Dragon Blessed

by D. K. Holmberg

  “Why?” When the emperor frowned, Fes only shrugged. He silently cursed himself. He stood before the emperor and was challenging him? “Doesn’t he serve the empire?” he added.

  “Azithan has always served in a unique fashion,” the emperor said.

  Fes was running out of time when it came to Indra. How much longer would they hold him here? Already it had to be late, and Carter had planned to depart in the morning, which meant that Fes had to finish with this business with the emperor in time to join her.

  “He has had me collect small items, nothing of much value. Azithan prefers to stick to things like books, and typically he has gone after dragon replicas.” It seemed easier to deceive them than tell the truth. If they knew the truth, it would only lead to more questions. So far, the fire mage knew that he had taken the dragon pearls, but could he conceal anything else from her? Could he conceal the fact that Azithan used his ability to collect dragon artifacts?

  When no one spoke, Fes shrugged again. “All it takes is to look in his quarters. I’ve been there enough times to know that he has hundreds of books, and I have been responsible for collecting many of them. There are a few inert dragon pearls that I think he collects for study more than anything else.”

  The fire mage studied Fes. Would she realize that he was lying?

  Even if she did, was there anything that she could do about it?

  The emperor raised his hand and made a small motion. Two soldiers on either side of him raced off, and Fes imagined them storming through the palace.

  He was surprised when the emperor stood.

  “Why don’t we take a look?” the emperor asked.

  “If you feel that you need to,” Fes said.

  “You will accompany me,” the emperor said.

  Fes’s heart fluttered. He certainly didn’t want to go with the emperor, and he didn’t want to be with him any longer than necessary. Then again, he might be able to observe them and see if there was anything else that he might be missing. There had to be some way that he could use this. If only he could figure out what that was.

  The emperor strode toward the end of the hall and the fire mage followed. A pair of soldiers fell in behind him, and Captain Jaken pushed Fes, sending him staggering forward. He had no choice but to follow. They made their way through the palace, taking a different route than Fes’s normal way. He typically went through back hallways before he reached Azithan’s rooms, though he’d never come from the throne room before. This way was a winding path, and it took them through the main halls of the palace.

  No one spoke. There was a strange, almost palpable energy all around them, and it left Fes feeling even more uncomfortable.

  Finally, they reached Azithan’s rooms, and the emperor opened the door. Fes wasn’t surprised that he didn’t knock, but it still felt like an invasion. Then again, Fes had done the same several times, simply allowing himself into Azithan’s rooms.

  Once again, Fes was shoved forward, and when he was in the room, he found it was empty.

  “Where is he?” the emperor asked.

  “He’s probably getting more attacks ready,” the fire mage said.

  The emperor made his way to the bookshelf and began pulling off books, glancing at them before replacing them. He turned to the hearth, staring at it for a long moment. For an instant, barely more than that, Fes felt a surge of heat. He didn’t think it was his imagination, and when the heat dissipated, the fire in the hearth crackled softly.

  The emperor stood in front of the fire, his hands in front of him, cupped outward toward the fire. The same sense of heat pushing out came to Fes.

  He was using fire magic.

  Why would Fes be aware of it?

  It was a strange thing to him to have awareness of the Emperor doing fire magic. Prior to confronting Reina, the only time Fes had been aware of magic being used in front of him had been with Azithan, and had left him feeling woozy. Before then, he had not felt anything.

  “He has been here recently,” the emperor said.

  “I was with him not that long ago,” Fes said.

  The emperor looked over and frowned. “Is that right? When?”

  “I don’t know where he might be now,” Fes admitted. “The last time I saw him, I had completed the task he’d asked of me.”

  He resisted the urge to look over at the fire mage. He didn’t want to anger her any more than he already had. There was no sign of her golem, though maybe that was something that she kept hidden. He had the sense that Azithan had been surprised that she had the ability to control a golem. Maybe the emperor knew about it.

  The emperor turned away from the fire and reached the table, looking at the two inert dragon pearls. He lifted them, holding them in his hand, and once again, Fes felt the strange heat coming off him—evidence of his fire magic being used.

  “These are inert,” the emperor said, setting them back down.

  The fire mage made her way over to the table and picked up the dragon pearls. When she held them, she closed her eyes, and there was a different sense. A buildup of power that reminded Fes of what the emperor did, but a little jerkier. Almost as if it were less controlled.

  “These aren’t the same.”

  Fes smiled to himself. Let her think that. It was obvious to Fes that they were the same and that they had been used, the energy within them fully expended. The colors were there, enough that he could tell that they were the same.

  “Then he has them elsewhere,” the emperor said. He turned his attention back to Fes. “What does he have you collecting?”

  “Things like that. It’s what I’ve said.”

  “And that is all?”

  Fes shrugged. “I don’t think Azithan trusted me to collect anything else. He has others he prefers to use.”

  “What others?”

  Before he could answer that he didn’t know, Captain Jaken said, “There is one by the name of Carter. He was with her earlier.” He nodded toward Fes. “She’s dangerous, and—”

  “I am aware of this scavenger,” the emperor said.

  Fes frowned. Why would the emperor be aware of Carter? What could that mean? And how had Jaken seen her with Fes?

  “I don’t know if he’s hired Carter,” Fes said carefully. “All I’m saying is that I’m not the only person that Azithan has hired.”

  The emperor stepped toward Captain Jaken and whispered something in his ear. The captain nodded and then hurried off. The emperor continued to make a steady circuit of the room, and when he was done, he paused in the center, looking around once more.

  Heat built from the emperor.

  Fes resisted the urge to reach for his dragonglass dagger, not wanting to reveal what he could do but also not comfortable with the emperor using magic around him when he didn’t know the intent. He would rather defend himself, and though he didn’t fully understand all that he could do, having the daggers at least gave him the opportunity to defend himself.

  He took it, deciding that it was worth the risk.

  When he clutched the hilt of the dagger, he let out a relieved breath.

  The emperor glanced over at him but said nothing.

  “What is this?”

  Fes jerked around to see Azithan striding into his room. The weariness that he’d seen on his face before was gone. Instead, a look of anger twisted his features. Power built from him, heat that rivaled what the emperor held onto. If the emperor detected the same, he made no sign of it.

  “This scavenger tells us that he has been under your employ.”

  Azithan glanced at Fes, and in the sharpness of his gaze, he seemed to warn Fes to silence. “I have small jobs that I have hired him for. He is not without his skill.”

  “You have hired him to claim items off my personal mage?” the emperor asked.

  “I would never dream of it. The tasks that I have hired him for have been in the service of scholarship.” He turned and pointed to the bookshelf. “Most of these are works that Fezarn has managed to acqui
re for me. Occasionally, I will hire him for other tasks, but most of those are minor.”

  Fes frowned. Minor? He thought of some of the minor tasks that he had been asked to complete, thinking back to how often they had placed him in danger. Then again, the most recent task he had done that had put him in danger had not been one of Azithan’s. He had taken that on behalf of Horus.

  “I doubt they have been minor, Azithan,” the other fire mage said. She eyed Azithan with a dark glare and turned her attention back to Fes. “Considering what I have seen from him, I suspect that you have given him quite important tasks. You knew what I was doing.”

  Fes considered her for a long moment. “I think you are mistaken, Elizabeth. If I knew what you were up to, perhaps I might have been inclined to avoid offending the emperor, but as I had no idea that you were working on his behalf, it has made little difference.”

  Azithan shrugged. “And besides, from what Fes said, you didn’t have anything worthwhile with you. Unless you have been concealing something from the emperor?” Azithan made his way to the desk, where he picked up the two inert dragon pearls. He palmed them, holding them in his hand for a moment, and then set them back down. He glanced over at Fes, and the look on his face seemed to question whether Fes knew that the pearls were now inert or not.

  Fes didn’t know what he should do. Should he admit to recognizing that, or should he be better off pretending that he had no idea? Ignorance was often the best option around those with real power. He had no real power. Nothing other than his daggers.

  “I keep nothing from him. Unlike you.”

  “Enough,” the emperor said, waving his hand. “I can see from the both of you that there is more taking place here than I realized.”

  He looked over at Fes. “I expect to speak with you again soon.”

  With that, the emperor strode from Azithan’s room and made his way down the hall. The guards who were watching gave one quick glance before following.

  Elizabeth stared at Fes for a long moment before turning her attention to Azithan. “I’m aware of what you did.”

  “Then perhaps you can enlighten me, as I’m not aware of what you’re implying.”

  She sneered at him. “Do not think that this ends things between us. I am fully aware of exactly what you have been up to.”

  “And what is that?”

  “You have this one acquiring items of power for you. The emperor will know. And when he does, you will find that you go out of favor.”

  “It seems that I already have gone out of favor,” Azithan said. He stared at Elizabeth, meeting her gaze unblinkingly.

  Elizabeth looked at him before turning and striding out of the room. When she was gone, Azithan slowly made his way to the door. When he closed it, he ran his hand along the entire doorframe, and Fes was aware of power surging through the door before fading.

  “Would you care to tell me what this was about?” Azithan asked.

  “I thought you might be able to answer that for me,” Fes said. “They came and found me out in the city.”

  “Who found you?”

  “The Dragon Guard.”

  Azithan took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “This is not what I expected. Then again, I had not realized that Elizabeth would have gained such favor. Perhaps it was my mistake sending you after her.”

  “You didn’t know?”

  Azithan leveled his gaze on Fes. “I don’t know all things, Fezarn. My knowledge of her consists of knowing that she has some skill, but she is not nearly as talented as she would like to believe. It makes her dangerous. And, it seems, her ambition makes her even more dangerous.”

  “Her lack of ability makes her dangerous?”

  “Lack of insight as to that shortage of ability.” He turned to Fes. “Think of how she attacked you.”

  “The golem?”

  “The golem. Such a creature should not have been brought into any city in the empire, and certainly not Vayan. The fact that she was willing to risk that tells me everything that I need to know about Elizabeth and her insight.”

  “Why?”

  “Because a golem can go rogue. They are difficult to control even for the most powerful mage.”

  Azithan said mage, not fire mage. “What kind of mages are we talking about?”

  “Do you believe that fire mages are the only power in this world?”

  Fes hadn’t given it much thought. “What other kind of mages are there?” Did he mean people like Indra and her totems?

  “There are many with power, Fezarn. Why else do you think the empire needed the power that we have?”

  “I didn’t realize that it was to counter something else.”

  “Only because the empire keeps that knowledge concealed. It’s safer that way. If others knew what existed out in the world, if they knew that there were others who posed a real threat, there would be chaos.”

  “I’m not certain that there would be chaos.”

  “Think of how stable the empire has been over the centuries. Think of what we have been able to accomplish because there has been stability with the fire mages. Imagine what would’ve happened were there not that stability?”

  Fes shrugged. “I don’t know that it affects me that much.”

  “Ah, so many people believe that the outside world would not affect them, but in that, they are mistaken. Understanding that we are but a small part of a much larger world is the path to wisdom.”

  “Is that why you have Carter planning to head out of the city?”

  Azithan stared at him for a moment. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean your assignment for Carter.”

  Fes watched Azithan. He wasn’t certain whether Azithan was the one who had assigned Carter or not but he thought that it was most likely. The look on the man’s face told Fes that perhaps that was wrong. Maybe Carter was working on behalf of some other employer.

  “Again? And what does she plan?”

  “You didn’t hire her?” Fes asked.

  “Fezarn, I am not playing coy. I would have you tell me what you know.”

  Heat began to build and Fes instinctively grabbed for his daggers and used them to cut through the spell that Azithan was attempting. It parted the magic, slowing it so that whatever Azithan intended for that spell faded quickly.

  “I told you what I know and that Carter has taken on some other job.”

  “What other job is it?”

  Fes debated whether he should share with Azithan before deciding that he needed to. If he had any desire to have Azithan share with him, he needed to reveal what he knew.

  “She intended for me to help her reach Toulen.”

  Azithan tensed. “Are you certain that was the request?”

  “I’m quite certain. She has a hostage. A girl I met during the last mission out of Anuhr.”

  “The one that you took on behalf of Horus, I recall.”

  “I might’ve taken it on behalf of Horus, but I seem to remember that I brought you the windfall.”

  Azithan’s gaze drifted to the far side of the room. Was that where he was keeping the dragon heart relic?

  “Yes. You did bring me the windfall. Now, why is this girl important?”

  “She’s a girl I met. Her father was a merchant trading in Anuhr. Someone killed her father, though I’m not certain who.” It didn’t fit with the rebellion, but Indra claimed that was what had happened. “And now she’s trying to coerce me into helping bring this girl back home.” Fes shrugged as he watched Azithan. The fire mage’s face was unreadable, though that was not unique. “I imagine that you had something to do with this?”

  “That is not an assignment of mine.”

  “She’s always worked for someone. Then you have nothing to do with the fact that Carter took the money that I earned from my last job?”

  Azithan stared at Fes. “That was coin that you earned, Fezarn. You know that I have never reclaimed money that you have earned.”

  Azithan hadn’t. Which wa
s why the idea that he might be involved now seemed unusual to Fes. “Who else could she be working for?” He hesitated, debating how much to share before telling Azithan, “I thought that maybe it was the emperor, but when the Dragon Guard mentioned Carter’s name to him, he recognized it.”

  “The emperor would not hire someone like Carter. He would believe Carter beneath him.”

  “I gathered that. He called us scavengers.”

  “And you take that as an insult?”

  “It is an insult. I’m not a scavenger.”

  The jobs he took were not to find dragon replicas and pass them off as if they were something else, the way scavengers did. Most of the jobs he had taken on behalf of Azithan had been for true relics, not replicas, though he wasn’t above forging something.

  “Such vehemence in your response,” Azithan said.

  “You know what that title implies.”

  “I understand what that title implies, which is why I have never used it on you, Fezarn. You are a collector. You often will collect items that are of different value.” He turned to a shelf. “I wasn’t lying to the emperor when I said that I have interest in items that are unique.” He reached for a book, and from the binding, Fes recognized that it was one that he had gathered for Azithan. He remembered the process that had been involved in claiming that book. It had been difficult, though many of the items that Azithan had asked him to collect over the years had been difficult to obtain.

  “Do you recall the first job that you took on my behalf?”

  “I remember that you thought to use me.”

  “Use you?” Azithan turned toward him and shook his head. “Fezarn, you have always been mistaken in that. We have had a working relationship. Not built on me using you, but on a mutual benefit. Tell me, have you ever felt as if I have abused that relationship?”

  Fes shook his head. Azithan had been fair with him, and he always paid promptly, which was part of the reason that Fes was so inclined to take jobs from him. He never worried about getting paid, and he never worried about whether Azithan would follow through on his promises. For that matter, he never had to worry about anything with Azithan. He often would bring in other items, and Azithan would pay for those as well.