The Sparrowhawk was unlike any other airship Eshaan had ever seen. A rounded disk like two saucers slapped together, with a single stubby cigar shape at the front, and two at the rear, housing the cockpit and engines.
He wasn’t entirely sure it would hold together, Lily’s words about airship crashes from the time they had wrecked on the Tol Jaegren peaks coming back to him. The ship was so strange and it looked… well if he was honest it looked like it had been cobbled together from scrap, mingled metal and wood, with the bright bronze gold gleam of normal airship parts with the cream white of freshly painted wood.
He looked over at Dar… Princess Lakshmi darn it! He thought in frustration, feeling the same urge to kneel or bow or… or something! Everything was confusing and nothing had made any sense for… a long time now, honestly. But one thing was clear. He clenched his fist tightly.
Lily needs my help. I made a promise, and I’m going to keep it. And that was all there was to it.
***
Lakshmi clambered into the cabin. Everyone but Eideth hastily piled aboard behind her.
Lakshmi leaned out of the hatch to peer down in puzzlement at Eideth. “Aren’t you coming with us?”
“No.” The Monan woman shook her head. “I’ll be staying here. We’ll stick with the plan, when you go rescue Lilyanna, come get me like we planned.” She grinned up at Lakshmi. “Much as I like you girl, I’m still hoping to get a free ride to Galgados. I need to report to the Engineer’s Council! I’m happy to help otherwise, but you’re not going to be doing things I’d be any help with!” She saluted with a gloved hand. “You’ll do just fine, Sparrowhawk’s got a good captain, and a better engineer onboard. Now don’t you worry, I’ll make sure nothing happens back here.”
She turned abruptly and stalked off towards Holly’s house.
Lakshmi looked after her with a puzzled frown on her face. Daniyel lightly clapped a hand onto her shoulder.
“Princess? It is time for us to depart. We have a long flight ahead of us.” He looked calm and dependable as always, Lakshmi clutched onto that familiarity like a log in a flood. She turned to him and nodded, then slapped the toggle to close the hatch, the soft sound of servos whining as the wooden hatch closed. She turned and faced the small group in the corridor, hands on her hips.
“Alright. Everybody knows what you need to do.”
Eshaan raised his hand. “Actually, princess, I don’t…?”
Lakshmi sighed and put her head in her hand briefly. “Eshaan, go sit down in one of the chairs, belt yourself in, and try to relax. It’s going to be eight hours at full burn.”
Holly nodded. “We’ll need to do minor adjustments to the equipment occasionally, dear, so that will be a good opportunity to get up and stretch your legs.” She smiled kindly at Eshaan and he returned it gratefully.
Honestly, aside from his looks, I have no idea what Lilyanna sees in him! Lakshmi huffed to herself, turning and heading down the corridor to the cockpit.
She slipped into the patchwork cockpit chairs, an oddly comfortable cobbled mix of fabric, wood, and salvaged wreckage, and sat there, staring at the console for a long moment.
This is it. We’re almost ready to go. Hang on, Lily. We’re coming. She thought, and then reached forward to flick the switch that engaged the crystal dynamos.
The smooth hum of elemental crystal fusors igniting the mana ring in the engines filled the air, followed by a subaudible rumble as the lifters came online.
Alright… so far so good. Lakshmi swallowed, and pulled up on the liftbar. The Sparrowhawk trembled like a leaf, and then slowly began to ascend into the clear blue sky overhead.
***
In the passenger hold, Holly blinked in surprise. “My, I didn’t realize that airships had made such strides since I last flew! This is downright pleasant!”
Soriya looked at her with a slight smirk. “Well of course it is. It’s a prototype after all.”
Eshaan spoke up, his hands gripped tightly on the frame of his chair. “It is unusually quiet. Even the empire ships aren’t this smooth.”
Soriya gave a chirping laugh. “I told you, prototype!”
Eshaan looked at her in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
Soriya looked at him with a pitying expression and then said “Let me see if I can explain it another way.” She tapped her finger on her lips. “The Sparrowhawk was hand crafted. Built by an engineer who knows every bolt and every weld of the ship, every line, and every measurement of the blueprint. Mass produced items like an empire airship can’t compare to the care and attention that Lakshmi put into this ship.
From the cockpit Lakshmi’s voice called back “Ok everyone! Hang onto something! I’m about to engage the engines, and then the boosters!”
Soriya grinned in a feral sort of excitement. “Now we find out if we explode!” She said giddily.
Eshaan yelped. “I don’t want to explode!” He yelled in panic.
The mana matrix in the engines shifted to full power thrust. The Sparrowhawk kicked like a mule, shoving everyone hard into their seats. On the ground below, Eideth looked up as the odd little craft shot away to the west, leaving a loud boom and twin trails of white cloud behind her.
***
I waited for them to come get me after the loud clangs and metallic crashes of the ship docking. Running feet outside and shouted orders finally died away to a quiet hum of a ship at rest. And still they left me to wait. I sighed, and lay back against the cell, closing my eyes.
Patience. Patience, Lily, this is a waiting and listening game.
Time behaves strangely when you have no way to keeping track of it. It might have been an hour, it might have been 15 minutes, it might have been 3 hours, I couldn’t tell. It was a long time, before I finally heard the angry stride of a man with too much pride and the rattling of the keys to my jail cell. I let out a sigh of relief.
Finally. Nothing worse than waiting. I thought as I stumbled my way to my feet.
I put a mild smile on my face as Khine entered the cell. His face was stoic and quiet as he faced me.
“You know, Miss Lilyanna. I have devoted my life to the empire.”
I barely managed to stop myself from rolling my eyes, instead tipping my head to the side in an inquiring way. Oh spirits, here we go, the monologue on why he just has to do this, why we don’t understand him, why he refuses to let chaos overwhelm order… blah blah blah.
The next thirty minutes were barely tolerable as he repeated rote lawful evil villain speech #3080. The airship docks were a welcome distraction. They smelled of steel, mana, stressed crystal and hot oil. High overhead lacework girders held up an enormous metal canopy that arched gracefully to the ground vanishing in the far distance. Brilliant, and I had to admit, beautiful magitech gothic architecture. Glowing airships of bronze and blue crystal floating through the air above and below us, visible through the lacework of docks and catwalks all around.
I actually found myself smiling a little whimsically. It was so cool to see all this, right in front of me, really for real.
My attention was pulled back as Khine shifted to speech #547. Something something, glory of the empire, something something a thousand years of order… Sometimes this plot precog is actively worse than nothing… I suddenly perked up, and interrupted him. I felt bad about it, actually, he was just winding up to a really epic climax, and it was incredibly rude but…
”Why do you assume that I bear the empire ill will?” I asked him curiously. “You know my origins. I come from a backwater, in a remote imperial province. I am almost literally the definition of nobody. Until you attacked me outside the cavern, I didn’t even care about the empire.”
Khine stumbled to a halt, clearly thrown off his game. He scowled at me, clearly evaluating what to say. Finally, he said cautiously “Your actions to date indicate otherwise, Miss Lilyanna. Your acts of rebellion against the crown, your refusal to assist imperial investigations, your fellow rebels near sinking of a cargo vessel carrying a secret shipment of imperial weapons. Need I go on?”
I looked up at him, trying my best to make my eyes as wide and ‘clueless innocent’ as I dared. “You may find this hard to believe commander… no, scratch that. Of course you will find this hard to believe. But everything that I have done to date, has been kicked off in response to your actions. This is not an adventure I was hoping to have.” I bit my lower lip thoughtfully, then added “And defending myself against your actions, is not an attack on the empire. Surely you realize that?”
He snorted angrily. “I am the empire! I act as the empire’s arms, legs, its sword, its shield. For all that it matters, I am more the empire than the emperor himself!”
I felt my eyes grow genuinely wide at that. “I do not think the princess would agree with your assessment.” I said quietly.
He snarled angrily and raised his hand, barely managing to hold himself back by force of will. “You are very very lucky that I need you intact for my negotiations with the church.” He snapped. “Do not mistake your good fortune for clemency on my part.” He turned and stalked off, my guards yanking me along after him.
I sighed quietly and followed meekly along.
So, he’s not the misguided but noble sort after all. I really had hoped…
***
The Sparrowhawk had been flying for more than seven hours by now. At first, the sheer speed of the landscape whipping past and the terror of possible explosion kept everyone pinned in their seats. After a steady hour of loud noise and absolutely no explosions, the terror started to ebb into boredom. After another hour, Holly finally sat forward in her chair, and announced. “I brought a deck of cards. Is anyone willing to play a few rounds of Crystals and Kingdoms with me?”
Soriya perked up. “OH that sounds like fun! I’m bored stiff of writing my treatise, I could use a break!” She leaned back and yelled towards the aft where the whine of the overcharged engines filled the air.
“Daniyel! Come play Crystals and Kingdoms with us!”
Daniyel poked his head out of the engineering bay and frowned. “I must attend the engines, Miss Soriya. The calibration is important.”
Soriya flipped a hand dismissively. “Oh come now, have you made a single adjustment in the last thirty minutes?”
Daniyel’s frown grew deeper. “My lack of action currently does not mean that I can relax my vigilance.” He said sternly.
Soriya gave a long-suffering sigh and turned back to Holly. “Looks like it’s just you and me.”
Eshaan swallowed down the lump in his throat and sat forward, unclipping his harness. “Deal me in.” He smiled weakly at the two women. “If you can ignore certain death, then I can hardly stay out. Besides…” He eyed the cards. “You have no idea how many hands of cards troopers play while we wait for nothing to happen.”
Holly looked at Soriya and raised an eyebrow, then started dealing the cards. “I think we’d best not play for money then, dear.” She said to Soriya. “Eshaan here is likely to clean us out!”
Up in the cockpit, Lakshmi’s white knuckled grip on the steering yoke had slowly ebbed to pale pink, then normal dusky brown as the Sparrowhawk continued to perform exactly as she had envisioned.
Granted, nothing’s shooting at us right now… she thought. But that’s why the fighter’s guns are installed in the turret, now isn’t it? She scanned the console with practiced eyes. She’d gained a lot of practice over the past two hours. Below, the Tol Jaegren range raced past in a grey and white blur.
Everything remained perfectly stable. The mana density in the engine cores was steady. The injector coils were running perfectly, and the venting systems (suggested by Soriya) were doing exactly what they were supposed to. She hadn’t even kicked in the booster system, and the Sparrowhawk was already faster than the top end she’d ever run the Pelican at. It was almost eerie just how smoothly it all was working. Not that I’m complaining, mind you! She hastily thought. But lately… it did seem that every time she got into the air, something exploded rather spectacularly.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
She had drunk the potion Holly provided more than an hour ago, and could still feel the faintly purple fizzy feeling of sharp awareness in her. Holly had warned her that she would crash hard after the time was up, but she had a good twelve hours, and the Sparrowhawk should be in Spyre long before that.
Her only real worry was the docking. There were no civilian vessels the size of the Sparrowhawk, they simply didn’t exist.
Well. They hadn’t existed, until today! She thought proudly. I almost wish I could present at the Imperial Scholar’s Competition myself. Father’s eyes would pop out of his head! She grinned fiercely to herself, then her expression grew grim again. I can’t rely on my title to find Lily. Khine proved that. So how am I going to find her… She chewed the thought over in her head for several minutes.
After a moment of thought, she called back “Eshaan? Can I ask for some help?”
Back in the passenger area, Eshaan leapt up, his cards scattered across the deck and table.
“Ah! Yes! Your highness! Captain! I’m coming!”
Holly sighed and bent down to pick up the cards. “Mm, Crystal’s high. He wasn’t kidding about knowing how to play.” She murmured.
Eshaan burst into the cockpit with his usual energy, and then waffled. There wasn’t enough room to kneel, and if he bowed, he’d probably hit Lakshmi on the head. But if he sat down in the presence of nobility…
This is so hard! Lily would know what to do! What would Lily do? He thought.
Lakshmi looked up at him, her blue eyes briefly reminding him of Lily. He could see frustration, pain, and… probably all kinds of ‘royal’ things in them…
“Eshaan, sit.” She said, gesturing to the co-pilot seat next to her. “You’re going to give me a crick in my neck looking up at you like that.”
“Yes, captain princess!” He slipped into the chair with relief. It was good to have clear orders!
The way Lakshmi rolled her eyes definitely reminded him of Lilyanna!
“Could you just… not? Please?” She said with an entreating tone.
“Not… what?” Eshaan asked, confused.
“Just… while I’m piloting, can you not call me princess? Actually could you just not call me princess at all?!” She pleaded.
“Oh! Uh, sure!” He nodded eagerly. “Is this because of the in-disguise-thing? I figured once you returned your hair color, you weren’t in disguise?”
Lakshmi sighed and looked down, muttering under her breath “What Lilyanna sees in you I can’t fathom.” She looked up again. “Eshaan. Please don’t call me princess. I don’t like my title, and I don’t like the weight it carries and I don’t like… anything about it. Ok? Can you understand that?”
Eshaan blinked a few times, and the usual confusing haze that people made around him suddenly swam into one of the blessed moments of clear view.
She… doesn’t like being princess? So… then… “Is it ok if I call you captain?” He ventured.
“I don’t know, am I your captain? Are you one of my crew?” Lakshmi snapped up at him.
Eshaan wasn’t sure how to respond to that… which really covered most of his life, honestly. So he did what he always did, he told the truth.
“I don’t know.” He said frankly. “When we were escaping from Farna, you wanted to pretend we were your crew. When we were at the mines, we were your entourage. When we were building the airship with you, we were ground crew.” He rubbed at the back of his head nervously.
“I’d like to think we’re friends. I’m not very good with people, after all, so it’s hard to make them.”
Lakshmi stared at him for such a long time, he was worried he’d said something strange. Finally, she looked down at the steering yoke and Eshaan thought he caught the words “…why … likes you.”
She looked up at him again, and smiled, her eyes oddly bright. “Sure. Let’s be friends. So. Friends can call each other by their first names, right?”
Eshaan nodded eagerly. This he understood! “Sure, Lakshmi! Let’s be friends! So… is that what you wanted to talk about? Being friends?”
Lakshmi laughed a little then shook her head. “No, Eshaan. I wanted to ask you if you’d been to the imperial air docks, or served time in the palace guards. We need to figure out how we’re going to land and rescue Lilyanna.”
Eshaan blinked. “Oh! Well, I’ve done both! Commander Khine made sure that we got lots of experience in all areas of the empire. So yes, I know a bit of all of that.”
“Great. So do you know the patrol routes at the palace? Or how we can handle the patrols at the air dock?”
Eshaan blinked. “Is this…” He shook his head. “I don’t understand, I thought you’d just ask them, and they’d do what you want? You are…” He waved his hand vaguely, not wanting to say the word.
Lakshmi scowled fiercely. “Commander Khine has informed me quite clearly of my place in the order of things.” She spat. “I don’t think revealing myself to the guards would help.”
Eshaan nodded. “So, does that mean we can’t get Miss Soriya into the inventor’s competition?”
Lakshmi jerked her head up. “What? Eshaan that’s…” she trailed off, her eyes going wide. “That’s brilliant! Of course! Why didn’t I think about that! The bays will be so busy from the competition, with the unloading and loading… and I still have the codes from… yes! We’ll say we’re just part of an inventor’s entourage! Soriya! SORIYA!” Lakshmi hollered into the crew area.
A few moments later Soriya appeared. “What is it, Lakshmi? Did Eshaan do something?”
Lakshmi shook her head in exasperation. “Well of course! But it’s not about that! I have a plan! We have a plan! You’re going to be our inventor for the competition!”
Soriya blinked a few times. “Uh… well I did want to enter yes, but I thought with Lily…?”
“No, that’s just it! The air docks are going to be teeming from the competition! The airship is strange, but we can pawn it off as an inventor’s eccentricity! And you’re our inventor! That way, we’ll get through dock customs and get our pass to the palace! All in one go!” She grinned. “If we’re lucky, we might even get to find out where they’re keeping that hunk of junk from the Tol Jaegren dig site!”
Soriya started to smile, the nodded more rapidly. “Yes… yes this could work really well!”
Eshaan frowned. “But how will that help us find out where Lily is?” He asked.
“One step at a time.” Lakshmi said.
Soriya laughed and flipped her hand. “Are you kidding? That’s the easy part!”
Eshaan and Lakshmi stared at her in disbelief. “Easy?! How do you figure that?!”
Soriya smiled. “This is Lily. She’ll be in the middle of a giant political standoff between two factions, and there will be tons of gossip about it.”
Lakshmi frowned. “You can’t know that, just because the commander captured her doesn’t mean-”
Soriya cut her off. “Trust me!” She said brightly, wiggling her fingers spookily and pointing at her hat. “I’m a witch! Spooky witch powers!”
Eshaan and Lakshmi traded a glance then turned back to Soriya, who continued to smile brightly.
“What could go wrong?!” Soriya said.
***
Commander Khine had locked me in another cell, though this one was at least far more comfortable. It even had a blanket on the cot. I was still impossibly bored though. I considered trying to learn the arts of meditation, but I couldn’t still my mind. I did finally get the lotus posture correct though, even if it took a little wiggling. I didn’t really want to undo all that hard work, so I figured I might as well spend some time speaking with my Arcana. Perhaps I could finally get them to give me something besides cryptic messages. Failing that, I could just become annoyed enough with them that I wouldn’t be bored any longer.
There was a quiet susurrus, and then a mingled harmony of 3 voices. “Child of Æther.”
Well, that’s a start, I suppose.
“We cannot answer questions regarding the locations of the System Keys.”
There was a pause. “We are System Keys.”
There was another pause. “The System.”
I felt a chill down my spine.
“Correct.”
I shivered all over. “Oh good.” I murmured out loud. “And here I thought it was just a doomsday weapon, or the keys to a techno moon castle.”
“The System Nexus can be opened with all nine of the Keys.”
I froze. “Are… are you telling me there’s actually a castle on the moon?”
“Not unless one has been built since we were created.”
I gritted my teeth.
“That is correct.”
“Are you fripping kidding me!?” I screamed aloud. “The honey am I suppose to- Aaaaaaagh!” I picked up the thin prison pillow and screamed into it, emptying my lungs, and then hurled it against the cell wall.
I sat there for a while, panting, finally getting myself back under control. Ok. Ok, so there’s a techno moon dungeon. Wonderful. Fine.
“The local access hub is mobile. It contains a gate to the Nexus.”
“There is no castle on the island.”
I got up, marched over to the pillow, picked it up, and screamed into it again, emptying my lungs. It helped. A little. I marched back to my cot and sat down again. I’d lost my lotus position, but that seemed like a small matter now.
“There are Nine System keys.”
“Correct.”
The sound of boots on metal outside broke my concentration. A slot opened at the bottom of the door, and a tray containing…
Well they probably think its food. I thought uncharitably. I grimaced as I walked over and picked up the tray, sniffing at it, then wrinkled my nose. No wonder Eshaan thinks my cooking is good, if he’s used to this. I sighed and sat down on the cot again. “Well, I should at least try.” With no utensils, I dipped my fingers into the bland pastes on the plate and made do.
The expression on my face must have been something to behold. Eshaan, you poor boy, having to eat this all the time?! How did you survive on this?!
***
The Sparrowhawk arrived at the outskirts of Spyre just as the sun was touching the horizon. Everyone except Daniyel was crowded into the hatch to watch the cityline slowly growing as the ship rushed towards it.
“Well done, dear.” Holly said to Lakshmi. “We’ve arrived exactly as fast as you said we would. We’ve even got time to register Soriya for the competition.” Holly added.
“Say, where’s the cargo ship that Lily almost sank?” Eshaan piped up. “Wouldn’t it have to dock here too?”
Lakshmi blinked in surprise. “I suppose it would have to. The repair docks are over that way…” she pointed, and as the Sparrowhawk advanced, the grey bulk of a cargo ship was revealed, a giant hole still clearly visible through its decking.
The group stared at it in silence for a moment before Holly said “My little girl did that?”
“Yeah.” Lakshmi said quietly. “It was even more impressive from the inside. But she still flew all the way here.”
“Probably towed by the battle fleet you mentioned.” Soriya said. “Though I do hope that Devdan and Priya made it off safely. You did say you didn’t get them involved in the fighting?”
Lakshmi nodded. “Lily did that. That’s just how she is, you know.”
Soriya smiled and gave Lakshmi a quick squeeze on the shoulder. “I do know. She’s my best friend.”
“We should check on them.” Said Eshaan. “Make sure they’re ok.”
A series of colorful firework flares interrupted him. A small ship bearing imperial markings waggled side to side and shot another flare.
Lakshmi said “Ah, there’s the harbor master’s signal. We follow them.” She shifted the guide yoke of the ship and the Sparrowhawk slipped into a graceful sideways slide, following the steady signals from the harbor ship.
“Am I going to need to know anything about the Sparrowhawk to pass as an inventor?” Soriya said with a slight edge to her tone. “Come to that, is there a way that they expect inventors or presenters to act?”
Lakshmi thought about it, then shook her head. “A little arrogant, a little snotty, a lot brainy. Just be yourself and you’ll fit in perfectly.”
Soriya scowled and whapped Lakshmi lightly on the shoulder. “Here I am, presenting a theory that could change the very world and my assistants treat me as comedy!” She affected a tone of high-minded pomposity. “I am a visionary! A woman of learning and letters! The world should be-
Lakshmi twitched the yoke of the ship and the whole ship lurched to the side, knocking Soriya soundly against the hull.
“-Awk!” She cut off, grabbing wildly at the hatch rim and staggering to keep her balance.
Lakshmi was the picture of innocence. “Sorry about that. You should probably sit down, there’s always a tight approach during harbor docking.”
“Plebian! I shall remember this!” Soriya said, avoiding another head knocking by Lakshmi’s piloting as she walked back to the cargo zone. “Daniyel~!” She sang out. “We’re almost there, come see the city with me?”
Daniyel looked up from his cross-legged meditation pose in the engine room, then slowly unfolded himself.
“Truly? This ship Princess Lakshmi has designed is a wonder.” He gestured to the engine core. “And your improvements have made our ingress trip vastly easier than our egress was.”
Soriya smiled lazily and swayed up to him. “You’ll have to tell me all about it. Lakshmi says I just have to act the part of the arrogant genius, and everything will sort itself.”
Daniyel nodded with his imperturbable calm. “That seems a sound plan.” He raised an eyebrow. “Do you believe yourself capable of this deception?”
Soriya blinked at him in surprise, then broke into a broad smile. “Why Daniyel! That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me!”
Daniyel cocked his head to the side. “Your standards for compliments should be raised higher, then.” He looked at the engine, then down at the deck, clearly thinking hard. “I cannot leave Lakshmi unattended, but I would be happy to show you what parts of the city I can. If we have time. I suspect that we may not.” He smiled wryly. “You may have noticed we tend to have unexpected events disrupt plans.”
Soriya’s eyes were large as she stared at him, and then a bright smile spread across her features. She laid a hand lightly on Daniyel’s arm. “I’d like that very much~” She cooed softly.
“Hoy, you two!” Lakshmi’s voice came from the cockpit. “We’re docking, so sit down or you’re going to whack your head for real!”
“Oops.” Soriya smiled wryly. “Our captain calls.”
Daniyel nodded his head once. “Indeed she does. We had best heed her advice.”
The docking went smoothly. Everything about the trip had gone suspiciously smoothly, as far as Soriya was concerned, but she was hoping that it wasn’t a marker of things to come. She fully expected to have to fly out at high speed, possibly even blasting their way free of the port with Lilyanna onboard. But typically she thought to herself the ride in is very smooth. It’s the rescue and the ride out that’s the rough part. She bit her thumb thoughtfully. I hope Lily’s holding up ok. Poor girl must be going mad with having to play her part. She wants not to be the damsel so badly, but she’s been kidnapped three times now.
The Sparrowhawk bumped against the harbor dock with a soft ‘thud’ and then settled on its landing skids. The sounds of the engine slowly spinning down and the feel of guided mana flows filling the air quieted and then ceased.
“Ok, we’re down!” Lakshmi’s voice came from the cockpit. “Everybody off, we need to present papers and fees to the harbor! Soriya! You’re up!”
Soriya nodded and got up, followed by everyone else. “Here we go, everyone!” Soriya turned to face the hatch and stepped up boldly, lowering the gang ramp to the dock outside.
***
I had just about decided that I’d never want to eat again, if every meal was this awful slop. The tray had come and gone twice, and I’d slept once, but who knew what that meant, there was no window, and only the sounds of boots outside gave any indication of time passing.
I was startled awake by the rattle of keys in the door, and Khine’s voice calling my name.
“Miss Lilyanna, it’s finally time for you to be useful.” He stepped into the cell, still flanked by two of his goons.
How that man inspires loyalty, I do not understand. Or perhaps I just don’t want to understand. I thought sadly. I brushed my hair out of my face and stood up. “But I simply haven’t a thing to wear.” I smiled at him. “Only these charming pieces of jewelry you’ve left me.” I rattled my manacles for show.
“I suspect that your allies in the church will have greater interest than I. For now, I must show the goods.” He sneered. “Rejoice, if you are as important to them as you seem to be, you will soon be free of me.”
I looked up at him, tipping my head to the side, then slowly shook my head. “No…” I said softly. “I don’t think I’ll be free of you for quite some time. You seem like the kind of character who’s likely to stick around.”
Khine scowled. “Your cryptic pronouncements do you no favors.” He grabbed me by the forearm, and I felt my whole body go a little wiggly and weak, as when the guard at Priya’s house had grabbed me.
Well, it’s not like I’m going anywhere with these shackles and spellcollar. Lets go see how pointy the pope’s hat is.