Kingsbane (Empirium 2)

Eliana’s impatience snapped like fire. “What is this choice, Patrik? What do you want from me?”

Patrik leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You can help us accomplish our goals in Meridian, bringing your considerable talents to the aid of the cause. Or you can die.”

“That’s not much of a choice,” Harkan muttered.

Patrik shrugged. “If you don’t agree to these terms, we’ll dispatch you before we make port and drop your corpses into the sea. Well.” He glanced at Harkan. “Perhaps not the boy, if he doesn’t do anything stupid. I don’t hate him yet.”

Eliana smiled thinly. “But you hate me?”

“Yes.”

“Because of Crown’s Hollow?” Harkan asked.

“Ah,” said Patrik. “So you told him.”

“Yes, I told him,” Eliana said, “and he understood why I did what I did.”

“Oh, I understand why you did it, Eliana. I’m saying I don’t forgive you for it. But helping me and my colleagues will go a long way toward repairing our relationship.”

“And if I don’t agree to help you, how exactly do you imagine you’ll manage to kill me?”

“Easily, I expect.” He glanced at her hands. “You’re wearing bandages. I’ve watched how you handle yourself while working here on the ship. You’re in pain. That’s a new thing, isn’t it?”

Eliana flinched.

“Yes,” Patrik said quietly. “A very new thing indeed for the great Dread of Orline. What happened to you, Eliana? What changed?”

Beside her, Harkan tapped on his thigh.

No. Silence.

She could have slapped him. As if she would tell Patrik anything of importance.

“Many things have happened,” she answered instead. Then a startling thought occurred to her. “Why didn’t you come to Dyrefal? Hob was there. Surely you wondered if he was. You knew we were going to Astavar and that Hob had joined us. Why did you stay away?”

Now Patrik was the one to flinch. “Because if I had gone to Dyrefal and seen Hob, I would never have left his side, not again. I would have abandoned Red Crown for him.”

“And now Astavar has fallen, no doubt,” Eliana said, imagining driving a knife deeper and deeper into Patrik’s heart until it could go no farther. “And perhaps Hob with it.”

Jessamyn, leaning against the wall, watched Eliana calmly. “What an awful person you are. I understand now how you could have betrayed Crown’s Hollow and left them to die.”

Eliana pinned her with a glare. “I was trying to save my family. My brother, my mother.”

Jessamyn looked curiously about the room. “Yes? And where are they now, this family of yours?”

Harkan stepped forward. “This really isn’t necessary—”

“Gone.” Eliana forced herself to speak. She hoped her words hurt Harkan as deeply as they hurt her. “They’re all gone.”

• • •

After their meeting with Patrik and Jessamyn, Harkan disappeared somewhere, looking troubled, and Eliana returned to her hammock to brood. At dawn, she was roused from an ill sleep by the hateful clang of the morning bell. She completed her assigned tasks, and in the evening, she retreated to her hammock, shooed away two giggling girls who lay kissing inside it, and proceeded to brood some more. She slipped her hand inside her coat pocket, absently fingering the lines of Zahra’s box.

Then she sat straight up, sending the hammock swaying. She clutched the box tightly for a moment, her palm smarting, and then went searching for Patrik.

She found him sharpening his knives near the bow of the main deck. Torches lit the starboard side, where a group of people drank and sang. One staggered up from his seat, went to the railing, dropped his trousers, and pissed overboard. This elicited a round of applause from the onlookers, one of whom promptly retched onto his shoes.

Avoiding them, Eliana joined Patrik silently, watching him work as the sharp sea wind cooled her cheeks. Five minutes passed before he acknowledged her presence.

“Yes?”

“We’ll help you get your refugees to Karlaine,” she replied.

“Excellent. I suppose I won’t kill you, then. At least not tonight.”

She bit back a sharp retort, then held out Zahra’s box for him to see. “I’m hoping you’ll know what this is.”

He glanced over. “And if I do?”

“Don’t be an ass, Patrik.”

“You’re in no position to order me around, Dread.”

“Please.” She inhaled slowly, deciding to take the risk. “My friend is trapped inside it. Her name is Zahra. She’s a wraith—an angel who has decided not to take a human body. She’s a Red Crown sympathizer and helped me and Navi escape Fidelia.” She paused. “You know them, I assume.”

Patrik had stopped cleaning his knives. “I had hoped those whispers were only rumors.”

“You were foolish to hope for anything good. Fidelia abducted me and Navi from Camille’s safe house in Sanctuary. Without Zahra, I’m not sure Simon could have gotten us out. And now she’s trapped in here.” She blinked back tears, blaming them on the wind. “I can’t open it. I don’t know if she’s dead. I don’t know if she can die.”

She glanced down at her hands, Harkan’s too-large gloves concealing her castings. “I don’t know anything,” she said quietly, and then held her breath, waiting for Patrik to exclaim, in shock and confusion, what she meant when she spoke of angels and wraiths and other such Old World nonsense.

But instead, Patrik was still for a moment, and then rose to his feet. “Come. You’ll want to see this.”

• • •

In one of the smaller holds of the Streganna, guarded by a woman and a man, both armed with rifles, both of whom nodded and moved aside when they saw Patrik approaching, a beast lay chained to the floor.

And it was alive.

Eliana stood at the door’s threshold for a full five seconds before she managed to recover herself and step inside. “What is it?”

Patrik closed the door behind them, leaving them in near-darkness. The only light came from the small gas lamp he carried. “The angels call them cruciata.”

She looked at him closely, unsure how to determine what, exactly, he knew.

He saw her expression and rolled his eyes. “Do you think you’re the only one to know the truth about the Empire? Granted, I try to keep the truth from as many people as possible, as a kindness. And I didn’t believe it myself until Simon convinced me when we first met…what, three years ago now? But, yes, I know that the old stories are true and that angels walk among us.” a’s impatience snapped like fire. “What is this choice, Patrik? What do you want from me?”

Patrik leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You can help us accomplish our goals in Meridian, bringing your considerable talents to the aid of the cause. Or you can die.”

“That’s not much of a choice,” Harkan muttered.

Patrik shrugged. “If you don’t agree to these terms, we’ll dispatch you before we make port and drop your corpses into the sea. Well.” He glanced at Harkan. “Perhaps not the boy, if he doesn’t do anything stupid. I don’t hate him yet.”

Eliana smiled thinly. “But you hate me?”

“Yes.”

“Because of Crown’s Hollow?” Harkan asked.

“Ah,” said Patrik. “So you told him.”

“Yes, I told him,” Eliana said, “and he understood why I did what I did.”

“Oh, I understand why you did it, Eliana. I’m saying I don’t forgive you for it. But helping me and my colleagues will go a long way toward repairing our relationship.”

“And if I don’t agree to help you, how exactly do you imagine you’ll manage to kill me?”

“Easily, I expect.” He glanced at her hands. “You’re wearing bandages. I’ve watched how you handle yourself while working here on the ship. You’re in pain. That’s a new thing, isn’t it?”

Eliana flinched.

“Yes,” Patrik said quietly. “A very new thing indeed for the great Dread of Orline. What happened to you, Eliana? What changed?”

Beside her, Harkan tapped on his thigh.

No. Silence.

She could have slapped him. As if she would tell Patrik anything of importance.

“Many things have happened,” she answered instead. Then a startling thought occurred to her. “Why didn’t you come to Dyrefal? Hob was there. Surely you wondered if he was. You knew we were going to Astavar and that Hob had joined us. Why did you stay away?”

Now Patrik was the one to flinch. “Because if I had gone to Dyrefal and seen Hob, I would never have left his side, not again. I would have abandoned Red Crown for him.”

“And now Astavar has fallen, no doubt,” Eliana said, imagining driving a knife deeper and deeper into Patrik’s heart until it could go no farther. “And perhaps Hob with it.”

Jessamyn, leaning against the wall, watched Eliana calmly. “What an awful person you are. I understand now how you could have betrayed Crown’s Hollow and left them to die.”

Eliana pinned her with a glare. “I was trying to save my family. My brother, my mother.”

Jessamyn looked curiously about the room. “Yes? And where are they now, this family of yours?”

Harkan stepped forward. “This really isn’t necessary—”

“Gone.” Eliana forced herself to speak. She hoped her words hurt Harkan as deeply as they hurt her. “They’re all gone.”

• • •

After their meeting with Patrik and Jessamyn, Harkan disappeared somewhere, looking troubled, and Eliana returned to her hammock to brood. At dawn, she was roused from an ill sleep by the hateful clang of the morning bell. She completed her assigned tasks, and in the evening, she retreated to her hammock, shooed away two giggling girls who lay kissing inside it, and proceeded to brood some more. She slipped her hand inside her coat pocket, absently fingering the lines of Zahra’s box.

Then she sat straight up, sending the hammock swaying. She clutched the box tightly for a moment, her palm smarting, and then went searching for Patrik.

She found him sharpening his knives near the bow of the main deck. Torches lit the starboard side, where a group of people drank and sang. One staggered up from his seat, went to the railing, dropped his trousers, and pissed overboard. This elicited a round of applause from the onlookers, one of whom promptly retched onto his shoes.

Avoiding them, Eliana joined Patrik silently, watching him work as the sharp sea wind cooled her cheeks. Five minutes passed before he acknowledged her presence.

“Yes?”

“We’ll help you get your refugees to Karlaine,” she replied.

“Excellent. I suppose I won’t kill you, then. At least not tonight.”

She bit back a sharp retort, then held out Zahra’s box for him to see. “I’m hoping you’ll know what this is.”

He glanced over. “And if I do?”

“Don’t be an ass, Patrik.”

“You’re in no position to order me around, Dread.”

“Please.” She inhaled slowly, deciding to take the risk. “My friend is trapped inside it. Her name is Zahra. She’s a wraith—an angel who has decided not to take a human body. She’s a Red Crown sympathizer and helped me and Navi escape Fidelia.” She paused. “You know them, I assume.”

Patrik had stopped cleaning his knives. “I had hoped those whispers were only rumors.”

“You were foolish to hope for anything good. Fidelia abducted me and Navi from Camille’s safe house in Sanctuary. Without Zahra, I’m not sure Simon could have gotten us out. And now she’s trapped in here.” She blinked back tears, blaming them on the wind. “I can’t open it. I don’t know if she’s dead. I don’t know if she can die.”

She glanced down at her hands, Harkan’s too-large gloves concealing her castings. “I don’t know anything,” she said quietly, and then held her breath, waiting for Patrik to exclaim, in shock and confusion, what she meant when she spoke of angels and wraiths and other such Old World nonsense.

But instead, Patrik was still for a moment, and then rose to his feet. “Come. You’ll want to see this.”

• • •

In one of the smaller holds of the Streganna, guarded by a woman and a man, both armed with rifles, both of whom nodded and moved aside when they saw Patrik approaching, a beast lay chained to the floor.

And it was alive.

Eliana stood at the door’s threshold for a full five seconds before she managed to recover herself and step inside. “What is it?”

Patrik closed the door behind them, leaving them in near-darkness. The only light came from the small gas lamp he carried. “The angels call them cruciata.”

She looked at him closely, unsure how to determine what, exactly, he knew.

He saw her expression and rolled his eyes. “Do you think you’re the only one to know the truth about the Empire? Granted, I try to keep the truth from as many people as possible, as a kindness. And I didn’t believe it myself until Simon convinced me when we first met…what, three years ago now? But, yes, I know that the old stories are true and that angels walk among us.”