Arcanius (24 page)

“Wait!” he said, interrupting Tiberius. “Just … let me have a minute with Olyva.”

He took Olyva to the other side of the ship.

“What is going on?” Lexi asked.

“Rafe is staying,” Tiberius said. “He’s decided to take his father’s place and serve my father.”

“What? Why would he do that?”

“He connected with his father yesterday in a way he never had before,” Tiberius explained. “Then he watched his father die to protect the earl. That is what he has trained and worked for his whole life. He feels partially responsible for his father’s death, I guess. And he wants to honor the legacy his father started.”

“I can’t believe he would turn his back on you,” Lexi said.

“He isn’t. He talked to me about it. It’s hard to think of us going on without him—and possibly without Olyva—but then again they may be safer here. Leonosis wants me and the Balestone, not Rafe or Olyva. My father will pardon them and welcome them back into his service. They can be married and have a family. Maybe that’s worth the sacrifice.”

“It won’t be worth anything if we don’t stop whatever is trying to find the stones and use them to enslave Valana,” Lexi said. “Besides, your father doesn’t deserve Rafe’s loyalty. And he certainly doesn’t deserve you risking your life.”

“Maybe not, but I’m not doing it for him. I’m doing it for Rafe and for us.”

“Us?”

“Yes,” Tiberius explained. “My father may be arrogant and cruel, perhaps even corrupt, but he won’t blindly support Leonosis. Not after Brutas’ attempt to kill him. Even if he’s nothing more than a thorn in Leo’s side, it will help us. Leaving Brutas in control of the city gives Leonosis and Queen Ariel de facto control of the entire kingdom.”

“I guess you’re right, but I don’t like it,” Lexi said. “And if you’re going down there, I’m going with you.”

“It will be safer here on the ship,” Tiberius said.

It was just a simple statement, not an ultimatum or even a request that she stay. The truth was, he liked the idea of having Lexi by his side. She was more than capable, and he wanted to share everything with her.

“We’re both better off together, even facing danger,” she said.

“I agree,” he said with a smile.

Then he kissed her and held her tight for a moment. His heart was beating fast, and he felt uneasy about attacking his own brother. It didn’t feel right to confront his family, even though he knew it was the right thing to do. Brutas wasn’t just out of line, trying to replace their father as earl of Avondale; he was actually serving Leonosis’ darker purposes, and Tiberius couldn’t let that stand.

“Okay,” Rafe said, as he and Olyva rejoined Tiberius and Lexi. “I’m ready.”

“I’m going, too,” Lexi said.

“Actually, most of our belongings are still on the sky ship from Hamill Keep,” Olyva said. “Wouldn’t it be better if Lexi and I reclaim them?”

“The Balestone is still on the ship,” Tiberius said, realizing for the first time that his brother might already have the stone.

“She’s right,” Rafe said. “I never went back for our belongings.”

“Well…” Lexi clearly didn’t like the idea of leaving Tiberius to attack his brother in a palace filled with soldiers, but she knew her skills would be more useful on the sky ship.

“You have to do it,” Tiberius said. “We’ll deal with Brutas—you get our things transferred to this ship. We’ll take it south when we leave.”

“I’m going with you,” Olyva said, her voice filled with regret. “Avondale will never be my home again.”

Tiberius looked at Rafe, who was clearly distraught, but he didn’t argue.

“You’re welcome with us,” Tiberius said. “Always.”

“It’s my choice,” Olyva said. “Rafe must follow his heart, and I must follow mine. It isn’t the way I hoped, but I can’t stay. I don’t know how to explain it, but I know I can’t stay here.”

“It’s okay,” Rafe said. “There will be time to talk about it when this is over. Brutas is showing his hand already.”

Tiberius turned and saw two dozen men on the rooftop. They all had spears and shields. Brutas wasn’t among them, and none of the soldiers were from Avondale. Tiberius breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t mind attacking the king’s soldiers, but he was loath to hurt the men of his father’s war band, even if they had sided with his brother.

“Okay, I’ll hit them with some fire, but they’ll probably just retreat back inside,” Tiberius said. “At least I can hold them off while we get down to the rooftop.”

Rafe turned to the six men he had selected to fight with him.

“Keep your spacing,” he reminded them. “We’ll be in tight quarters, and you don’t want to get in each other’s way.”

“If you hear me shout a command,” Tiberius told them, “obey it instantly. I can level our odds, but I can’t keep you from getting hurt if I have to use magic inside the palace.”

Tiberius saw the looks of fear in the soldiers’ eyes. They didn’t fear a difficult fight, but the fear of magic was ingrained in them. He smiled and nodded reassuringly. It was the best he could do until they saw that he wasn’t crazy and that his power wasn’t out of control.

The war ship swooped down toward the rooftop, and Tiberius leaned out over the ship’s railing. He could see the looks on the soldiers’ faces. They were ready for a fight, and Tiberius supposed that they knew exactly how many men could be on board the war ship. They were obviously confident that they had the upper hand.

“
Accendo
,” Tiberius said.

The magical portal opened up, and Tiberius let the fire come flowing out. He directed it toward the rooftop. The soldiers fell back, but they weren’t fast enough. Half their number were caught in the wave of fire, their clothes and shields bursting into flame. A wave of black smoke shot up, and Tiberius recalled the fire.

The screams of the burning soldiers made Tiberius’ blood run cold. Then the smell of burning flesh wafted into the war ship. Two men vomited, but Rafe was already climbing down the rope ladder, followed by two of his men. They dropped to the palace roof, weapons drawn, but the enemy had fled back into the open doorway that led down into the building.

Tiberius waited while the others four soldiers followed Rafe. He looked at Lexi and smiled. She leaned forward and brushed his cheek with a fast kiss just before he climbed down the rope ladder. The war ship wasn’t secured to the roof, so the vessel drifted as Tiberius climbed. He jumped down the last several rungs afraid he might be swept off the roof if he didn’t hurry. He landed hard, falling onto his side but quickly getting up and waving to Lexi, who was watching as she leaned out over the railing.

The war ship was moving around and rising up, to sail alongside the sky ship from Hamill Keep. Tiberius heard the clash of swords and hurried over to where Rafe and the others were fighting the king’s soldiers at the door to the rooftop.

“Down!” Tiberius shouted. “
Scuti Incantatio.
”

The magical shield sprang into existence. Tiberius could feel it, even though it was completely invisible. He pushed it forward with his mind, willing it to pass over the warriors with Rafe and then smash into the unsuspecting soldiers.

“Attack!” Tiberius shouted.

The king’s soldiers had been bowled back, most knocked off their feet. Rafe charged forward, letting his sword flash down again and again as he dispatched the enemy soldiers.

Tiberius looked up at the war ship that was sailing dangerously close to the huge cargo ship from Hamill Keep. He wanted one last glance at Lexi before he rushed into the palace with Rafe. He had to shade the sun from his eyes, but what he saw took his breath away.

Lexi was nothing more than a shadowy silhouette, but he saw her clearly. Her lithe body stretched as she jumped from the war ship’s rail onto one of the masts that stood out from the side of the sky ship from Hamill Keep. She was more like the little wind glider she loved so much than he realized. Tiberius’ heart seem to catch in his throat, and he was afraid that Lexi would fall, but instead she hurried across the narrow beam of wood with perfect balance. When she jumped over the rail and into the sky ship, Tiberius breathed a sigh of relief. Then the sound of swords on shields made him push every other thought away as he rushed into the palace after Rafe.

Chapter 27

Lexi

“We can’t get too close,” the soldier said.

He was in charge of the men maneuvering the war ship, and while they were able to fly the sleek vessel, there was no way for the inexperienced soldiers to get close to the Hamill Keep sky ship without getting tangled in the larger ship’s rigging or smashing into the sails that protruded from the sides of the ship like fins on a fish.

“Get me as close as you can,” Lexi said.

“What are you planning to do?” Olyva asked.

“I’ll jump from our ship to their’s,” Lexi explained.

“But what about our supplies?” Olyva said. “How will you get them back on board?”

“You’ll have to throw me a rope. I’ll tie it to the sky ship, and once I have our supplies, you can haul them back in.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes,” Lexi said, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

She had climbed the sides of tall buildings and even made similar leaps, but never from so high as she was now or onto sky ships that might move or shift under her weight. She preferred being more grounded. Her skill at attaining valuable things had kept her alive and provided a living, but now she needed to recover something that was more valuable than her life or even every life in Avondale. She had to get the Balestone back into Tiberius’ safekeeping before their enemy discovered it was within their grasp.

The soldiers maneuvered the war ship as close to the sky ship as possible. Lexi eased herself over the war ship’s railing and stood on one of the thin spars that held the sails. Unlike the thick masts of the sky ship, the smaller spars on the war ship weren’t made to hold a man’s weight. Lexi could only hope it would hold her without breaking. She needed to run out to the end of the wooden pole, then leap toward the sky ship, which was almost ten feet away and slightly below the war ship.

“Be careful,” Olyva urged her.

Lexi glanced back over her shoulder and saw the concern in Olyva’s eyes. They hadn’t known each other before the banishment. And at first Olyva had been a weeping mess that Lexi couldn’t help but deplore. But Olyva had grown strong, and not just because of the changes to her physical body. Those changes would have broken a weaker person, but in Olyva they opened her eyes to what she could become. She had embraced their new life, which wasn’t limited to nine cities spread across a vast realm. Olyva had found what Lexi had always known in her heart to be true—that she wasn’t trapped by her birth or society or even limited to the kingdom she knew. Their world had suddenly become a vast place where anything was possible if they were just bold enough to take it.

Lexi dashed forward, leaving her fears behind her. Balancing on the quivering spar was more difficult that she had anticipated, but she managed it, and at the end of the long wooden pole, she jumped, letting the flex of the wooden spar propel her up and out away from the war ship.

For a moment she truly felt as if she were flying and wondered if she was experiencing what Dancer felt whenever she flung the little creature high into the air. Then gravity took hold, and she felt her momentum shift. The sky ship’s mast and rigging were suddenly flying toward her. She did her best to keep her balance, landing feet first and rolling forward on what amounted to a wooden pole that was only slightly as large around as her thigh. If the mast had been wider, she might have rolled over her shoulder and come back up on her feet in one fluid motion. Instead, she felt her body swaying to the side as she rolled forward and instinctively she threw her legs out in hopes of grabbing something solid. One hand found a thick, hairy rope, and her left leg hooked itself over the mast. Her motion came to a jarring halt, and she was halfway hanging off the mast. Below her, the sail was gathered in a neat fold and tied with small, thin ropes. Beyond that, there was nothing but empty space for hundreds of feet, and then the city spread out below her.

Lexi’s heart was pounding in her chest, but she pulled herself up and made her quivering arms and legs carry her to the side of the ship. She had to climb one of the thick rope nets that stretched from the mast up onto the deck of the ship. She swung herself from the underside of the net onto the top, then scrambled up and over the sky ship’s railing. Once her feet were safely on the sturdy wooden deck, she did her best to slow her heartbeat. It felt like a wild animal that was trapped in her chest, but she was alive and well.

She waved to Olyva, who threw a coiled rope toward her. The rope snaked out, and Lexi had to run up the deck to grab it. Once she had the rope, she tied it to the railing, leaving enough rope at the end so that she could secure their belongings for the soldiers to hoist back up on board the war ship.

The deck of the sky ship, even the command deck, was deserted. The sky ship was secured and there was no need to man it. Lexi guessed the sailors were in Avondale, probably in the taverns and brothels of the lower levels, but she also guessed that there would surely be some crew left aboard. There had to be enough men to maneuver the ship back into place over the palace and lower the stairway so that the others could board again.