Crowned in Black - Chapter 2

Great. There WAS a fucking spy in the ranks. But they weren’t quite good enough.

”So, correction number one.” As I stepped out into the aisle, my voice was picked up and magnified just like Janos’ as I strode forward into range of the microphone spell. “My ‘Fireblooded Shallatu whore’, aka Suri Ba’hadir, the Lady of Myszno, is not warring with your navy. Correction number two is that I am right here, in the flesh, listening to you lie your ass off with my actual goddamned ears.”

The Pasha and Janos paused awkwardly. They paused in the way that people paused when they’d been caught doing something they shouldn’t be doing. There was no masking the surprise in their widened eyes, the sudden draining of color in their faces. Rutha was right. Whatever we were listening to, it had been scripted.

“The court presents Voivode Dragozin Hector of Myszno!” Elizabet the Herald called out helpfully. Her eyes darted to me, bright with amusement - and concern.

Janos recovered first. He turned a cold, icy glare on the stricken diplomat. “Well, then. Pasha Aswan, forgive me my inferior knowledge of geography, but I was not aware that Vulkan Keep was located in the Bashir Desert.”

A ripple of laughter passed through the room. Even I chuckled. “Yeah. Sorry to blow a great big sloppy hole in your alibi, Pasha, but uh... The Voivode of Myszno is right here, present and accounted for, and every word you just rattled off is complete and total bullshit.”

My words caused the brief moment of mirth to darken. A rumble ran through the crowd, where the 4th Fleet officers stood.

“So, I assume I’ll be allowed to defend myself in front of the court, right? Unless I’m secretly in Dakhdir, waging war on the Sultir?” I continued. I was still armored and fully armed, flight harness on, the Spear of Nine Spheres on my back.

Janos looked down at Pasha with a blank, pleasant expression.

“It was… th-that was my information!” The diplomat said weakly. “My sources were very clear-“

“WHAT sources?” I demanded, advancing up the aisle. “Do you want to tell the court who these ‘sources’ are? Because they’re clearly mistaken. My dragon is out in the courtyard, and I’m right here.”

“And where is Lady Ba'hadir?” Janos asked.

“Tending Myszno’s affairs while Karalti and I responded to the loss of His Majesty.” It was a half-truth, because Suri was, in fact, in the Bashir Desert, and we had blown up several Dakhari airships that had attacked our salvage fleet. They had no right to start hostilities: The Warsinger we were retrieving, Withering Rose, was not Dakhdir’s property. But what I wanted to know was ‘how the fuck did Pasha Aswan know that?’

“So you deny the charges?” Janos frowned. He looked like he was trying to think of something.

“Absolutely.” I replied. “Dumbest shit I ever heard.”

Janos smiled.

“Pasha, your grievances are dismissed. You have no basis for your ‘information’. Your king betrayed us on a technicality, and he will pay.” The Regent flicked his hand. “Your punishment will be summary execution by stake.”

“But… but you swo-UUGH!“ Pasha only got a few words out before one of the Kingsguard kicked him in the back of the head. The heavy plated foot snapped him forward and slammed his face against the cold obsidian floor. Pasha’s nose burst like a ripe berry, and he fell limp.

“Take him straight to the battlements,” Janos said in disgust. “Voivode Dragozin Hector, you state before the court that you did not venture into the Bashir Desert for any reason?”

I locked eyes with the Regent. He stared back.

“Absolutely.” I called the bluff.

“Then you directly violated a primary directive of his Majesty,” Janos said, with a thin, smug smile. “Who ordered you to head into the Bashir to claim a war machine that is the rightful property of the crown. Are you saying you failed in your duty? Ignas left me detailed, specific documents explaining that you were working on this task, and I can in fact see the bounty he issued you – and that you accepted.”

The growing hunch that Janos was trying to set me up for some reason intensified into certainty. And that was why I'd set up my trap the way I had. “Your Grace, I said ‘I’ didn’t go to the Bashir. I have the duties of a Voivode to attend in Myszno, and there wouldn't be much point in taking Karalti to get the Warsinger. That machine is over three hundred feet tall. It could pick up my dragon and carry her like a cat.”

That brought a small ripple of tense laughter from the court. Janos’ smug smile faded.

“A team of salvaging ships is bringing the Warsinger back to Vlachia,” I said. “I, obviously, am not. Like you noted, the Bashir is not actually part of Dakhdir. Our craft made no aggressive moves toward Dakhdir and never entered their sovereign territory.”

“And I assume you have the ship navigation records to prove it.”

“Sure.” That wasn’t a lie: we’d cut around the mountains and flown due south. The logs on the scrappers weren't going to incriminate me.

The regent leaned forward. “And these ships are on their way to Taltos?”

“To Myszno.” I stared straight back at him. “We’ll repair the Warsinger in Litvy. It has the best facilities in the country, given my province hosts the Royal College of Engineers.”

His eyes narrowed, boring into mine.

“With all due respect, Your Grace, you really seem to be reaching for something.” I didn't blink - because I didn't have to. The mutations I'd endured to allow me to become a dragonrider had given me clear inner eyelids that I could flick across my eyes without looking away. “So are you going to keep trying to blame Myszno for Dakhdir's betrayal based on the word of an enemy spy, or are we going to stop messing around and go rescue our king?”

“The Voivode is out of line,’ Janos said coldly. "Consider this your one and only warning before you join the Pasha on the stake."

A dark murmur passed through the assembly at his words: especially through the ranks of military personnel.

[You have gained +250 Renown with the Royal Vlachian 4th Fleet!]

[You have lost -150 Renown with factions: Duchy of Czongrad, Duchy of Ori, Dragon Knights.]

[You have gained +175 Renown with factions: Night Stalkers, Knights of the Red Star, Duchy of Turas, Jeun.]

Nearly everyone here knew that I'd helped Ignas retake the throne from his corrupt, incompetent brother, Andrik, and that Janos had been Andrik’s ally. Me and my squad had also succeeded in the quest to liberate the Vlachian province of Myszno from the clutches of a foreign vampire. That, plus all the other quests my party and I had completed to the benefit of Vlachia, had given us a lot of Renown to lean on in Taltos. Renown was part of Archemi's game system, and it affected how NPCs, such as the people in the court, perceived me and my challenge to Janos' authority. Not only that, but I carried the Kingsmark: a status that Ignas had given to me to indicate to any and all people in Vlachia that I was a trusted VIP. AND I was a dragon-bonded rider, in a country that worshipped one of the dragons’ gods. Janos was on thin ice, whether he knew it or not.

"Yes, Your Grace. Thoroughly warned." I looked back to the men of the 4th. They were all hanging on my words, not Janos’. "But while I'm here, I and the rest of the assembled would be very grateful to learn how we can help pull Ignas from the clutches of Ilia."

"The crown will not be accepting questions today. The purpose of this appearance was to inform." Janos reached up to adjust a small pin on the collar of his jacket. The glint of metal caught my eye, and without thinking, I zoomed my eagle-like vision on it to glance. And then I did a double-take.

It was the symbol of the fucking Ryuko Corporation. The symbol used by the Cult of the Architect.

“Yes, Your Grace.” I sketched an ironic bow, and started to head off... before turning back. "But before I go, can the crown explain why he is wearing the symbol of the Architects - the same symbol used by our enemies in Ilia and the same symbol used by Andrik in his heretical cult - on his collar?"

Gasps echoed throughout the crowd. Behind me, Rutha's face turned ashen. Simeon’s mouth opened. Nethres stiffened. To the left side of the throne, Ebisa stirred. She dropped her hands, her head darting to look at Janos like an eagle’s.

Janos' fingers froze. He looked down at me in raw disbelief. From his position high on the throne, no normal human could possibly have spotted the little pin. But I wasn't any ordinary human.

"You dare? You dare make such a wild accusation of your rightful ruler in front of the entire assembled court?" He blinked a couple of times, his hand still resting over his neck.

"Then let Ebisa look at what's under your hand," I shot back. "She knows I can spot a dormouse a mile down off my dragon's back."

"Sire- '' Ebisa took a step toward him, only to be halted by a wall of metal and bared sword blades.

"Arrest this traitorous gutterborn clicker!" Janos snarled the derogatory term at Ebisa.

“Why won’t you tell the court how you plan to rescue Ignas, Janos?” I dropped all pretense of courtly intrigue as my HUD exploded with pings, my Renown see-sawing wildly in response to the sudden chaos. In between it all, I got a quest alert:

[New Quest: The Hidden Hand]

Janos jerked his hand away to point at me - pulling the pin in the process. "Seize this one for high treason against the Volod and his anointed representative!"

Four of the Kingsguard drew their swords and charged.

“Okay, but… just so you know, this is a very bad move, politically speaking.” As they closed in, I shot straight up into the air, arcing high above the startled, jostling crowd of nobles and soldiers. At the peak of the vault, time slowed - and I frowned as I watched the crowd split and two lines form. On the one side were a dozen loyalist Knights of the Red Star, palace guardsmen, and Knights of the Dragon. And on the other, the men of the 4th Fleet and Gehlen’s thirty-odd knights. Ur Gehlan was drawing his saber as I landed in the cleared space of the aisle. He stepped out in front of me as the knights under his command followed suit.

"Base treachery against the crown!" Ur Gehlan roared toward Janos. "Scapegoating your rival Voivode, so blatantly, in front of the assembled court!? Men! Pull this pretender off the throne and cast him down!"

"Gehlen..." His words shocked me even more than Janos calling me out, but there was no time.

Get them! All of them!” The court erupted as Janos, screaming treachery, lunged to his feet as his men ran at my defenders. Small, slim Commander Vasoly drew his rapier and clashed with one of the helmed Kingsguard, somehow catching and turning the huge man's broadsword; Ebisa, near the throne, pulled her daggers and vanished like a ghost. A familiar woman's scream pealed out from the crush. Masha.

"Let me go, you ruffians!" The Masterhealer yelled, kicking as two guardsmen hauled her up by the armpits and tried to drag her away. Her foot connected with the unarmored crotch of the man on her left, staggering him. He fell away, retching and clutching his junk, but the other only grappled her more tightly. Masha cried out in pain.

Something dark and angry rose in me, and lashed out with a coil of pure darkness that shot forward like a striking snake. The Black Lotus noose whipped around the man's neck, and his eyes bulged as he dropped the Masterhealer to claw at his throat. I leaped in over Masha as she stumbled away, landing on him spear-first. The magical weapon skidded off his round breastplate and plunged through padding, sending him wounded and choking to his knees.

"Karalti, get ready to fly! Everything's gone to shit!"I spun the Spear like a deadly baton, using the high-speed momentum to scatter the guards closing in no us like a pack of dogs. "Masha, I'm getting you out of here!"

There was a cry, a flash, and then two men went flying up over the crowd from the other side of the brawling pack. Nethres had her winged visor down, a silvered shield on her arm, her Nordic-style ax in the other hand. Ebisa was with her, the pair of them fighting back to back as they pulled toward me.

"Ebisa didn't go for Janos...?" I tore my eyes away, searching for Rutha. Panicked nobles were evacuating. As they cleared from the place I'd last seen her, I saw a clear, crackling dome of magic push people away. Rutha had her gauntleted arm raised high over the crouched forms of Kythias and Mastersage Nemeth, and the sprawled, unconscious form of Simeon. He lay in a pool of spreading blood.

"Oh no, he's hurt.” Masha groaned, limping. "Tuun, my leg..."

A Dragon Knight broke through the line of our defenders, broadsword striking down one man, then another. I had to make a decision.

Masha squeaked as I dropped the Spear and scooped her up into bridal carry, leaping up and forward. The Masterhealer yelped as we sailed over a rank of brawlers. I landed harder than usual, taking the shock with my knees and staggering forward to stop from dropping her, but the momentum brought me up to the group huddled beneath Rutha's shield. She looked through it at me, eyes wide with alarm.

"Rutha! Can you move with this shield up?" I let Masha down.

Rutha gestured with her fingers, and the magic of the shield warped, opening up a hole for Masha to scuttle through. "Yes! But Simeon-"

"Kythias, lay him over Rutha's lap!" I barked. "Then all of you get out to Karalti, before they get it in their minds to attack my damn dragon!"

Kythias - pale but determined - gave a sharp nod and immediately went to the Court Mage's feet. He hauled him up and draped him over Rutha's knees. Simeon had a bloody wound to the head.

"What in the name of Khors is going on?" Nemeth looked between us all.

"No time, sir," Kythias replied, turning his head toward me. "Where's this dragon? Where do we go?"

"Rose Garden," Masha said, grimacing as she assessed her own leg. She grunted, then fumbled in a pouch for medicine.

"You got any of those knife friends you were talking about the last time I visited the library?" I asked Kythias.

He nodded, and drew a slim dagger from his boot. "A few."

"Keep it out and stab anyone who tries to get in your way." I saluted him. "See you on the other side."

Mastersage Nemeth overcame his confusion to help, seizing the handles of Rutha's floating wheelchair and steering her toward the exit as she re-intensified her protective barrier around them all. I turned just in time to see a wall of soldiers boiling toward me. The red borders around their HP rings told me they were not friendlies.

"All of this for little old me? You shouldn't have." I called the Spear to hand, and the weapon suddenly appeared in my clenched fist. The appearance of it gave the men pause - enough for me to disappear in a thin plume of shadow and reappear behind them. My AoE attacks were out - too many civilians and allies mixed into the brawl to risk it. I triggered Blood Sprint and shot forward in a straight line from behind them, Spear flashing. The maneuver gave me priority in combat against any opponent with less Dex than me. At Level 34, against the common troops of the Royal Court, that was all of them.

"Hector!" Nethres' husky voice carried to me as I kicked a man off the blade of my spear. I whirled to see her closing in, Ebisa by her side. The assassin's daggers were bloody.

"Nethres, glad you're okay. Ebisa - did you get Janos?" I left the injured guard to roll on the floor, stepping over him.

"No. I’ll explain later." Ebisa's mask was unreadable, but her harsh, whiskey-hoarse voice sounded more strained than usual. "I went for Nethres. Ignas told me to free her if the court dissolved."

"Did you know I'd be arrested?" Nethres demanded of me.

"No, and we don't have time to discuss it." I pointed at the distant door. "Your quazi is safe, being spoiled rotten by the stablemaster at my castle. Get to Karalti for evac. I'll cover your rear."

"I..." For the first time since I'd met her, Ebisa hesitated. She looked back toward the throne.

"We need you if we’re going to save Ignas, Ebisa. Go!" I ordered her, tensing to leap.

Nethres caught the wiry Mercurion by the forearm and tugged. Ebisa shook her off, as if insulted, and flitted forward.

I surged forward, only to be halted when Ur Gehlan stepped in front of me. He caught my shoulder and squeezed, bringing me to a halt before I could rejoin the battle lines. His red armor was dented, and he had a cut to his face.

"Voivode, go with the others!" He raised his voice over the clashing of swords, shields, and fists. "We will hold here!"

"Hold? Don't you dare make a last stand here for me. You need to get out of the palace," I retorted, brushing him off. "We can get to Janos later, we-"

"We all saw him tear something from his collar and hide it, Your Grace. I have trained since boyhood to fight for this country, and now that we have experienced the rule of a good Volod, a wise, competent Volod, I won't let Czongrad drag it into the mud." The Knight's tattooed face contorted. "My bloodbrothers and I fought with you in Myszno. We know you are faithful to Crown and Country. We will fight, and we will escape, and we will join you at your castle. If Janos declares us traitors? So be it. Chernobog shelters the righteous revolutionary under his dark mantle. We shall become the Knights of the Black Star instead."

I pressed my lips in a thin line and gripped his arm. "Don't die here."

"We won't." The old Knight flashed me a gap-toothed grin, then shoved me toward the door. "Leave. Rescue our king, and prepare for trouble. The regent is powerful, but we will find our way to your doors."

I nodded, steeled myself, and fled. If Gehlan's knights and the officers and men of the 4th were willing to risk their lives and careers for me, I wasn't going to make their efforts be in vain.

Soldiers from the Vulkan Keep garrison sprinted down the marble corridors of the castle to join their fellows in the Throne Room. They had Nethres and Ebisa pinned in the hallway that led to the Rose Garden. From further back, there was a flash and a scream, followed by a rolling bass roar that shook the floor. Karalti.

"Karalti! Use your Queensong! Knock ‘em out!" I sprinted forward, jumped, and landed on the head of a heavily armored soldier about to bring his mace down on Nethres' shield. He sprawled back, gurgling and clutching at the spear blade buried in his throat.

Karalti's reply to me was an empathic push of acknowledgment. I felt her focus harden, and fighting faltered as a deep, primordial rumbling built and built, rattling the walls and windows of the keep. It drowned every other sound, and Nethres and Ebisa surged forward as one by one, our enemies fell to their knees. Some of them clutched their ears and screamed, or stumbled against walls to violently retch.

"Move, move, move!" My voice was barely audible over the din as a high note, clear and pure as glass, overlaid the terrifying dark rumble of my dragon's song. One by one, the windows above the courtyard shook in their frames and burst.

Nethres and Ebisa ran after me as we pushed through the paralyzed mass of enemies and out into the garden. To my relief, everyone else was already strapped into the saddle except for Kythias.

"You two are just going to have to hang on!" I tried to shout, but Karalti was still going - head thrown back, jaws gaping, her Queensong rolling over the grounds like a tsunami. Cursing to myself, I ran for her, vaulted up to her back from the ground, and frantically waved at the two women.

Ebisa knew what to do. She had even more alacrity than I did, vanishing on the ground only to reappear beside me. Nethres, built to tank, would be too slow to make it before the song ended. She was an experienced flier in her own right, but there were no more passenger positions available on Karalti's back.

"Karalti! Grab Nethres! Let's teleport before they get an anti-magic barrier up and the fucking cannons armed!" I slid into position, trusting Ebisa to find a seat. "Can you teleport from the ground?"

"Yes! I think so! But the landing might be weird." Karalti dropped her head to end the song in a long, rattling caw. She took a step forward, and caught the startled Valkyrie in her claws. "Hold on, Nethres! And don't wiggle too much!"

I looked down to see enemy knights stumbling through the doors, swords raised, but they were too late to stop us as Karalti's black opal scales swelled with color. They skidded to a stop as the dragon swiveled her head toward them, flared her wings, and warped into the void.