“Sounds rather vague. Perhaps you have more information on this?” The Commander flourished a scroll then handed it to me.
I unrolled the parchment. Each word I read increased my concern and outrage.
“And if you notice—” he leaned over and tapped the bottom “—it’s signed by all the Councilors, but it’s lacking two Master Magicians’ signatures. Curious.”
Curious wouldn’t be the word I would use. Disastrous sounded more fitting. I worried about Irys and Bain. If the Council tried to coerce their signatures, what had happened to them by refusing? I focused on the paper in my hand. Fretting wouldn’t help Irys and Bain.
In short, the letter warned the Commander about my renegade status and suggested my treasonous companions and I be killed on sight. Probably the reason Roze had been confident I wouldn’t be safe in Ixia.
“They seek to undermine your credibility all the while planning to attack me. Do they think I’m a simpleton?” He relaxed back in his chair and sighed. “Explain to me exactly what’s going on.”
“If I knew exactly, then I wouldn’t have sounded so vague.” My turn to sigh. I wiped a hand over my face, thinking how best to tell the Commander about Cahil. Did I mention the Fire Warper or not? I had no idea what role he played in all this. Exactly the problem.
So I explained about Ferde’s escape with Cahil’s help and how Cahil had turned it all around to implicate Marrok, Leif and me.
“Sounds like assassinating the Council would be a good deed for Sitia,” the Commander said.
“That would give Cahil and his cohorts evidence they were right to suspect you. Sitia would rally behind them in support. Valek agrees with me. He hasn’t targeted the Council yet. He’s on his way here.”
If the Commander was surprised, he didn’t show it. “So you already delayed my preemptive strike. Yet you have no proof.”
“None. That’s why I wanted you to wait before launching another attack. We need more information. Valek and I—”
The office door opened. Star came into the room, carrying a tray of food. The Commander’s food taster froze in shock when she recognized me. My own pulse skipped when I saw my old uniform being worn by her. And not just any woman, but the former Captain Star, who had been the leader of a successful black market and racketeering ring before Valek uncovered her operation.
Star stared daggers at me. Her goon’s unsuccessful attempt on my life had led to her capture. Already warned about Valek’s setup, Star could have disappeared into her own underground network. Instead, she had let petty vengeance rule her and now she tasted food for the Commander.
“At least you survived the training,” I said to her.
She looked away. The long red curls of her hair had been tied into a sloppy knot, and her prominent nose led the way as she walked. Putting the tray onto the Commander’s desk, she performed a fast taste and left. Even though two lunches had been set on the tray, she tested only the one.
I eyed my food. Star seemed surprised at my presence, but that could have been an act. She could still be nursing her desire for revenge. The Commander handed me a plate. Not to appear rude, I took a tentative bite of the meat pie, chewing slowly and rolling the food around my tongue. The beef was flavored with rosemary and ginger and lacked poisons. At least, I couldn’t taste the poisons I remembered. I lost my appetite when I remembered Moon Man’s comment about learning by doing and how easy it was to forget dictated information.
We talked about minor things while eating. When I complimented his new chef on the lemon-wedge dessert, he told me Sammy now held the position.
“Rand’s fetch boy?” I asked. He was thirteen years old.
“He worked with Rand for four years and it became evident only he knew all the ingredients in Rand’s secret recipes.”
“But he’s so young.” The kitchen during meal times had been a cacophony of ordered chaos guided by Rand’s firm hand.
“I gave him a week to prove he could do it. He’s still there.”
I had forgotten age didn’t matter to the Commander. He could have forced Sammy to divulge the recipes, but he respected ability over experience or gender. My young friend, Fisk the beggar boy turned entrepreneur, would have flourished in Ixia.
When we finished lunch, the Commander moved the tray aside and repositioned his snow cat statue. Glints of silver sparked from the black stone. The single piece of decoration in the room, the cat was one of Valek’s carvings. Killing a snow cat was considered impossible. The citizens of Ixia avoided the lethal creatures living on the northern ice pack. The cat’s preternatural ability to escape death made it feared.
Commander Ambrose was the only person to successfully hunt and kill one, and in doing so, he proved to himself that despite his mutation he could infiltrate a man’s world just as he had lived among the snow cat’s world. He believed his female body had just been a disguise for his soul. Only the Commander and I knew about his hunt and dual personalities. He had sworn me to secrecy when I had rescued him from Mogkan’s mind control.
“Before Star came in with lunch you mentioned getting more information about the Sitian Council. Now that you’re a wanted criminal, how do you plan to achieve that?” the Commander asked.
“I had hoped to infiltrate the Citadel and talk to one of the Councilors. But I fear the Master Magician’s magic would discover me, so now I want to borrow Valek and a few of his men. They could assist us in contacting the Councilor.”
“Which one?”
“Bavol Cacao Zaltana, my clan’s Councilman. He has been my strongest supporter and if you see by his signature…” I picked the Sitian letter up and pointed to his name. “He didn’t include his family name, Cacao, in his signature, so it’s not an official inscription. I believe it’s a message to me that he can be approached.”
The Commander stared across the room as if considering my words. After a while, he brought his attention back to me. “You want me to risk my chief of security to help you gain information. All the while I’m to do nothing and hope the Sitians don’t attack before you discover what’s going on?”
“Yes.” Although, the way the Commander said it made the situation sound terrible. There was no sense sugarcoating it. And the last thing I wanted was to put Valek or anyone else at risk. But it had to be done.
The Commander rested his chin on his folded hands. “The information isn’t worth the risk. I could wait to see what develops with the Council and then decide how to handle it.”
“But—”
A warning flashed in his eyes. “Yelena, why would you care what happens to the Council? They have turned their backs on you. You can’t go back to Sitia. You would provide the most help here with me as my adviser.”
An unexpected offer. I considered. “What about my companions?”
“Magicians?” A small crease of distaste pinched his forehead.
“Two.”
“They could be part of your staff if you want. But they can not use their magic against any Ixians without my permission.”
“What about my magic? Would you place the same restrictions on me?”
The Commander’s gaze didn’t waver. “No. I trust you.”
I froze for a moment in shock. His trust was an honor, and, considering the recent reaction from the Sitian Council about me, the temptation to become his adviser warred with my emotions. It would probably be easier to stay and help defeat Cahil from this side of the border.
“Don’t answer right away. Talk to your companions. I should have news from Valek soon. We’ll meet again then. In the meantime, do you need anything?”
I thought about our dwindling supplies. If we left, we would need more provisions. “Could you exchange Sitian coins for Ixian?” I rummaged in my pack, placing various loose objects on his desk to get them out of my way.
“Give them to Adviser Watts. You remember my accountant?”
“Yes.” The covering on Opal’s bat had come undone and was all over the bottom of my pack. I
removed the glass animal and freed it from the wrapping. The Commander gasped.
His focus was riveted on the statue in my hand; his fingers poised as if to snatch the bat.
“May I see?” he asked.
“Sure.”
With a snap of motion, he plucked the statue from my palm. He spun the bat, examining it from every possible angle. “Who made this?”
“My friend, Opal. She’s a glass artist in Sitia.”
“It glows like there is molten fire on the inside. How did she make it?”
Trying to comprehend his words, I stared. He saw the inner glow. Impossible. Only magicians could see the light.
The Commander had magical powers.
20
THE GLASS BAT GLOWED for the Commander. I had theorized only magicians could see the inner light. But I could be wrong. Maybe I hadn’t tested the bat on enough people. If the Commander had magical power, his magic would have raged uncontrolled and flamed out by now, killing him. The Masters in Sitia would have felt him long ago. Irys would have sensed it when she stood next to him.
Shaking those ridiculous thoughts out of my mind, I answered the Commander’s questions about glassmaking.
“But what causes it to glow?”
I knew if I said magic, he would drop it as if burned. Instead, I told him the internal workings were a family secret.
He passed the glass bat to me. “Extraordinary. Next time you see your friend, please ask her to make one for me.”
I found the coins I had been searching for, and repacked my bag. Only when I had slung my pack onto my shoulders did I realize I forgot to rewrap the bat.
The Commander picked up the coins, walked to his office door and opened it. Summoning Adviser Watts, he asked him to exchange my money and to show me to the guest area.
Dismissed, I followed Watts into the throne room, holding the bat in my hand. The adviser noticed the creature when handing me the Ixian coins.
“Sitian art?” he asked.
I nodded.
“Not a bad likeness, but rather dull. I thought the Sitians had more imagination than that.”
I mulled over the Commander and Adviser Watts’s comments as I followed Watts through the castle. Still unable to bend my mind around the Commander’s ability to see the glow, I had to postpone further ruminations when I entered the guest suite.
Leif peppered me with a million questions the moment I stepped through the door. The guest quarters were rather lavish by Ixian standards. The main room contained a comfortable sofa and soft chairs as well as a number of desks and tables. A faint odor of disinfectant scented the air. Four bedrooms branched off from the living area, two on each side. Sunlight streamed in through the circle of windows in the back wall, warming the empty room.
I stopped Leif’s questions with a look. “Where are the others?”
He pointed to the second door on the right. “They’re all resting. Moon Man and Marrok are in the big room next to Tauno’s.”
Double doors marked the entrance to Moon Man’s room.
“Which one is mine?”
“Second door on the left, next to me.”
I went into my room. Leif trailed along like a lost puppy. A simple layout of a bed, armoire, desk and night table all made of oak decorated the small interior. The bedding looked fresh and inviting. I stroked the soft quilt. The air smelled of pine. The lack of dust made me remember Valek’s housekeeper, Margg. She had plagued my existence when I first became the food taster, refusing to clean my room and writing nasty messages in the dust. I hoped I wouldn’t run into her during this trip.
Leif’s questions began again, and I filled him in on what had happened in the Commander’s office, neglecting to mention his ability to see the bat’s glow. I wasn’t convinced that the Commander had magic, and certainly wouldn’t try to persuade Leif or anyone else.
“Black and red really aren’t my colors. Which Military District has green? Maybe I can open my shop there,” Leif said.
Leif’s joke wasn’t as funny now. “MD-5 is green and black. General Brazell used to govern the district, but now he’s in the Commander’s dungeon.” I wonder who was promoted.
“What are we going to do next?”
“I don’t know.”
Leif pretended to be shocked. “But you’re our fearless leader. You have it all planned out. Right?”
I shrugged. “I’m going to take a long hot bath. How’s that?”
“Sounds good. Can I come?”
“As long as you promise not to spend all day in there.” I gathered some clean clothes.
“Why would I?”
“You thought the feather mattress was a luxury. Wait until you see the Commander’s baths.”
The hot water soaked my aches away.
Leif joined me in the corridor with a contented smile on his face. “I won’t have any trouble adjusting to life in Ixia. Those pools and the overhead duct, pouring water…amazing. Does every town have a similar bathhouse?”
“No. Only the Commander’s castle has such luxury. It’s a holdover from the King’s regime. The Commander usually disdains the extravagance, yet it remains.”
During my soak, I had thought long and hard about our situation and the Commander’s offer. The temptation to stay tried to overpower my logic, but I knew we needed to return to Sitia. The Sandseed clan had already been destroyed by the Vermin, and Cahil and the Fire Warper remained a problem.
How I would deal with them continued to be a mystery. Not being able to trust Moon Man, Tauno or Marrok, left Valek, Leif and me against the Daviians, the Fire Warper, Cahil and his army.
And what would happen if I revealed Cahil’s involvement with the Vermin? The Council trusted him. I would need to convince them of his deceit. I would need hard evidence to gain their trust. Evidence I lacked.
In fact, the more I thought about the whole situation, the less confident I felt about my ability to find a solution.
When Leif and I returned to the guest suite, Moon Man and Tauno waited for us in the living room.
“How’s Marrok?” I asked Moon Man.
“Better.”
“Can he talk?”
“Not yet.”
“Soon?”
“Perhaps.”
I stared at him. He answered in typical Story Weaver fashion. Refraining from shaking information out of him, I asked, “Have you learned anything while working with Marrok?”
“I have seen bits and pieces. Marrok’s feelings of betrayal are making it difficult for me to get through to him. He does not trust me.” Moon Man’s eyes met mine and I could see his unspoken words.
“Trust has to go both ways.”
“It is not a lack of trust which causes me to keep my silence. It is a lack of acceptance on your part.”
“And you’re afraid of what you might discover once you accept your role in all this, aren’t you?” Leif asked me.
A knock at the door saved me from having to reply to Leif’s question. One of the housekeeping maids handed me a message from the Commander. We were invited to dine with him in his war room.
“You don’t have an answer for me. Do you have an answer for the Commander? Are you going to stay and be his adviser?” Leif asked when the maid left.
“Actually Leif, I don’t have any answers. I’ve no idea what I’m doing or going to do.” I went into my room and shut the door.
The Commander’s war room was located in one of the four towers of the castle. With long stained-glass windows reflecting the lantern light, the circular chamber reminded me of the inside of a kaleidoscope.
Our conversation followed mundane topics while we ate spiced chicken and vegetable soup. Leif wolfed his food with obvious relish, but I took my time, sampling all the dishes with care. A few guards stood near the Commander. Star hovered close by, ready to taste the Commander’s food whenever a new course was served. Moon Man and Tauno remained quiet during dinner.
We discussed the new general in MD-5. Colonel Ut
e from MD-3 had been promoted and transferred. The Commander thought it best an officer from outside the district be in charge. In other words, a loyal person who had not been tainted by General Brazell’s attempt to become the new leader of Ixia.
When the subject turned to General Kitvivan’s worry over the upcoming blizzard season, I told the Commander about the Stormdance Clan and how they handled the storms from the sea.
“Magicians could harness the power of the blizzard,” I said, “saving the people in MD-1 from the killing winds. Then you could use the power for General Dinno’s sawmills in MD-8.” Dinno used the wind to fuel his mills, and calm days hurt production.
“No. The matter of magicians and magic in Ixia will not be discussed,” the Commander said.
His stern tone had once intimidated me, but not this time. “You want me to be your adviser, yet you won’t consider using magic for the good of your people. I’m a magician. How can I be an effective adviser to you?”
“You can advise me on how to counter the magicians in Sitia. I’m not interested in what magic can do for Ixia.” He made a cutting motion with his hand. End of discussion.
I wouldn’t let the subject drop. “What happens when one of your generals becomes ill or injured and I can save their life with my magic?”
“You don’t. If they die, I’ll promote another colonel.”
I considered his answer with mixed feelings. I knew his firm style of governing was inflexible. The Code of Behavior’s strict list of proper Ixian conduct left no room for debate. However, I hoped once he saw the benefits of magic to his people, he might relax his views.
As if reading my mind, the Commander said, “Magic corrupts. I’ve seen it before with the King’s magicians. They start out wanting to help and performing great deeds, but soon the power consumes them and they hunger for more despite the cost. Consider what has occurred to Moon Man’s clan. Frankly, I’m surprised something like that hasn’t happened sooner.”