Dominic’s office always bothered her. He was just as messy as Liza, if not more so. His desk was covered in piles of paper, open books, and other bits of day-to-day mess that grow when not attended to. There were two chairs across from his desk. Keira wondered briefly if Hobb had told her the wrong place to meet them, but even if he had, this would be one of the best places to wait for them to return. She walked in and sat in one of the chairs.
It was a struggle for her not to start tidying. Instead she tapped her foot rapidly on the ground, rapped her fingers on the arm of the chair, and did anything else she could think of to burn off the some of the nervous energy she felt bubbling up inside.
The last time she had seen her brother was two years ago. They talked some through letters, but it wasn’t easy. He didn’t often know where he would be going next or when he could come back to wherever he was most recently receiving his mail. And when they did write, there was a lot that couldn’t be said in case the letters were stolen. What little he did write was mostly to let her know he hadn’t died in a terrible airship crash or something equally tragic.
She sat there while her patience frayed, wondering with each passing moment how much longer they would be or if there was somewhere else she should be waiting or going when suddenly there were footsteps out in the hall. She heard Dominic’s voice talking to someone. Keira’s back straightened. She forced her foot to stop tapping and put her hands in her lap. She decided to be restrained, even dignified, when Basil arrived to better show how much she’d matured since last seeing him.
That decision held right up until he walked in the room and she tackle-hugged him.
Basil was a hawkish man, tall with short-clipped hair. Keira and Basil had always shared many of their father’s features, but the past year had done a lot to emphasize that. They had the same narrow jaw, high cheekbones, and general sharp features. His eyes were an icy blue-grey he said were like his mother’s, whereas Keira had gotten her darker green eyes from her own mother. He wore his captain’s uniform, and its formality contrasted strongly with Dominic’s slept-in, wrinkled clothing. As he had come around the corner, his face had held his near perpetual cool gaze, but the moment he saw her, it softened and a smile touched his lips.
“Hey sis. Good to see you too,” he said, hugging her back.
Basil wasn’t the type for long hugs and soon let her go. Dominic shut the door behind them, moved to sit at his desk, and promptly started banging his head on the wood. Keira gave Basil a worried look.
“Is he okay?” she asked.
“It’s been a long night. We would have been here sooner, but we ran into Duriel outside,” Basil said, as though that explained.
Dominic grunted in agreement and straightened up. He looked more rumpled than usual, his hair in greater disarray and his eyes dull with the need for sleep.
“And a longer day ahead. Duriel isn’t gonna be willing to wait long, so you’ll have to keep this short,” Dominic said, shooting Keira an apologetic glance before rifling through his desk. Basil ignored him, sat in one of the chairs on the opposite side of the desk and gestured for Keira to sit in the other.
“I wish this was just a social call, but it’s not,” he said, his face turning grave. “In the past two weeks, six hub towns on the rim have been destroyed.”
Keira felt her eyes go wide and her jaw drop. “Six?”
“That’s just the past two weeks. It’s not unusual to lose three or four a year. But this many in such a short time frame means intent. And that’s not the worst of it.”
“You don’t mean Dad—” Keira started, but Basil anticipated this and cut her off with a shake of his head.
“No. Still no trace of him. Dominic, do you have a map?”
“Uh…. yeah. Somewhere,” Dominic said, looking up and around at the disarray of the room. Basil and Keira rolled their eyes in unison. Basil took a mostly blank piece of paper from Dominic’s desk along with one of the many scattered pens. That pen was dry and he had to grab a second.
It only took him a few quick lines to sketch out an easily recognizable map of the country. He scattered a few dots and lines for points of reference. He finished by labeling Peritura near the center the map and pointed to one of the nearby points on the map.
“This was where Duskdale was. Near as we can tell, it was the first to go.” He pointed to two more places, one to the northeast towards the heart of the empire and the second a little further south, this one named on the map unlike the other two. “Then Plainview and Flumin. After that was Montiston, Cadite, and just three days ago, Viridis. Do you see the pattern, Keira?”
“The towns are all concentrated in this area, and each one is bigger than the last.”
“What else?” Basil said, watching her closely. She saw what he was talking about and it made the bottom drop out of her stomach.
“They’re moving in this direction,” she said.
Basil nodded. “I’m told you saw someone in the forest. Someone corrupted.”
“You think that something’s found out I’m in this area. You’re going to make me move again,” Keira said. Her voice was calm, but that was only because the revelation left her numb.
“I don’t know. There are other explanations, but I wouldn’t put money on any of them. It is entirely possible that this is unrelated. But yes, for your safety, we’re going to have to relocate you.”
Keira felt weak and out of breath, like someone had punched her in the gut. She’d already lost everything once and everything, everyone she’d known taken away from her. She hadn’t realized until just now that she had begun to think of Peritura as home. At that thought, another struck her like a lightning bolt.
“Wait, what are you going to do to stop this?”
“Nothing. This town isn’t my priority,” Basil said, the cold coming back into his eyes.
“Are you serious? You know how many people live here?” The heat she felt rising in her chest was bleeding into her voice. She didn’t want it to, she wanted to speak calmly, the way Basil would, but she couldn’t.
“I know about that and more. It changes nothing. You’re getting on my ship tomorrow.”
“You’d just leave these people to die?” Keira all but yelled.
Basil was silent then. His eyes were frozen, hard and flat as the surface of a lake in deep winter. “Keira, if it meant your safety, I would kill every single person in this city myself.”
She could see the absolute truth of it in his eyes and in the complete lack of hesitation in him. The chill words sent a shiver up her spine but didn’t cool the fire of her anger. That, raw and seething, only grew.
“Then take me with you. Where else am I going to be safer than with a murderer like you?” A part of her wanted to take that word back the moment she said it, but that part was small. Basil didn’t flinch away from the accusation. It didn’t even seem he’d really noticed it.
“No. You might be safe for a little while, but you’re still not ready. I’ve talked to Miyo and Dominic. They both say you’ve improved, but it’s not enough. I have work to do. You’re not useful enough yet to risk.”
The words cut Keira like a knife. Just because she couldn’t snuff out a candle? That didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything. Far from it. Her mind flashed back to the gremlins that had surrounded her in the forest. Sure, she had fainted afterward, but she'd killed them first. Now she wanted to show him just how much she could do. It had been years since she’d cut loose, years of holding back, of lying to her friends, of keeping secrets. She knew her strength had grown over the last few years. Just how strong was she now? How strong would she need to be to prove him wrong?
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“Keira. Control,” Dominic said softly.
She felt it then. The room was hot, not just warm but like being outside in the middle of summer. Had she done that? Then she felt the magic she’d drawn in with her anger. It flowed out from her chest in burning pulses. As soon as she realized it was there, she knew she had to do something with it before the mark showed up. Alarmed, she tried to think, but the magic was already blazing inside her, searching for an exit as she suddenly felt the inky black lines wrapping around her arm like frozen fingers. She couldn’t just let this much energy go. But she had no idea what would happen if she tried to hold on to it. Would she explode? She nearly bolted for the door, to try to get outside, but she felt a hand clap down on her shoulder.
The magic surged out of her in a burning flash. She looked up to see it was Dominic touching her. He turned to his fireplace and snapped his fingers. There was a roar and a bang and the bloom of fire exploded to life. The heat that came off it stung her face and momentarily blinded her as it rushed up the chimney.
She suddenly felt weak and sank back down towards the chair behind her. Dominic kept his hand on her shoulder long enough to help guide her down. She sat there for a few moments, an involuntary shudder passing over her body. Basil meanwhile stared at the fire, saying nothing. When he finally did turn his icy gaze back to her, he only said one word.
“See?”
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Keira left the mansion trying to calm herself down. She was still so angry that she was on the verge of tears. She quickly lost herself amid all the people. The light was beginning to fade by the time her anger cooled, but she knew from her time living here that the streets would still be just as packed for another few hours. Evenings meant ships stopping for the night and people looking for decent food and a place to sleep that wasn’t the cramped quarters of an airship.
For a while she just walked with no particular destination in mind. She let her feet carry her where they would while she tried to sort out the mess in her head. She was surprised that she had so much feeling for this place, for Miyo and her family, for Dominic and Liza, even for people she hadn’t spent nearly as much time with like Miles and Raziel and their friends.
That thought froze her in mid-step. Would she ever find out what had happened to Raziel and Hoeru?
She’d spent so many days fantasizing about leaving this small town to go with her brother. When she’d left the capitol, she’d been so disoriented. It felt almost like cutting off a limb to leave so much of what she knew, to try to fit into such a smaller town, a smaller world, like what she found in Peritura. But after spending just a few years here, she couldn’t imagine starting over again somewhere new. Would there be someone like Liza to pull her out of her room when she needed it? Would her new teachers be as patient as Miyo and Dominic? Would she miss familiar annoyances like Raziel?
Eventually she felt tired and found a bench to sit on. She sat watching the passing people, surprised at herself by how intrigued she was by their differences. Not just the different races but the myriad of cultures on display before her. She knew that Arcas was vast, that there were millions of individual lives that called the kingdom their home, but to see it on display like this was different. It made her feel small, humbled by the sheer number of people and the joys, problems, and all the moments they all experienced that she would never know anything about. She looked up, sinking down and laying her head on the back of the bench so she could just listen to all the voices talking, laughing, shouting all around her. Far above the pale moon looked back down at her, drawing her gaze. For a moment she felt like a rock in a river, letting it all wash over her and washing away the pain of her own problems.
Someone leapt across two buildings, passing in front of the moon as silently as an owl on the hunt.
Keira sat up straight and turned to look, but the person was gone. A quick look around told her no one else had noticed it. She was up and moving before she really even understood why. Once she found how easy it was to find a place in an alley to climb up, she wondered why more people didn’t use the roofs to travel.
She caught sight of the runner again and instantly knew why her instincts had told her to follow him. The figure’s shabby clothes were unmistakable. It was Mask.
Thankfully, there was enough distance between them that, with the crowds below, Mask wasn’t likely to hear her following. She had to be careful though, in case he turned.
There was something strange in the way he moved, something too graceful. Keira knew she shouldn’t be following him. What she ought to do is alert the town guards or, better yet, Dominic and her brother. But even as the thought occurred to her, she rejected it. She told herself she needed more information before doing something like that. She needed to know more than just that there was someone corrupted running through Peritura. It sounded like an excuse even to herself, but she didn’t care.
The path the runner took along the rooftops led toward the residential section of town. It seemed that he was trying to avoid making leaps between buildings as there were more direct routes he could have taken. Probably trying to keep from drawing attention to himself.
She was getting tired after chasing him across the whole entertainment district. She nearly lost him when he dropped down into an alley. When she caught up, she found him waiting patiently as a guard patrol passed by on the main street. A stray cat stepped out of the shadows and cautiously moved towards him. He glanced at it before returning his gaze to the passing guards. When the cat was within arm’s reach, he put his hand out and, once it had sniffed his glove, it allowed him to stroke its fur. The guards passed, he stood, reached into a pocket, and dropped something that the cat snatched and took off with.
She had to duck down as he looked around. Something about the way he’d treated the cat disturbed her. Corrupted were monsters. Were monsters kind to stray cats?
She caught a glimpse of something flat and white beneath the hood. In her mind she heard what her brother had said about towns being destroyed recently. Her skin turned to goose flesh. Could she be following someone that was looking for her?
Soon enough Mask was moving again, and she was following down into the alley and back up to the rooftops once again. Mask stopped at a house and hopped down from the roof to a balcony below. She crouched low and peaked out over the edge of the roof to watch. Mask stood still on the balcony, waiting. Almost as soon as she was in position, the door opened. She heard a voice she recognized coming from within and the bottom dropped out of her stomach.
“What in six hells are you doing here?” Alban growled, clearly wanting to shout but making an effort to control himself.
Keira had to strain to hear Mask’s reply. “Have you extracted any information on the tower from the boy?”
Keira’s eyes went wide. Mask could only be talking about Hoeru or Raziel. She thought it was probably Raziel since he’d had that book with information about the tower. What was Alban doing to him?
Alban’s silence was long enough to be an answer, but he finally replied, “No. He is proving to be… resilient.”
When silence reigned again, Keira risked poking her head up for another look. Obviously, the mask prevented her from seeing any emotion on his face; his stance spoke of impending violence. She could just barely see Alban through the doorway, but even that was enough to see the tension in his bearing.
When he spoke again, Mask’s perfect enunciation only emphasized his anger. “We have run out of time. You will have the information for me tomorrow, or you will have proved yourself incompetent.”
“What? What do you mean we are out of time?”
“Basil the Blade has come to the city.”
“What?” Alban gasped. Keira’s head was whirling. How did they know her brother was here?
“Yes. He’s here in the town at this very moment. I will not risk coming within the walls again. If you wish to show that you are worth my time, you will have information for me by noon tomorrow. Send your son into the forest with what I need to know. My agents will find him. If you fail, the next time you see me will be the last time you see anyone.”
Mask turned away and moved toward the balcony’s edge.
“Wait!” Alban said, stepping out for the first time.
Mask did not. He jumped, put a foot on the railing, and Keira felt the barest whisper of magic as he silently leapt up and across to the roof of the house across the street. Alban stood there shaking. Keira could see his knuckles going white as he gripped the railing. When his tremors finally stopped, he turned and walked back into the house.
Keira forced herself to count slowly to one hundred. Only when she finished did she let herself begin moving. She was quiet and careful as she moved from rooftop to rooftop, but her mind was a whirlwind. That the town wizard working with someone who’d been corrupted was a horrifying idea to her, but there could be no mistaking what she’d just witnessed.
That wasn’t what was swirling around in her head as she quickly made her way back to the mansion.
Instead she was trying to figure out what to do about it. She knew what she ought to do. She ought to go straight to Dominic and Basil and tell them what she had seen. She also knew that if she did that, she’d be on Basil’s ship faster than she could blink. But Mask wanted something beneath the tower in the fort, meaning she wasn’t his target.
On top of that, Raziel was in trouble, and if she told anyone else, there was no telling what would happen to him. If Alban knew that he’d been exposed, he might use Raziel as a hostage or kill him. And who knew if Basil would do anything about the tower out in the forest? Or if he’d even be able to while they were busy whisking her away.
A thought struck her like a thunderbolt. She could do it herself. She could save everyone.
Mask and Alban had no idea she knew of their plans. If she could get Raziel and Hoeru away from the hospital, Alban wouldn’t dare contact Mask. And with Raziel and Hoeru, she could stop Mask at the tower. She had the element of surprise. That was all she needed. She could stop them, she could save Peritura. She’d still have to leave, of course; there was nothing that could stop that now. But there would be no way that Basil could say that she wasn’t ready to help him.
She just needed a plan….