The Obsidian Palace (Through the Fire Book 3)

by Benjamin Medrano

  “I know they are. That’s why I’m telling them to be safe!” Rithara retorted, closing the carriage door. “If they aren’t, I’m going to be very upset with them.”

  “I don’t know about the others, but I’m going to try to avoid running into anyone that’s dangerous. I’m sure that’s going to be a failure, but I’ll do everything I can to achieve it,” Ruethwyn assured them, smiling in return. “I’ll even ask Korima not to jump in the way if someone attacks me.”

  Korima stuck out her tongue, and Ruethwyn could just barely see it happen from the corner of her eye. Cerid laughed, shaking his head. “I think that’s not going to be easy to manage. Korima hasn’t ever been the type to sit still, and I doubt she will in the future.”

  “Shush, Dad! I can too sit still. I mean, I didn’t get out of bed except to use the outhouse for two days!” Korima protested.

  “A small miracle, and I thought you were on the verge of dying, with how much you complained,” Cerid retorted.

  “I intend to give her one of my shielding rings, so that should keep her from getting into quite as much trouble,” Ruethwyn said, glancing at Korima. “I think I’ll mostly be using the one I have to counter dragon fire, since it worked fairly well in the fight the other day.”

  “Oh! Thank you, Rue!” Korima exclaimed, her expression brightening. “Between that and some earth armor, it’ll be really hard to hurt me!”

  “Don’t you dare test it,” Rithara said, then looked at Ruethwyn again, smiling. “Thank you, Rue. Take care of yourself, and the same goes for the rest of you. If I hear you don’t pay attention to Sir Whisperblade, Korima, I’ll tell the ancestors.”

  “Aww…” Korima’s ears drooped, and Ruethwyn laughed, then took a seat.

  “Goodbye, Lady Rithara,” Sella said, smiling from her seat. “Despite the attack, I loved visiting.”

  “I did as well,” Tadrick added, smiling. “I hope to come visit after we return.”

  “We’d love to have you. If you succeed, a celebration is certainly in order,” Rithara agreed. “Now, go on. You’ve got a long day of travel ahead of you.”

  “Goodbye!” Ruethwyn said, watching them stand back.

  The carriage lurched forward as the horses began to move, and Ruethwyn saw them pass a couple of mounted soldiers, at least until they started moving. She’d been a bit surprised that the nearest fortress had chosen to send a dozen soldiers to escort them to the capital, but Ruethwyn wasn’t going to object, especially not after Tadrick had talked to their commander and been so approving.

  “I’m a little surprised that we didn’t get many people who were upset with us,” Sella spoke up eventually, her tone soft. “I expected that more than a handful of people would blame us.”

  “Yeah, I felt about the same,” Ruethwyn agreed. “Lord Noril said they wouldn’t, but I had my doubts.”

  “I don’t see why they would,” Korima said, snuggling into Ruethwyn’s side, and pressing her into the wall of the carriage.

  “Korima!” Ruethwyn protested.

  “What? I’m just getting comfortable,” Korima said, not sounding sorry at all.

  “You’re pressing me into the wall. Stop that,” Ruethwyn replied, firmly shoving Korima away.

  “Um, Korima? What did you mean, about not seeing why they’d blame us?” Tadrick asked, not commenting on her exchange with Ruethwyn.

  Korima backed off reluctantly but replied after a moment. “Well, I’d think that was obvious. The cult tried to grab Mother last year, and we helped to stop them, sure, but they still tried to grab her. We don’t have any idea if that was because of Lord Jerkass or because they wanted to, but I could totally see them having wanted to turn her into a puppet or something to get into the village. If they were trying to spread their disease without being noticed… well, that would’ve been bad. Since they seemed to be targeting our clan to begin with, it isn’t like they’d be upset that a small cadre were specifically targeting Rue and the rest of us. You saw how focused most of them were on the rest of the clan, too.”

  “Ah. Well… true,” Tadrick admitted, sitting back as the wagon hit a bump. “I didn’t think of that.”

  “Most of the time, the clan is practical. The four of us didn’t mean to cause any problems, and we all did our best to help, even if I was unconscious for most of the battle,” Korima said, smiling warmly. “All of you helped afterward, too, so it isn’t like you tried to avoid responsibility. That made people respect you more. Don’t worry, you wouldn’t have been invited back again if they were upset.”

  “Which means you can flirt with Ceda more,” Sella added helpfully, prompting Tadrick to flush.

  “That’s an entirely different subject, thank you,” Tadrick replied, avoiding Sella’s gaze.

  Ruethwyn laughed and smiled. “Well, at least we know that we have someplace to come back to aside from the academy. I rather liked it in the town.”

  “Wonderful!” Korima said, almost tackling Ruethwyn again, and making her yelp.

  “Korima!” Ruethwyn said, a bit exasperated. “Couldn’t you calm down a little?”

  “I was cooped up for two days, of course not! Besides, you wouldn’t show me your other shapes with atavism,” Korima said, sniffing slightly.

  “I wasn’t spending mana on that when we were helping. Besides, you’ll see them eventually,” Ruethwyn replied firmly. “For now, it’ll have to wait.”

  Korima promptly pouted, which caused Sella to giggle, and Ruethwyn to roll her eyes. At least it was distracting her from the coming trip, though.

  The trip back to Tyrness was uneventful, to Ruethwyn’s relief. That was likely at least partly because of their escort, but Ruethwyn was simply happy that it hadn’t been eventful. On the other hand, Korima and the others hadn’t let her relax too much, instead badgering her about atavism, especially since Sella had managed to use it with lightning magic.

  What intrigued Ruethwyn the most was that Sella had been able to do so by conjuring lightning with a spell, not with natural lightning. She hadn’t been certain that conjured elements would work with atavism, and it certainly changed her point of view where the possibilities of atavism were concerned. Fortunately, none of the others had been inclined to try using atavism on the trip, or Ruethwyn might have had a heart attack.

  As it was, they reached Tyrness while it was still light out, and Ruethwyn took the time to send a message to Sir Alaran to arrange their meeting the following day. Once that was done, Ruethwyn got her own room and hid in it, since both Korima and Sella were being just a bit more forward and competitive than Ruethwyn would prefer.

  She was almost looking forward to the infiltration.

  Chapter 30

  The house they stopped in front of was different than Ruethwyn had expected. Tadrick had said that this was a nicer neighborhood, but that had made Ruethwyn think of the mansions they’d seen near Lord Elisir’s manor, not the clusters of smaller homes they’d been wandering through. Ruethwyn wasn’t sure what she’d expected, but the small home they were standing in front of wasn’t it, as it was composed of maybe six to eight rooms at most, more likely three to four, and the wooden house had whitewashed walls and an immaculately groomed garden around it. It didn’t look like a knight’s home, not to her.

  “Huh. This is a nice place, and something about it…” Korima said, sniffing. “It feels better than a lot of places I’ve seen.”

  “That’s because of the garden design,” Tadrick explained, grinning as he nodded toward the garden in question. “It’s made to allow natural energies to flow through the area more smoothly, which leads to the garden flourishing more easily, mana recovering more quickly, and the residents generally feeling better.”

  “Really? I hadn’t heard of that. I mean, I’d heard that the landscape can influence mana, but…” Ruethwyn paused, then shrugged. “I wonder if it’s just one of those things that hasn’t come up before?”

  “You mean that it’s something that I knew and you didn’t? H
ow shocking!” Tadrick teased, grinning broadly. A moment later, he grew more serious, though. “Honestly, it’s probably because it takes a fair amount of work to maintain. Lots of nobility pay to have master gardeners arrange and maintain their grounds, so it’s common for us. Here, I’ll bet that the owners of the homes in an area pool funds to hire people to maintain it for them. I can’t imagine smaller towns having the time or need for something like this.”

  “Ah, I was going to say that it sounded odd,” Sella murmured, glancing at Ruethwyn in amusement. “Tadrick has a point about knowing something you haven’t learned about, though.”

  “My research tended to be rather focused, I’ll have you know. There are plenty of things I don’t know about. Remember what Master Mara said, too. You have to know something exists to find it in the archives, most of the time,” Ruethwyn replied, sighing. “Have I really come across as knowing everything?”

  “Just a bit,” Korima said, holding two fingers close together, then pausing and changing to doing it with her hands… and slowly expanding them outward until her arms were almost at full extension. “A little, mostly in classes.”

  Sella and Tadrick laughed as Ruethwyn sighed again, shaking her head. “I suppose I should’ve kept my mouth shut, then.”

  Rather than continue opening herself to teasing, Ruethwyn approached the house, noticing the brass knocker set into the front door. It was an odd thing to notice, but she’d never seen one like it in Mellesyn, though they were more common in the capital. Reaching out, she took hold of the knocker and struck twice, wincing at the sharp sound.

  “It was useful, Rue.” Sella spoke after a few moments. “It was just… well, it seemed like you had the answers a lot of the time.”

  “Basic magical knowledge is fairly universal,” Ruethwyn replied, shaking her head. “I’ve been ahead of you in my studies, but I don’t know everything. Master Mara ignored me because I had most of the knowledge needed already. Next year will be different.”

  “If you say so,” Tadrick murmured, sounding dubious.

  The sound of a chain being undone and the door unlocking distracted Ruethwyn, and then the door opened. Sir Alaran stood on the other side of the door, wearing black trousers and a deep blue shirt that Ruethwyn thought suited him well. The man smiled, nodding to them as he spoke warmly. “Hello, Ruethwyn! I see Korima, Sella, and Tadrick are with you. Are they joining us on this risky endeavor? I can’t recommend it, but I’m hardly one to talk.”

  “Joining us?” Ruethwyn blinked in surprise, then asked. “Are you coming with me, Sir Whisperblade?”

  “Alaran, please. Drop the ‘sir’ since it’s no longer accurate,” he replied, gesturing her forward. “Come in, please.”

  “What do you mean? You’re a knight!” Tadrick protested, but they stepped inside at the invitation.

  The front room was cozy, with a small, well-used table, a bookshelf on one wall, and several chairs. If a couple were brought over from the wall, they’d have enough seats for all of them. Ruethwyn paused, a little uncomfortable and confused as Sir Alaran closed the door.

  “I was a knight. In order to join Ruethwyn on this exceedingly risky mission, I renounced my knighthood and resigned my commission,” Alaran corrected, walking around the table to pull out a chair, adding, “Please, have a seat.”

  “You what?” Ruethwyn yelped, her eyes going huge. “But… but why would you do that? Why would you need to do that?”

  “I did because I’m determined to help you rescue the other survivors of Mellesyn, and any others we can get out as well. Her Majesty wasn’t pleased with my decision either, but acquiesced after I explained my reasoning,” Alaran explained, sitting down slowly and clasping his hands on the table. “Please, sit. I’ll explain once you do.”

  Ruethwyn frowned at him, but after Korima gave her a gentle shove, she moved to take a seat, unslinging her satchel to set it on the floor gently. Tadrick brought over a chair for himself, since there were already four around the table, and Korima and Sella seated themselves.

  “When we attempted to rescue the villagers before, I went with two dozen others. We came extremely close to success but set off the alarms when we attempted to breach the doors of the wing of the Obsidian Palace where they were being kept. In the aftermath, all but myself were killed, and Essryl nearly killed me when she threw me over the castle wall,” Alaran explained, and Ruethwyn flinched at the description of what happened. The knight, she couldn’t help but think of him as that, continued calmly. “She came down afterward and healed me enough to get out of there, but also gave a warning. If the kingdom attempted to rescue the girls again, Resvarygrath would take offense and would retaliate. We likely could win, or at least kill him, but such a conflict would devastate our army and leave us open to invasion, such as if Palto decided to go for a full-scale conflict. Selwyn likely wouldn’t survive the year if that happened.”

  Ruethwyn flinched, and Tadrick muttered softly. “Gods above… that would be horrible. They’re already looking for openings, too.”

  “Precisely. However, Ruethwyn isn’t a representative of the kingdom. She’s someone who Resvarygrath has personally wronged, and as such, according to records of draconic honor, she is allowed, almost expected, to attempt to avenge herself,” Alaran continued. “She can ask for help from others, and she’s asked me for mine. However, to avoid implicating Selwyn in this, I had to sever all official ties between myself and the nation. This isn’t a mere formality, either. I have no access to the kingdom’s resources, though I’ve been given contact information for our spies, who’ve been directed to give us information. If we return, I’ll likely be knighted again, but for the time being, I’m not a knight.”

  “I see. That explains why you resigned your commission, though why you’re coming with is… another question, really. But it’s your choice, and I’m honored you intend to help me,” Ruethwyn said, and glanced over at the others before smiling wryly. “As for your question before, I’ve been trying to dissuade my friends from coming with me, but it hasn’t been successful as of yet. Since they chased me into the Frostglades, I think it’s best to just let them come along rather than allowing them to potentially get themselves caught.”

  “We learned our lesson last time, and the Golden Dominion is significantly less… directly hazardous than the Frostglades are,” Sella said, sniffing softly. “You’re the one who stands out, Rue.”

  “An excellent point, and one which I was going to bring up,” Alaran said, glancing at the others for a moment, then shrugging. “To be honest, a group of five shouldn’t be too difficult to hide, particularly if Korima can appear human or elven. Your hair and general appearance, though… you did say you were going to the Lightweaver Enclave to try to find a method of hiding it. Was it a success?”

  “It was. One moment…” Ruethwyn paused, then murmured. “Eretha?”

  The summoning for Eretha was different, in large part because Ruethwyn suspected that the spirit fox was somewhere nearby, hidden from sight. In seconds, she felt the spirit fox appear in her mind, feeling slightly entertained as she asked, “Yes, Ruethwyn? Can I call you Rue, like your friends do?”

  “Of course you may. Shall we show them what we tested last night?” Ruethwyn asked, glancing down at her arms and the warm red glow of the patterns. At least those didn’t last when she used the kitsune’s talent of shapeshifting.

  “Sure!” Eretha said, and Ruethwyn felt her body… ripple. That was the best way she could describe it, like she’d been near something loud and felt the sound reverberate through her body.

  The patterns across Ruethwyn’s skin vanished, and her hands and arms changed from the near-pristine pale skin to a slightly darker, rougher skin, and her fingers were covered in calluses from where she’d often handled books in the libraries. Ruethwyn felt her eyesight shift marginally, and her hair changed to the deep brown that was nearly black that she’d had growing up.

  “Oh!” Korima’s eyes went wide as she looked a
t Ruethwyn, her lips pursed in surprise, and the others were looking at her oddly as well. A moment later, Korima asked. “Rue… is that how you looked before the attack? You’re pretty!”

  “No I’m not. I’m about average,” Ruethwyn corrected, shaking her head. “But yes, this is what I used to look like. With Eretha’s help, I can maintain this shape almost indefinitely, since I’m not maintaining a summoning.”

  “Maybe not pretty, but you don’t look bad, Rue,” Tadrick said, looking at her thoughtfully. “You probably wouldn’t attract too much attention in clothing that’s closer to normal. In elaborate clothing, anyone is distinctive.”

  “I believe they’re right. That will make getting into the Golden Dominion much easier, though, and helps me relax,” Alaran said, smiling at Ruethwyn.

  Sella nodded, looking at Ruethwyn… almost sadly. It made Ruethwyn wonder what she was thinking, but she didn’t have time for that. Shaking the thought off, Ruethwyn instead focused on Alaran, leaning forward as she asked. “Well, that being the case… you said you were going to see what you could share. Do you have any idea how we could get to the Obsidian Palace? Or how we can get out, along with anyone we rescue?”

  “Yes, of course,” Alaran agreed, smiling. “In all honesty, getting in is the easy part. We’re approximately seventy miles from the border here, and I believe taking horses or a carriage to the border is our best option. That will take about two days, and while soldiers of the Dominion patrol the border, they’re relatively spread out, and bypassing them should be simple. I have a spell that helps avoid leaving tracks, too. Crossing into the Dominion is likely the riskiest part of the trip there, honestly, though we’ll have to leave any horses behind. They’re expensive enough that using them in the Golden Dominion will draw too much attention.”

  “Ah. That… well, I didn’t know about the patrols, but I thought that might be the case,” Ruethwyn paused, then asked, “Do you think it’d be safe to stop by Mellesyn? I don’t know if anyone has tried to rebuild it, but…”