Fire Study (Poison Study 3)

Leif, Moon Man, Tauno and I carried our saddles until we were far enough away to risk the noise. Moon Man and Marrok rode on Topaz. Marrok still couldn’t speak, but he mounted when Moon Man asked him to.

Maren proved to be an adept rider and we covered the distance to MD-6 in record time. Before she alerted the way-station guards, I asked her, “What will happen when General Rasmussen finds out we escaped?”

“Once you’re with the Commander, he can’t admit to trying to delay you, because he’ll have to answer why. He’ll probably have his people keep the whole incident quiet. Valek will most likely let him believe he got away with it. Until Valek needs something from him.” Another predatory grin spread on her face.

Our transfer to MD-6 and into the hands of General Hazel’s soldiers proceeded with quick efficiency. The new guide wore a captain’s uniform with blue diamonds instead of Captain Nytik’s yellow.

In fact, the whole trip to the Commander’s castle went smoothly. Admitted into his complex without any trouble, I should have savored those few quiet hours. Because after we met with Commander Ambrose, nothing went right.

19

AFTER OUR ARRIVAL at the castle complex, we waited in the outer courtyard. We received many curious glances from the castle’s denizens, and I knew the servants would soon be gossiping and laying bets about who we were and why we had come. They probably didn’t recognize me without my food taster’s uniform on.

Grooms from the stable appeared to take the horses. I wanted to stay with Kiki, but we were instructed to enter the castle to await a meeting with the Commander.

My companions exclaimed over the odd-shaped structure. With its multiple levels of unusual geometric shapes, the castle resembled a child’s toy. Balanced on the rectangular base, the other floors of the castle were a combination of squares, triangles and even cylinders built on top of one another in a haphazard fashion. On some levels all three shapes could be found. The windows of the building also reflected the architect’s fondness for geometry, including octagons and ovals.

It had been a year since I last saw the castle. Once part of my everyday routine, I had grown used to its strange style. Now, the sight of the structure jolted me and unease fluttered through my body.

The four towers at the corners gave the viewer some sense of symmetry. They rose a few stories higher than the main building and colored glass decorated their windows. I paused. The Magician’s Keep also had four towers in the corners and I wondered about the similarity.

A servant led us to an austere waiting room with minimal comforts. Served refreshments, I automatically tested the drink for poisons, surprising Leif when I gargled the juice. He had been staring at the blank walls, probably wondering where all the legendary paintings and gilded mirrors had gone to. I assumed the Commander had destroyed all the treasures from the King’s era, but, remembering a comment Cahil had made to me about the amount of money needed to support Ixia, I wondered if Commander Ambrose had traded them for services instead.

“Did you live here?” Leif asked.

I nodded. “For two years.” One of them in the dungeon. Not many people in Sitia knew about Reyad. I preferred to keep the details of that time to myself. However, most Ixians were aware I killed Reyad.

“Where did you stay?”

“I had a room in Valek’s suite.”

Leif shot me an incredulous look. “Boy, you worked fast.”

“And you assume too much.” One day I would tell Leif and my parents about my ordeal, but not today.

Leif grew thoughtful. Tauno napped in one of the wooden chairs. I marveled at how the Sandseed could wedge himself into a small space and still look comfortable. During our time together, he had adapted to being within walls.

Moon Man, on the other hand, fidgeted in his chair. I couldn’t determine if his discomfort grew from being in a confined space or from my hostility. He claimed I had a new Story Weaver. It was an easy way for him to avoid telling me the truth.

Knowing we were headed toward Ixia, Cahil must have planned Marrok’s escape. The Sitian guards who chased them were probably part of the ruse, too.

I longed to pace the room. The wait stretched as long as a necklace snake. There was nothing to avert me from my list of worries. Valek remained near the top. Where was he? By this time, he should be back in Ixia. Thoughts circled in my mind. To distract myself, I sat in one of the hard chairs near the only window. Outside, a portion of the barracks and practice yard where the Commander’s soldiers lived and trained was visible, reminding me of Ari and Janco, my soldier friends who, according to Maren, were now Valek’s seconds in command.

I stood, desiring action. Perhaps I should just go to the Commander’s office. I knew how to get there, and I hated this unsettled sensation sloshing in the pit of my stomach. Why was I so on edge?

Understanding crashed through me and I needed to sit down again. Inside these walls I had always been a prisoner. Either by the bars of the dungeon or by the belief I had ingested a poison called Butterfly’s Dust, knowing I couldn’t get far without the daily antidote keeping me alive. And all the logic in the world couldn’t convince my body I was free.

Finally, an adviser arrived to lead us though the main corridors of the castle. Leif gasped in surprise when we entered the main hall. Greeted by the sight of the silk and gold tapestries hanging in tatters, I sympathized with my brother’s reaction. Black paint stained the once famous quilts that had symbolized each province during the King’s era. They now represented the takeover. The old provinces had been torn apart and borders redrawn into eight neat Military Districts.

Commander Ambrose’s disdain for opulence, excess and greed was evident in every part of the stone building. Stripped of the trappings of royalty, the castle had been robbed of its soul, and reassigned as a basic utilitarian structure.

The transformation of the throne room was another example of his disregard. Instead of lavish decorations and thick carpets, the room buzzed with the activity of numerous advisers and military officers from every Military District in Ixia, with no sign of a dais or throne in sight. With desks wedged in tight together, getting the five of us through the room turned into an exercise in agility as we threaded our way toward the back.

The Commander’s office matched the rest of the castle. Stark, neat and organized, the room lacked personality but reflected its occupant perfectly.

Wearing a tailored black uniform with real diamonds glittering from his collar, Commander Ambrose stood when we entered. I studied his clean-shaven face as I introduced him to my companions, detecting only a faint resemblance to Ambassador Signe. As if they were truly cousins instead of the same person.

The power of his gaze, though, remained the same. My heart flipped in my chest when he focused his gold-colored eyes on me.

“This is an unexpected visit, Liaison Yelena. I trust you have a good reason for bypassing standard protocol,” he said, raising a single slender eyebrow.

“An excellent reason, sir. I believe Sitia will try to mount an offensive against you.”

The Commander glanced at my companions as he considered my words. More gray had infiltrated his black hair, which had been cropped so short it looked as if Kiki had grazed on it.

Walking to his office’s door, the Commander called to one of his men.

“Adviser Reydon, please escort our guests to the dining hall for lunch and then to the guest suite.” He turned to the others. “The Liaison will dine with me and meet up with you later.”

Leif looked to me for guidance. I opened my mind to him.

Do you want us to stay? he asked.

I don’t think you have a choice.

He isn’t my Commander. I don’t have to listen to him.

A childish, stubborn remark. Perhaps Leif felt left out. Be a good guest and do as he says. I’ll let you know what happens.

You sure you don’t need backup? This guy c

reeps me out.

Leif, I warned.

He left the office with obvious reluctance, shooting me an annoyed frown before following the adviser.

When the room emptied, the Commander gestured for me to sit in the chair in front of his desk. Unnerved, I perched on the edge.

He served me a cup of tea before settling behind his desk. I sipped the drink with care, testing for poisons. In command of a powerful military and with eight ambitious generals to oversee, the Commander needed a food taster on his staff.

“Why have you come?” he asked.

“I told you. Sitia plans—”

He stopped me with a dismissive wave. “You know that’s old news. Why are you really here?”

“To ask you to delay a first strike.”

“Why?”

I paused, gathering my thoughts. Only logic would persuade the Commander. “The Sitian Council has had a dramatic change of opinion from wanting to trade and communicate with you to being terrified of you.”

“Yes. They’re very unstable.”

“But not that unstable. They’re being influenced.”

“With magic?” The Commander said the word as if it pained him.

General Brazell and Mogkan—my kidnappers—had used magic and Theobroma on him to gain control of his mind despite his ban on magicians. Though his firm censure softened, the Commander still viewed magicians as untrustworthy. Consenting to let me act as Liaison for Ixia had been his first and only concession.

Valek had theorized the Commander feared magicians, but I believed it had more to do with what the Commander referred to as his mutation. Born with a female body, he believed his soul was a man’s and he worried a magician would expose him. But from my interaction with him when he had been disguised as the female Ambassador Signe, I had sensed the presence of two souls within his body.

Standing in front of him, I suppressed the desire to project into his mind, avoiding even a surface sweep. It would be a serious breach of protocol. Besides, it felt wrong.

“Magic could be a factor, but there could be another reason or even a person influencing them. At this point I don’t know, but I want to find out. If you kill them all, you might not solve the problem and those who replace them will be worse,” I said.