Fall of Sky City (A Steampunk Fantasy Sci-Fi Adventure Novel) (Devices of War) (6 page)

The man in the long coat followed me at a sedate walk, his pistol in hand.

I couldn’t free myself, couldn’t see the knot, if there was one, and I couldn’t tell where I was being dragged. I twisted around, but could see nothing. I scrambled to my feet, both hands on the rope, scanning its length, mapping the destination.

There was a single mast, and this rope originated at its peak.

I was in trouble.

Running, I pulled out my knife and hacked at it.

It was metal.

Who made a metal rope?

The pistol cracked again.

Pain shot through my arm. I howled, but didn’t stop working at the rope. It jerked one more time.

I flew high into the air, over the pointed roof of the cathedral. The rope jerked again. The knife fell from my hands, and I was released. Air was the only thing between me and the deck. A lot of it.

I covered my face with my arms and prepared for the landing. The impact jarred my ankles, knees, hips. I immediately dropped to a roll and rose a little unsteadily to my feet.

Before I could remove my swords, men were on me, holding me down, stripping me of my weapons. There was a new pyre standing next to the larger ones, all of them aflame. I searched frantically. Where was Father? He couldn’t be dead.

Saqr screeched high above us, his lizard tail swinging wildly. He was frantic as he tucked his wings in and dove. His talons clawed at a guard, who beat at the bird.

The flames broke on the pyre next to me, showing me a body, writhing in pain. Father!

I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t believe what I saw.

His eyes met mine, his face twisted with pain, his jaw clenched.

Defeat.

Saqr screeched again, fighting to gain the air.

Sorrow.

I blinked. My head pounded as the guards tied my hands to the pole at my back and set the dried sea flax on fire.

Anger.

A fierce roar of pain rose at the same time Saqr twisted in the air. His talons clawed at nothing as his wings folded and he fell.

No!

The howl of pain died. Father’s spitfyre falcon burst into flames. Burning feathers drifted with the currents and rose with the updrafts.

Grief.

Flames leapt at me, eating their way to my feet. There wasn’t enough flax to create smoke. I knew that. The fire would get me long before the smoke did, but my lungs still burned.

Rage.

My head pounded uncontrollably. I looked to Father. His body was still.

It was so hot! Sweat broke out over my skin. Flax popped and crackled.

Anger. Grief. Rage.

I took in a deep breath and looked to the sky.

Rage. Rage. Rage. Rage. RAGE!

I let out a roar as the fire found my feet and raced up my pant legs, overtaking my coat. The whisper of its power swept through my ears. I was consumed, feeling nothing but the grief, the loss, the sorrow, the defeat, the anger…and the rage.

Then the fire was gone.

I stood unbound atop a pile of ember riddled flax, naked except for scraps of cloth that had been burned into my flesh. Fire laced through my veins, across my skin.

I stumbled, too exhausted to keep my feet under me.

The guards stepped away, sounding an alarm through their ranks.

I heard her footsteps before I saw her black boots.

Rough hands pulled me to my feet. I didn’t have the energy to resist. Shouldn’t I be in the spirit world?

Nix’s black eyes raked my face. “Synn Kadar El’Asim,” she said, her voice a velvet purr. “What a quandary you are.” She stepped away. “Take him below. He’s been Marked by the House of Wands. We take him to Sky City.”

Sky City? Marked? What wa—

Something crashed into my head and the world went gratefully blank.

CHAPTER 4

A REMINDER FOR THE PEOPLE

I woke
freezing, my teeth chattering.

I tried to sit up, but my head was throbbing so hard, it made me nauseous.

“Lay back,” a soft voice murmured. Gentle hands pressed down on my bare shoulders. “Be at ease. You are safe now, Synn Primus.”

I shook my head, falling back onto the soft pillows. My back felt like fire where the pillows touched it. “Not—” It was so hard to speak. My tongue felt thick. “Not my name.”

“Yes it is, you goose.” Something was draped over me.

I let out a startled yell and threw it off. Everywhere it touched burned.

It was draped over me again. This time the hands pressed it down on my shoulders, keeping it in place. “You have been Marked by the House of Wands, so you now bear our name. You are a Primus, Synn. Welcome.”

My whole world stopped as my mind caught up.

I’d lost my father. He was—

I closed my eyes.

Dead.

I’d watched so many others burn to death, their children made to look on as those they loved were lost.

And now? I’d lost my life to the Hands?

No. I shook my head and rose. No. “No. This can’t be.”

She pushed me back. “How else do you explain it?” A warm thumb ran over my brow. “You survived the fire, Synn.” She pulled the blanket away, a cool finger tracing where I burned. “And how do you explain this? This is your Mark, Synn, the thing you have been waiting for your entire life.”

I remained quiet, concentrating on breathing.

“What I witnessed was a Marking. Aren’t you the least bit excited?”

My father’s strong, rigid face swam before my eyes. Fierce and powerful as the fire rose to claim him, writhing in pain. A sob seeped from my chest. “Not like this.”

I was gathered in her arms. She held me close, cupping my head to her breast as she rocked me. She crooned a song I’d never heard. I wasn’t paying attention. I was overwhelmed with what I had lost; my family, my home, my self.

The pounding in my head lessened as the woman held me close. As the pain eased, visuals started registering. The red silk of the cover. The black leather of her bodice. Her long, dark hair.

“Nix.” My voice was a bare croak.

She pulled away slightly, staring into my face. She’d removed the odd crown with the spinning birds.

I didn’t have the energy to fight her. My eyes fell closed in a long blink. I opened them, even though I didn’t want to, my gaze falling to the ruby spider resting on her chest.

“Do not fear, young Primus,” she said, her full lips curved in a careful smile. “I am your family now. You will want for nothing.”

I rocked where I sat, my legs sprawled. “Why?” I barely had the energy to whisper. “Why?”

“Why what, Primus?”

“Why did you attack us?”

“You attacked first.”

“I went for a sword to save—” I paused, breathing, blinking back the tears. “—innocent lives. You killed them for no reason.”

“They would not submit.”

I stared at her in exhausted incredulity. “Did you give them the chance?”

She cupped my face and peered at me sincerely. “I do not want empty devotion. I want only to be loved and cherished.”

“And so you scare children into fearing you.”

“Fear can turn to love.” Her smile was sweet. “You will see.”

“No.”

She flinched and pulled back. “Do you want to see?” She didn’t give me a chance to say no or yes. She pulled away the cover, her eyes dropping to my chest. “Your Mark, Primus.” She reached out with her diamond claw.

I stared in wonder. Rivers of fire coursed in a fine web of lines and runes under my skin. I twisted to see my back, but failed.

“It’s the same there. Have you ever seen so powerful a Mark as this?”

I shook my head. No. I hadn’t. I touched the lines with a ginger hand. They were sensitive and hot to the touch, leaving the rest of me chilled to the core.

Her fingertips joined mine, her long nails gleaming red in the soft yellow light. “But what can one expect from the Families of El’Asim and Ino?”

I jerked, staring at her in surprise.

She threw her head back and laughed. “But of course. Why didn’t I see this before?” She crawled closer to me, leaning on her hands, her legs draped behind her on the thickly carpeted floor. “The two most power Families allying themselves through marriage. Oh yes.” Her eyes were filled with greed, her teeth bared in a smile that was more of a sneer.

She looked ready to eat me.

“Do you have brothers? Sisters? Any who are younger than you, unmarked?”

I stared at her in disgust and wonder. “No.”

Her pink tongue ran along her teeth as she dropped her chin and peered at me through her long, thick lashes. “It doesn’t matter.” Her breath feathered over my chest, rising against my neck until her lips nearly brushed my own, her eyes black in the dim light. “You are mine.”

I straightened my back and stared at her, gritting my teeth with all the will I had left. “Never.”

She whispered along my lips, “We shall see.” She pulled away and gestured, sashaying to a door I hadn’t noticed before.

Something heavy slammed against my head.

I fought to remain conscious.

But lost.

* * *

I woke to being dragged. My eyes were glued shut. I tried to move my feet, but failed to do much more than flail.

“Don’t try, lad,” someone said, probably one of the men holding my arms. “Won’t do ye any good anyways. You jus’ let us do the work, all righ’?”

My throat was parched. It felt like I hadn’t had anything to drink in days.

My toe was dragged over a rock. It hurt, but in a distant kind of way. I felt almost separated from my body.

I’d been drugged.

I shook my head, trying to clear it.

The roar of a motor rumbled past. My head rolled back as I tried to follow it.

Something buzzed, flickered, buzzed above me. I tipped my head, but couldn’t make anything out, even though I was able to pry my eyes open a little. Everything was fuzzy. People walked past, giving us a wide berth. Something metal floated near my head, a red light shining over my face. I flinched away, my hands rising to bat at it.

The two men at either arm shook me. “Now, none o’ that nonsense. It’s just a scanner. Memorizin’ your face, it is. Won’t be able to move around the city none without her ladyship knowin’ about it, now. No. None o’ that.”

“Connely, you talk too much.”

“Shut up.”

“Where are we?” I asked.

“Ah, the poor daft man’s talkin’ some sort of gibberish, he is.”

My head fell back as I pried my eyes a little wider. Was there literal glue holding my eyes shut? The man wore a long coat and a round black hat I’d never seen. “Gibberish?”

“He seems to understand well enough.”

The other man grunted.

Another motor whirred passed us. I peered at it. It was a carriage of sorts, with four wheels and no beasts to pull it. I watched it putter by, not quite sure if my eyes were playing games with me.

“Almost there, lad,” one of the men said, staring down at me. “Now just be good and mind us and everythin’ll go smoothly, like as right.”

My eyes drooped closed.

“Now there’s a good lad.” They stopped. There was a metal click, and then they shoved me onto something padded and leather. “There you go now.” They shoved my feet in after me, draping me over something not quite as padded.

Arms drew me close.

“My queen, he’s bleeding. Sorry abou’ tha’.”

“He’ll be fine,” Nix said, petting my cheek.

I curled my lip and tried to rise. I didn’t care how medicated I was. I didn’t want to be petted by that viperous snake. The fog felt like it was starting to lift.

Her grip tightened.

I didn’t give up. I struggled to pull myself to a sitting position as the world moved and vibrated around us.

She wrapped a leg around my torso and pinned me in place. Pain filtered through the fog, pushing it further back as her hands gripped my face. She stared at me for a long moment.

I couldn’t see much, just her lips.

“You can fight me, Synn, but you will lose.”

We breathed each other’s breath.

“How old are you, young Primus?”

“I’m not a Primus.”

She tipped her head, a slight smile gracing her lips. “How old?”

What was she asking? If she could keep me? If she had to find a way to kill me? “Seventeen.”

Regret flitted through her eyes as she settled her shoulders in resolve. “You must choose, Synn.” She turned to stare out the window, her grip on my body remaining firm. “I wasn’t born to this, you know. I came from the Great Families. But the Hands took me after my Family disowned me for bearing a Mark that was not their own.”

Why was she telling me this? “Who?”

Her dark eyes met mine. “Shankara, Family of air, daughter Marked by fire.”

My eyes flared. She obviously had Ino blood in her.

She nodded at the recognition and turned back to the window. “When I came to power, my first act as queen was to wipe out the entire Shankara Family.”

“But there were people who weren’t a part of that decision.” An act like that could only be chosen by the circle of Elders.

Her expression hardened. “I was shunned, Synn, for something beyond my control, but my queen,” she turned her attention back to me, tracing her claw along my cheek, “took me in, showed me kindness, taught me to be powerful.”