their crossbows at Makauric when they approached, but Kari stayed in front of the brys with her hands up. The officer among them ordered his men to spread out and keep their weapons trained on the creature but await his command, and he fixed Kari with a scowl. Though it wasn’t the same officer from their previous visit, his attitude didn’t seem any better, and Kari wondered if they thought she was half-demon or if they just hated everyone. “What is the meaning of this?” the officer demanded. He stepped in front of Kari and brought his face uncomfortably close to hers.
The terra-dracon woman drew out her dog tags slowly, laid them across her chest and met the officer’s stare. “My name is Karian Vanador, Shield of the Heavens, by Zalkar’s grace,” she said, drawing a look of unmasked surprise from the man before his fa
ce returned to a stern stare just shy of the previous scowl. “This brys is with us; we have to take him to Zalkar’s temple.”
The officer sighed, ran his fingers through his short white hair, and shook his head. “We are under strict orders to keep all trouble out of the city,” he said, his defiance clearly overridden by Kari’s profession and rank – or maybe it was Erik’s stature. “Two half-demons and a full-blood…”
“I’m not half-demon,” Kari said, and she showed her teeth. “And even if I was, I’m in service to Zalkar and don’t have time for this. My wing’s hurt and I’m in a lot of pain, please don’t make an incident out of a simple request.”
The officer inspected her wounded wing, and then he waved for his guards to lower their weapons and let the group through. “Very well. Head straight to the temple and stay out of trouble,” he said, and then he turned to Makauric and pointed a finger in warning. “Keep that bow shouldered at all times! Zalkar’s temple is straight down this avenue: go past two plazas and you’ll see it ahead on your left.”
Makauric nodded and Kari waved off the officer’s comment. “He’s with us, he won’t cause any trouble,” she said.
The terra-rir officer waved them along. The three passed into the city and ignored the questioning glances of its citizens, who appeared to be almost exclusively terra-rir. Kari considered it strange, as from what they had learned, Gaswell and his forces were situated almost entirely in the southwest. She wondered if the city’s homogenous population had anything to do with the warlord at all, or if it was just a coincidence. She found it difficult to believe it was coincidence: with the rir peoples’ aversion to sea and ocean-based travel, port cities without humans were nearly unheard of.
