Keeper: First Ordinance, Book 2 (16 page)

Holding my wings out to invite cooler air against my back, I
accepted the smaller smock the servant offered to me and motioned for the next
patient to be brought forward.

* * *

"They're fighting a losing battle—the entire population
is sick—or will be soon," Reah sighed. "I know the core is tapped—I
opened my shields long enough to check. Marid didn't have the finesse of a warlock
when he tapped it and the breach is extensive. Energy is pouring out at an
alarming rate."

"Is there any place on Siriaa where those people can be
taken—so they can be treated away from Fyris? I gather that's where the poison
is concentrated the most," Lissa said.

"There are only two major continents, Kondar and Yokaru,
then Fyris and the polar caps. These aren't built for the harsh winters the
caps will force upon them—especially with so many sick."

"How many are we talking about?" Lissa asked. "In
Fyris?"

"Not that many, considering. Perhaps one hundred thousand
or a little more, at most."

"While Kondar and Yokaru hold millions," Lissa shook
her head.

"Cloudsong is uninhabited," Reah pointed out. "After
the Belancours were arrested and removed recently."

"You may want to check it—Terrett's information revealed
that Marid's containment spheres weren't working. Cloudsong may contain the
poison now."

"That bastard," Reah muttered.

"I can think of worse things to call him," Lissa
agreed. "When I told Trik that Marid was dead, he nodded. I think he
already knew."

"It's tough when your own grandfather gives you away, isn't
it?" Reah asked. "Just because Trik had a withered hand? Foolishness."

"If Marid had bothered to spend money on medical care,
Trik would have been fine."

"He's better off where he is, and with the Larentii
helping, he's whole, now."

"Do you want to go with me to Cloudsong? We'll see what
Marid did to it."

* * *

Lironis

Quin

"Quin?" I hadn't seen Kifirin for at least two days.
He stood outside my cubicle, now.

"Lord Kifirin?" I nodded respectfully to him.

"You should stop for the day and rest. Ordin is waiting
for you to accompany him to the research facility. A bath, fresh clothing and a
meal are waiting."

Hunching my shoulders, I lowered my chin and nodded. It would
do the sick no good at all if I weren't rested enough to do what needed to be
done. "Come then," Kifirin said. I followed him outside, where Ordin
waited.

We didn't have to fly, Kifirin transported us.

* * *

I nearly fell asleep in the shower after leaning my head
against the cool, tiled wall. Water ran over my back and wings while I wished
for a bed. My stomach growled, telling me I needed food, first.

Pulling myself away from the tiles and forcing my eyes open, I
finished cleaning myself and walked out of the cubicle. I'd learned the first
day that the water shut off automatically when I left the shower.

Clothing, no doubt left by Dena, lay folded over the chair in
front of the mirror and vanity. Drying off as quickly as I could, I slipped
underwear on that I'd never seen before. Then, lifting the top garment, I
examined it carefully.

The fabric was smooth and soft as a baby's skin. I found it to
be very like the tunic I'd seen Queen Lissa wear, only in a much more suitable
garment for where I was. Slipping the neck hole over my head, I tied the back,
noticing that the tunic hung halfway to my knees.

The trousers matched and flowed softly about my ankles when I
walked. Had I not been so weary, I'd have taken a great deal of pleasure from
wearing such fine garments.

My hair came next—I finger-combed it in the mirror until it
looked somewhat neat in appearance, then walked out of the bathroom toward the
kitchen and dining room.

"Quin, you look lovely," Kaldill smiled and
indicated the chair beside him.

"Did you bring this for me?" I asked, touching the
fabric of my tunic.

"I asked, yes, but Queen Lissa offered her designer. The
results are quite breathtaking," the skin around his eyes crinkled as he
smiled wider.

"Then I thank you. It was a wonderful gift after a long
and trying day. I was obliged to dispose of my work clothing—I had no hope of washing
stains and such out of it after healing so many."

"That is of no consequence—I will ask for a healer's
wardrobe for you," Kaldill waved a hand imperiously.

"You've been King for quite a long time, haven't you?"
I asked, as a plate of food was set before me.

Kaldill threw back his head and laughed.

* * *

The meeting after dinner should have put me to sleep. It didn't.
Reah, after being gone for a few hours during the afternoon, was back, with
word from Queen Lissa. "We'd hoped to transport those from Fyris to
Cloudsong, only to learn that Marid managed to poison it while he was there. We're
looking for another suitable world, but nothing has presented itself."

"You're looking to take the people away from Fyris?"
Omina almost came out of her seat, her anger evident. Rath, sitting beside her,
was just as angry but didn't say anything. "Amlis will be furious,"
Omina insisted.

"My lady, your people are dying. This is merely a
temporary shift, to keep them from getting sicker than they already are. If the
poison is cleared away from Fyris, they may return."

"That's why we were looking for a deserted world—where
the Prince can rule without hindrance from other inhabitants," Reah
attempted to soothe Omina's anger and distrust. "Our other option—and the
most expedient—is Harifa Edus, the werewolf planet. Only a quarter of it is
occupied, leaving much open ground for your people to live. Once the cities and
villages are built with help from the powerful, the people of Fyris would be
free to ply their trades and sow gardens and such—spring has arrived on that
sector of the planet."

"Werewolves? I've never heard of such," Omina
huffed.

I wanted to speak, then, but held my tongue. As long as Omina
left them alone, the werewolves would not be a bother. I had the idea that she'd
have to travel many, many miles and many days to reach even the closest
werewolf, if Reah had her way.

"They've never heard of you, either," Kifirin
snorted. I stared—smoke had come from his nostrils. To me, that indicated he
was upset in some way. "Reah offers you a gift beyond price and it makes
you angry? It will cheat your people if you and your son refuse it."

Lord Kifirin, they have little care for the people, except
that it affects them in some way
, I sent mindspeech to him.

I know this
, he responded gently.
The measure of any
monarch is in how he treats the lowliest of his subjects
.

I felt Omina's character was being weighed in the balance and
wondered upon which side she'd fall. Tensions rose in Amlis's study—I regretted
that he and Rodrik weren't present for this meeting.

"Very well," Omina flung up a hand in surrender. "Take
the people. I shall stay here."

"It will kill you, just as it will kill them," Reah
said softly.

"I am aging and have seen too much already," Omina
huffed. "Amlis is the ruler of Fyris, as it should be. I will return to
Vhrist and die with it, unless a remedy is found in time."

* * *

Quin

"Quin, we will discuss these decisions soon—you and Ordin
need rest, first," Gurnil advised when the meeting was over. I imagined
that he wanted Justis present, too, and that wouldn't be possible for two more
days.

I wondered, too, how the people as a whole would be
transported—would their animals and such travel with them? The whole thing made
me more than curious, and I wished to speak with Reah and Kifirin about it when
I had an opportunity to do so.

* * *

Avii Castle

Jurris had already passed sentence on Yevil—the gate waited.
He was spending his last few hours in a cell beneath the castle, until the
midnight hour came. He'd be shoved through, then.

Justis stayed behind with Jurris, after the Council was
dismissed. Justis carried Gurnil and Ordin's votes with him when he and the
others bore Yevil to the King—both had voted for the gate.

"You wished to speak with me alone?" Justis asked
after the last servant left Jurris' quarters.

"Yes." Jurris dropped onto the chair behind his desk
and allowed his wings to droop. "Tell me, brother—will I become that?"

Justis understood Jurris meant Yevil, who'd shouted
obscenities at all the Avii while Jurris held his trial and announced the
charges brought forth by Justis. He'd ended by calling them filthy, dead birds,
nesting on a useless piece of glass. Jurris had ordered the criminal gagged
after that, and only allowed him to speak before sentencing.

Those words hadn't been kind, either. Justis doubted if Yevil
realized just how short his time had become. Regardless, he'd been gagged again
and taken to the dungeons, where—no doubt—the now ungagged Yevil was likely
shouting at the guards there.

"My King, if you had shown any evidence of becoming what
that aberration is, I would have told you already," Justis muttered.

"You say Tamblin is in custody? He still lives?"

"Yes, although I doubt it will be for long. Had I not
seen the device pulled from his neck myself, I'd have doubted such a thing existed.
Nevertheless, several at the meeting recognized it. I cannot say whether Yevil
dictated Tandelis' death, as well as Elabeth and Camryn's, through that
infernal creation, or whether Tamblin went along with the plan willingly."

"Camryn always said there was friction between the
brothers; Tandelis held much back from Tamblin as a result."

"I worried when Tandelis' wife died in childbirth, and
the child with her," Justis rustled his feathers. "Tamblin already
had an heir—Timblor was three years old when that happened. Tandelis believed
he had enough time to find another wife and get an heir, but that's exactly
what he didn't have."

"Did you get information from either as to the exact
events that day?"

"Only that Yevil employed one of those weapons to kill
Elabeth, Camryn and their guards first, then turned it on Tandelis, who sent
guards to attack Yevil. Tandelis and his guards died, too."

"What about Lirin—their daughter?"

"Yevil claims he killed her. We know a body was delivered
here, but it was damaged too badly to identify."

"What was done with the remains?"

"They lie in a glass casket inside the main vault. You
were overcome with grief and melancholy at the time, so I didn't tell you what
was done with them. Why do you ask?"

"I wish to see them now."

"Very well. Shall we go there, before making our way to
the dungeons?"

"It would please me greatly."

* * *

Yevil had barely drawn breath between shouting at the guards;
Justis ordered him gagged again when he was dragged from his cell. He and
Jurris, followed by a dozen Black Wing guards, would usher Yevil to the gate.

Ardis walked steadily behind Justis—Justis couldn't help
thinking that this trip could have been the former Captain's, had Quin not
asked for his life.

Instead, it gave him grim satisfaction to be executing the one
who'd killed Elabeth with joy in his heart at the deed.

What poison had Treven whispered into his half-blood son's ear
before he was also forced through the gate? Justis shook his wings, angered by
the thought. At least Treven stayed out of his path in the past—he'd been
afraid of the black-winged Commander of the Queen's Guard—with good reason. If
Treven had threatened Elabeth in Justis' presence, he would have died—with
Camryn's blessing.

Instead, he'd stolen weapons from Camryn's treasury and
instructed his half-blood child to do harm, instead.

"I watched your father pass through the gate,"
Justis leaned forward and whispered in Yevil's ear. "It will please me
greatly to watch you pass through as well."

Justis stood beside Jurris, Black Wing next to Red, as Ardis
and two others lifted one-legged Yevil and tossed him through the stone cavern.

It looked shallow, that cavern, but that was deceptive. Once
anyone entered, they disappeared.

* * *

Tiralia

Yevil cursed when he landed, then looked about him. The ruins
of a city lay in the distance. Around him, too, he could see bones—stripped
clean of everything except feathers. The last pile was red—his father lay
there.

What had killed him and the others? Yevil cared not. The
broken city lay in the distance and he was determined to go there.

"You won't get far."

Yevil blinked. Tall, the creature was—more than three times
the height of a tall man. Black scales gleamed in weak sunlight, and the tips
of curved horns on the creature's head glinted brightly.

"Did you eat him?" Yevil nodded to the pile of bones
and red feathers that had once been Treven of the Avii.

"I have no appetite for evil, with or without
wings," the creature replied. Smoke poured ominously from his nostrils and
massive, muscled arms crossed over the huge chest. "The very air here is
poison," the creature added. "Already it is eating your lungs as you
breathe. A fitting end for a poisoner of an entire planet, I think, to be
poisoned himself."

"Take me away from here," Yevil begged. "I will
repay you."

"Your death will be payment enough." The creature disappeared.

"Wait, come back," Yevil shouted, then coughed.
Blood poured from his mouth; he stared at the strangeness of it before falling.

His last thoughts were for himself.

* * *

Lironis

Quin

"Quin, I have a suite in the research facility, which has
an extra bedroom. Do you wish to spend the night there?" Kaldill asked. "You
may return to your room in the castle when Commander Justis arrives. Berel's
suite is across the hall," he coaxed.