Lament (Scars of the Sundering Book 2) (27 page)

When he left Drak-Anor to travel
to Muncifer, Pancras thought he would travel for months, pay the fine, turn
around, and return home. He was prepared to do so, though he was not thrilled
about the journey. He found it painful to leave Muncifer a second time.
Teaching was not something that was ever on Pancras’s list of ambitions, but
now, since pledging himself to Aita, he felt renewed vigor. The fact that he
would teach students to defend themselves in a city that would likely be the
first target of any offensive by the Lich Queen would enable him to serve the
Princess of the Underworld much more effectively.

I need a new nickname now,
though. Pancras the Putrid just doesn’t seem right for a Bonelord of Aita.

Chapter 15

Delilah found Archmage Vilkan in
the Court of Wizardry. The Black, Red, and Yellow Wizards sat in the gallery,
along with Master Valyrian. The archmage stopped his tirade when he saw the
drak.

“Initiate Drak! Where have you
been?”

“Novice.” Delilah crossed the
room. “Novice Delilah.”

“That is not your call,
Initiate.” The archmage glared at her.

Delilah felt her face grow hot.
“Are you stu—”

“It is indeed not her call,
Archmage.” Master Valyrian stepped in front of Delilah. “However, she passed
her Initiate Trials yesterday. The grey robes are well earned.”

“I did not authorize a trial!” The
archmage slammed his fist on the arm of his chair.

“The archmage’s permission is not
necessary for the trials.” The Yellow Wizard glanced at his fellow high
wizards, though Delilah thought, perhaps, his voice belonged to a female. All
the high wizards’ voices sounded altered, though, emanating from behind the
masks they wore.

“Trials are held once a week.”

“The drak passed.”

“Thanks to my instruction.”
Master Valyrian bowed.

Archmage Vilkan’s face matched
the Red Wizard’s robes. “She is my apprentice. It was not your place to
instruct her.”

“She is not. According to the
Rose
Concordat
, initiates and novices are not bound to any one wizard. Only once
they pass their Novice Trials may they be assigned primarily to one wizard for
the balance of their instruction.” Master Valyrian stepped toward Delilah. He
placed his hand on her shoulder.

Delilah wondered why he defended
her to Archmage Vilkan. She opened her mouth to ask, but closed it when the
high wizards continued their inquiries.

“Do you intend to advance her
past novice?”

“Justify your actions before the
court, Archmage.”

“Silence!” The archmage cut the
air with his hand. “Now that the drak shows some measure of skill, it seems our
university has a mascot. Everyone is quick to its defense.”

Delilah bit her lip, but she
realized Master Valyrian felt her bristle because he squeezed her shoulder.

The archmage gritted his teeth.
“Fine. The drak will continue her instruction here as any other student.
However, since she came to us as a renegade, I reserve the right to give her
special assignments as I see fit.”

Delilah slammed the butt of her
staff on the floor with a resounding crack. The assembled wizards all turned
their heads toward her. “Is that why you called me here? You pulled me away
from my brother and his mate in their new home. I hope you didn’t call me just
to have me listen to you bicker over me.”

The drak sorceress, surprised she
hadn’t been interrupted, regretted having implied she had things more important
than the Court of Wizardry while standing before the archmage and three high
wizards.

“Yes, why did you summon the
drak?” Master Valyrian squeezed Delilah’s shoulder again and then clasped his
hands behind his back.

The archmage waved his hand and
refused to meet the elf’s gaze. “It doesn’t matter now. Resume your duties,
Init… Novice Drak. I may have something for you in a few days after I speak to
the archduke again. You are dismissed.”

You don’t have to tell me twice.
Delilah
spun and exited the court. She nodded farewell to Seneschal Lyov as she passed
the old man and considered sauntering out of the university compound and back
to Kale and Kali’s house. Instead, she sought out Katka. The young woman
rehearsed her combat spells against the practice dummies.

“
Dynami velos!
” A green
bolt of energy shot from Katka’s wand, blasting the dummy’s head into
splinters.

“Hey, you’re improving!” Delilah
clapped the woman on the back as a show of approval.

“I think I actually am. It’s
about time. I don’t think I’m going to master alchemy, though.”

Alchemy was one subject Delilah
wanted to practice more, but the petty antics of the archmage had thus far
stymied those studies. Katka holstered her wand and stepped over to a bench
near the Blood Oak.

“What do you think that runed
circle in your brother’s cellar is?”

The circle intrigued Delilah and
was at the top of her list of mysteries to solve. She feared it would be a
while before she was able to dedicate any significant time to it, though.

“He called it a ‘moon gate.’ I
have no idea what that means, though. If he hadn’t seen those runes, he’d be
calling it a ‘floor circle thing.’” Delilah laughed. Her brother’s terrible
names for his devices were legendary in Drak-Anor. “Rannos was killed before
The Sundering, though, so that thing has to be extremely old.”

“I’d forgotten about Rannos.”
Katka blew an errant strand of hair out of her face. “If it’s pre-Sundering,
whatever your brother paid for that house was a bargain… and I’ll bet no one in
the city even knows about it.”

Delilah agreed. It was below a
part of town that not even the draks consigned to the undercity lived in. “Just
keep it to yourself, all right? I don’t want the archmage finding out. He’s
been a pain in my tail.”

“What’s his deal with you
anyway?” Katka’s head turned to gaze at a group of young men as they walked by.
One of them winked at her as he passed.

“I wish I knew.” Delilah figured
it was some sort of deeply-rooted bigotry, or worse. “He says he’s going to
have some sort of special project for me after he talks to the archduke again.
I can’t wait.”

Katka put her arm around Delilah
and hugged her. The drak tried not to show revulsion at the human’s
affectionate touch.

“Even if the job is horrible, you
just need to ask, and I’ll help. I owe you!” Katka’s face beamed.

Delilah looked up at the young
woman and smiled. “Thanks.” It was good to have a friend, even if she was
human.

* * *

Acquiring furniture, cleaning the
storefront, and making their home livable for three draks took most of Kale and
Kali’s time over the next several weeks. Not the most exciting time in either
of their lives, but they both acknowledged the need to complete the renovations.
Kale was eager to be finished so Delilah would have a place to stay when she
was done with whatever the Arcane University had in store for her.

Since Delilah’s over-the-top
appearance in the undercity, the other draks gave Kale a wider berth, although he
had to answer the door a few times a day to answer questions about when the
shop would be open and what they would sell.

“Perhaps we could do some sort of
business out of the storefront.” Kali paused her sanding of the counter.

“Like what?”

“Can you make puzzle boxes, or
rat traps, or something like that?”

Kale felt a pang of guilt. Since
arriving in Muncifer, he’d hardly thought of his puzzle box. He promised
himself he would concentrate on unlocking its secrets once they were finished
fixing up the shop.

“I suppose so. I’d need a
supplier of gears and springs.” Kale picked at a rough spot on the floor.

“I’ve checked out a lot of the
shops in town, and there’s really no one selling vermin traps. We’d make a
killing.” Kali returned to sanding the burrs and splinters out of the counter.

“I guess.” Kale grabbed his
sanding block and attacked a rough spot on the floor. He wasn’t convinced.
Setting up a store seemed like a more permanent solution than he was willing to
accept. He didn’t mind Muncifer, but he missed Drak-Anor.

A few minutes later, Kali jumped
off the counter. “We need to earn money somehow, Kale. The funds Pancras left
us won’t last forever.”

“I know. I just…” Kale stood and
stretched. “It seems like committing to a shop says we’re going to stay here. I
figure once Deli’s done, we’ll go back to Drak-Anor or go after Pancras.”

“We’ll need to buy food, pay
taxes, pay for stabling, pay for repairs when stuff around here breaks, and it
will, and who knows what else.” Kali ticked them off on her fingers. “The last
thing we want is to be evicted because we burned through all our money when the
tax collectors come by.”

Drak-Anor had no tax collectors,
so the concept of making citizens pay for non-tangibles after they’d already
purchased the building was foreign to Kale. “Maybe we could do odd jobs for
people. Maybe we can catch the rats ourselves. I don’t know.”

“Couriers?”

“What about them?” Kale scratched
his head. He didn’t need a courier for anything.

“We could be couriers. With your
wings, you’d be the fastest drak in the city for delivering things from the
upper levels to the lower levels.” Kali made a swooping motion with her hand.
“You could just glide on down.”

Kale liked gliding, but he wasn’t
sure he had enough muscle control to jump into the chasm on a regular basis.
“Nah. Besides, all the draks around here think I’m something special. I can’t
be running around making deliveries.”

Kali cocked her head. “Then you
shouldn’t go around catching rats for people either.”

The two draks brainstormed for
the rest of the afternoon but came up with nothing that appealed to both of
them. Kale wished he had a reliable means of sending messages to his sister.
She always had good ideas.

After dinner, they worked by
lamplight for a few more hours before retiring for the night. Kale was pretty
proud of what they accomplished. The home he and Kali established was a far cry
from the single room with bunks he shared with his sister in Drak-Anor. As he
drifted off to sleep, entwined with his mate, Kale found himself redefining
home.
Maybe staying here wouldn’t be so bad after all.

* * *

As Pancras traveled east with the
Golden Slayer, Edric, and Qaliah, the days grew longer and warmer. The showers
of spring caused the land to blossom and grow into lush green meadows and
fields sprouting with the first of the year’s crops. Qaliah and Edric passed
the time regaling each other with outlandish stories Pancras was certain were
mostly lies or embellishments.

For the first few days after
leaving the fort, Gisella interrogated him about his experiences having been
dead and wanted to hear the whole story about how the shadow demon bonded with
him. Pancras explained what he knew to have happened. As to how the shadow demon
bonded with him and the exact nature of their relationship, he offered only
suppositions and speculations.

After hearing the same story for
the third time, Gisella seemed satisfied and changed the subject to theology.
She was particularly interested in his views on Aita, especially in light of
his post-mortem encounter.

“I’m not sure what else I can
tell you.” Pancras rubbed Stormheart’s neck as they strolled alongside their
mounts. “Looking back, I see many signs that might lead one to conclude I was supposed
to be a bonelord all along.”

Moonsilver nickered and tossed
her head, yanking her reins from Gisella’s hand. She grabbed them again before
her horse could escape. “Perhaps you’re only being made to think that now that
you’ve chosen to devote yourself to her fully.”

Pancras conceded it was a
possibility. Having died twice, though, he didn’t want to push his luck. “Signs
and portents. As reliable as they are unambiguous. And what of the Golden
Slayer? Faithful of Aurora? That’s not what they call their priests, but it
seems quite devout… unusual for a Watchmaiden.”

“It’s true. Most of my people
prefer Hon or Tinian, even Maris for some of the more aggressive settlements.”
Gisella smiled and fished in her pouch for an apple to give Moonsilver. “But, I
too, had a vision.”

“I doubt you had to die to see
it.”
Twice.
Pancras chuckled and tightened his grip on Stormheart’s
reins as his horse tried to snatch Moonsilver’s apple from Gisella’s hand.

“My sister and I were both very
popular in our home village. Some might say we were the beauties of the town.”

Pancras nodded. There were many
features of humans minotaurs found downright unattractive, the lack of fur,
flat faces, tiny button noses, but Pancras encountered enough humans during his
formative years to understand what they found attractive and agreed Gisella to
be attractive by human standards.

“Of course, we loved the
attention. We were known to use it to our advantage, even. After a particularly
passionate evening—” Gisella’s face flushed, and she laughed. “Oh, he was so
eager to please and so demanding afterwards.” She shook her head.

“What happened?”

“Like I said, it was a passionate
evening, and we slept in each other’s arms, exhausted. Maybe it was the mead
and the heat in the sweat lodge, but the dream was more vivid than I’d ever
had. Aurora came to me that night. She told me of our grandmother, who she
actually was.”

“You didn’t know before?” Pancras
stopped, and they mounted their horses before continuing.