Брайан Макклеллан - Blood of Empire

“I went to Landfall first,” Taniel replied. “I met with Emerald, and he told me that you’d accomplished your mission and pointed me in this direction. It’s… taken a couple of weeks.”

Michel scowled. “We’ve been trying to figure out a way through the Dynize roadblocks ever since we left. How did you just ride right into Landfall?”

“One of Emerald’s people was waiting for me north of the city with forged papers.” Taniel patted his breast pocket. “No one’s looking for a single Kressian rider, and the papers say I’m a spy for the Dynize. There were a few awkward questions, but I managed.”

Michel made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. If only it had been so easy for him and Ichtracia, they’d be on the other side of the continent by now rather than waiting in this little fishing village for an opportunity to slip away. “So you’re here to take Ichtracia to Pole?”

Taniel gave Ichtracia a long glance. “I am.”

“Wait,” Ichtracia said, giving Michel a confused look. “You’re coming with us, right?”

“You’re more than welcome,” Taniel added.

Michel gave them both a tight smile. “I should. But I need to head back to the city.”

“You’re mad!” Ichtracia exclaimed. She exchanged a glance with Taniel and then continued, “You know that Sedial is turning over the city looking for you, right? The moment someone recognizes you, you’ll be captured, tortured, and killed.”

Michel stared at his hands for a few moments, considering his words.

“Michel?” Taniel prodded.

“I’ve got unfinished business.”

“What kind of business?” Taniel asked.

Michel avoided Ichtracia’s gaze. Choosing his words with care, he said, “While I was there, I helped the Dynize hunt down the last of the Blackhats in the city.”

“So Emerald told me,” Taniel replied.

“I found and killed Val je Tura.”

“The Gold Rose with the bastard sword?”

“The same. Before he died, he told me something.” Michel hesitated again, looking sidelong at Ichtracia. “He told me that the Dynize were scooping up Palo and using them in a blood ritual to activate the godstone.” The moment the last word left his mouth, he knew that he’d been wrong about Ichtracia – that he should have told her weeks ago. The blood drained from her face, her eyes widening. He expected an exclamation of surprise or denial or… something. Instead her jaw clamped shut.

“Pit,” Taniel muttered.

“I need to go back to the city, find out if it’s true, and try to do something about it.”

“You’ll get yourself killed,” Ichtracia said, the words tumbling out over one another.

Michel gave her a tight smile. “Taniel, what is it I’ve been working toward all this time?”

“Palo independence,” Taniel answered automatically.

Ichtracia seemed taken aback. “I thought that you planned on opposing my grandfather – to prevent the use of the godstones.”

“That… that’s Taniel and Ka-poel’s fight,” Michel said. “At the end of the day I have one purpose: to free the Palo of whoever is subjugating them, enslaving them, kicking them around. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Kressians or the Fatrastans or the Dynize. I have to pit myself against the enemies of my people. I’m of no use going along with you and Taniel. I need to head back into Landfall.”

“I thought you said the Palo were being treated better under the Dynize?” There was a note to her tone that Michel couldn’t quite place. It sounded like desperation.

“I don’t know,” Michel said with a shrug. “Maybe? Or it could be propaganda. Whatever it is, I need to go back to Landfall and find out the truth.”

The silence between them all grew deafening. Ichtracia stared at the wall. Taniel stared at Michel. Michel examined both their faces, trying to read something in them. Finally, Taniel cleared his throat. “Ka-poel is on her way to Dynize.”

“What?” The word tore itself from Ichtracia’s throat as she whirled on him.

“She’s going to find the third godstone. I’m on my way to join her.”

“She’s going to get herself killed, too! Why do all of you have a death wish?” Something in Taniel’s expression must have confused her, because she stopped and took a sharp breath. “You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“We already have the third godstone. It’s in Dynize, protected.”

Taniel muttered something under his breath. “Good thing she has a bodyguard, I suppose. If that’s true, I don’t have a second to lose. I’ve got to cross the continent, catch a ship, and sneak into Dynize. It’ll take me months to catch up with her.”

Michel scoffed. Taniel’s tone was optimistic, as if he were heading on a pleasure cruise. But anything could happen in months, especially if Ka-poel stumbled headlong into Dynize. He almost asked Taniel to forget that idea and come with him to Landfall. But there was no hope in that. Taniel would go wherever Ka-poel was.

“Are you coming?” Taniel asked Ichtracia briskly. Michel could see in his eyes that he’d already moved on from the conversation and was ready to bolt, like a racehorse waiting for the starting pistol.

“No.”

Michel rounded on her. “What do you mean, no?”

“I’m going with you.” Ichtracia’s face had regained some of its color. Her jaw was now set stubbornly.

“You can’t go back to Landfall,” Michel protested. “You’ll be in danger.”

“No more than you,” she retorted. Her left eye and cheek twitched, a cascade of emotions crossing her face in the space of a moment.

“Your sister…”

“I can meet her when this is over!” she said forcefully. Quieter, to herself, she echoed, “When this is all over. Do we have a way to get back in?” she asked Taniel.

“Emerald sent a couple of Dynize passports for the two of you,” Taniel said. “They were meant for you to accompany me across the country, but I assume they’ll get you back into Landfall without a problem.”

Michel swallowed. He had been with Ichtracia long enough to see that she would not take no for an answer. His mentioning of the blood sacrifices had set something off in her. He felt like he should know what, but he was too taken up with his own plans to pinpoint the source of her distress. He immediately shifted his thinking, discarding all the ideas he’d had for a one-man operation and changing them to work for two.

“We’ll take the passports,” Ichtracia said.

“I think…” Michel began.

“Don’t think,” she snapped at him. “You should have told me about your intentions. You should have told me about the sacrifices. Mara!” She thumped her chest. “Mara! Sacrifice. That blood should have been mine! Instead, he’s killing thousands of innocent people to get the job done. I’m going with you, and that’s final.”

Ben Styke rested on the forecastle of a small transport ship called the Seaward , his big boz knife in one hand and a whetstone in the other, listening to the swell of the ocean and the calling of gulls undercut by the occasional slow rasp as he sharpened his blade. He wore a large, floppy hat to keep the sun from his face, despite the fact that Celine had told him on several different occasions that it made him look ridiculous.

He caught sight of one of the sailors staring in his direction and wondered if it was just the hat or him . Two weeks at sea, and the sailors still seemed uneasy to have twenty Mad Lancers and Ben Styke sleeping in their hold. The fear suited Styke just fine – if it meant that someone jumped when he said jump, it made his life easier. He wondered what they’d think if he told them about the genuine Dynize blood witch who had commandeered the first mate’s cabin.