Soulblade (28 page)

Tolemek walked with him because he didn’t have much of a choice, but he had no intention of letting himself be trussed up and handed to the emperor. His fear of being offered a deal that would force him to betray someone he cared about returned to mind. Of course, the emperor might simply have him shot. That was also unappealing.

Tolemek?
came a soft whisper in his mind.

Tylie? Where are you?
He tripped over a root, and a pained grunt escaped.

“Ssh.” Quataldo lowered his hand to grip Tolemek’s arm, probably as much for support as to keep him in place as a prisoner.

Tolemek resented the idea that he
needed
support, but it was hard to concentrate on navigating through the trees in the dark while talking to his sister.

In the woods near you
, Tylie said.
I’m trying to catch up.

What?
Tolemek halted.
You’re not with Phelistoth?

His willingness to bring Tylie along had been predicated on the idea that she would stick with the dragon and be safe. What was she doing wandering around by herself?

We had a fight
, she admitted, sadness clinging to her words.

What? Why? He left you?

I insisted on being left. He’s going to try to barter with the emperor.

“Tolemek,” Quataldo said, pushing him. “We don’t have much time before daybreak. The odds of all of us getting off that airship alive are much better in the dark.”

Tolemek wanted to snap at him to shut up, to say talking to Tylie was more important, but he couldn’t truly make that argument when all of their lives were at stake. He continued walking, but reached out to his sister again.

Can you explain that?

He didn’t tell me before, not until I questioned him about the princess, but he’s wanted to try to make a deal with the emperor all along. That’s why he agreed to come on this mission. And Tolie? It’s my fault. He wants to offer his services to the emperor as a trade. For me.
He knows I’ve missed Mother and my friends from back home, and even though I told him it wouldn’t be the same if I went back, he thinks he can make it work. He’d rather serve Cofahre than live in Iskandia, too, but I know a big part of this is because of me.
Tylie’s words tumbled into his mind rapidly, like a waterfall filling a bucket. It sounded like a confession, and Tolemek wondered how long she’d had a sense that Phelistoth felt this way. Maybe it was an old argument between them.

Tolemek focused on the part that didn’t make sense to him.
What does the princess have to do with it?

He captured her. With Cas and Pimples’ help. They didn’t exactly know they were helping. He has them guarding her a couple of miles from the city.

Cas is here?
Tolemek asked, a mix of emotions filling him, concern that she was so close when there were dragons around—including an ally who wanted to betray them—but also anticipation that she might be close enough to help. Quataldo’s plan might get them onto the airship, but getting off with the emperor—or even without the emperor—seemed an impossible task without fliers to come pick them up. Even then, he couldn’t guess how they could avoid being shot down without a sorceress to protect them from bullets. He pushed a hand through his hair. How had he allowed himself—and his sister—to get caught up in all of this?
Are Cas’s and Pimples’ fliers here too?

Cas and Pimples were a couple of miles from them when Phelistoth and I left, but they are near the city, yes. Blazer and Duck are back at the original landing place.

Can you talk to Cas telepathically?

Not from here. I’m close to the bay, where I made Phelistoth put me down. I came to look for you. She’s too far away for me to reach.

Tolemek’s mind whirled. He wished it was as easy as sending Tylie back to talk to the others, but she couldn’t walk through the swamp alone. She had no way to defend herself from winged alligators and the other dangers that filled the waters. He growled under his breath, almost as annoyed at Phelistoth for leaving her alone in a dangerous place as he was at the dragon for wanting to double-cross the Iskandians. He could understand choosing one’s homeland over what one had always considered the enemy nation. He
couldn’t
understand leaving a girl alone in this hells-kissed wilderness.

Kaika stopped and raised a hand. “Cofah ahead,” she whispered.

“We’ve reached the hot air balloon,” Quataldo whispered back.

“Change of plan.” Tolemek had put his knockout grenade away, but he slipped it out of the pouch on his belt again.

“What?” Quataldo’s hand tightened on his arm.

“Just listen for a moment, and stop manhandling me, Colonel.”

Quataldo growled but let him go.

“My sister is nearby—Phelistoth dropped her off out here, so he could go talk to the emperor.”

“
What?
” Kaika and Quataldo whispered in unison.

“I’m just learning about this. Cas and Farris are within a couple of miles of the city with their fliers. They have the princess, though I’m not sure yet if that helps us or makes us more of a target. Either way, if Tylie can get back to those two and let them know what we plan, they may be able to fly in and pick us up at an opportune moment.”

“Such as immediately after we kidnap the emperor and before his highly trained imperial guards shoot us?” Kaika asked.

“That does sound opportune.”

“Is your sister on her way to tell them now?” Quataldo asked.

“She’s on her way
here
,” Tolemek said. “Someone needs to escort her back. The swamp is too dangerous for her to navigate alone.”

“Not you. We need you.”

“As bait, I know.” Tolemek rubbed the grenade in his hand. He had no intention of being bait, but he did need to go along. He had the tools to knock out swaths of soldiers without making a sound. Even the deadly Colonel Quataldo wouldn’t be as efficient as his grenades. “Quataldo, if you go back with her, I’d feel secure knowing she would be protected. If Kaika and I get in a heap of trouble up there, I’d also be reassured knowing that you were going to be riding in the back of one of those fliers to jump down and get us.”

“Just you and Kaika to kidnap the emperor?” Quataldo asked skeptically. “Even if you get aboard his ship, he’ll be heavily guarded.”

Kaika nudged Tolemek. “Should we be offended that he thought that wasn’t a problem when he was coming along but is certain we can’t handle it by ourselves?”

“I’m not
certain
of that,” Quataldo grumbled. “Just concerned. I’m familiar with your work, and we need the emperor kidnapped rather than blown up.”

“Technically, I think both possibilities would give Iskandia a ruler to deal with that’s less of an ass.”

Quataldo hesitated. Tolemek frowned. He was willing to kidnap the emperor, but he hadn’t come to be an assassin, and it bothered him that Kaika had that notion in mind.

“Angulus wants him kidnapped, not assassinated,” Quataldo said.

“I do hate disappointing him,” Kaika said. “We’ll do our best to stick to the original plan. I think Tylie is coming. She needs her escort.”

Tolemek sensed Tylie walking straight toward him, having no trouble finding him in the dark. He spread his arms, and she hugged him fiercely. He didn’t need magic to sense that she blamed herself for some of the trouble.

“It’s all right,” he whispered.

“I miss Mother,” she said into his chest, “but I didn’t want—I don’t want to go home. I know it wouldn’t be as I remember it, and that they wouldn’t approve of me studying magic. Father... you know how Father is. I want to go back and keep studying with Sardelle and Jaxi. And I want to find out if General Ridge is alive. And I want to see if the squirrels out back had babies. I was feeding them seeds and nuts. Did you know? Phel wouldn’t listen. He said he knew what was best for me.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Tolemek said. “We—”

A roar sounded from the direction of the bay, loud and reverberating with power. The combined effect raised the hairs up and down Tolemek’s arms.

“What was that?” Quataldo whispered.

Tolemek barely heard him over the raised voices up ahead—the guards around the hot air balloon had obviously heard the noise too.

“The female dragon,” Tylie said. “She sensed Phelistoth coming. She’s warning him to stay away.”

“Will he listen?” Tolemek asked.

“If he’s smart.”

“Was that a yes or a no?” Kaika asked dryly.

“He
is
smart,” Tylie said, “but he’s determined too. He wants an audience with the emperor. He’ll probably try something crafty to get the female out of the area for a while.”

Another roar echoed from the skies, this one deeper and coming from farther north, in the direction of the city. Phelistoth.

“The soldiers will be distracted,” Quataldo said. “This is the ideal time for us to go in.”

“For
us
to go in.” Tolemek waved at Kaika. “You’re taking Tylie to find the others, remember? Then coming back in the fliers.” Another time, he might have felt presumptuous giving an Iskandian colonel orders on an Iskandian mission, but he knew he was right and that they didn’t have much time, not if they wanted to take advantage of the darkness and the dragons challenging each other.

“Very well,” Quataldo said. “Don’t make me regret this.” He stared straight at Tolemek. What, did he think Tolemek had some betrayal in mind?

The lack of trust frustrated him, but Kaika patted him on the back and said, “Let’s go.”

At least she wasn’t hesitating to head into the Cofah camp alone with him. Tolemek would have to win the Iskandians over, one person at a time. If Phelistoth didn’t ruin everything for him.

He hugged Tylie and whispered, “Be careful,” before letting Kaika lead him away.

I’ll be careful
, Tylie spoke into his mind as they left,
but
you’re
the one going to visit enemies. You should be even more careful.

I see my little sister has grown wise as well as accomplished in the ways of magic.

I wish I was accomplished. Then I could be more help.

One day, Tylie. One day.

Tolemek did not share that he hoped this mission would be successful and result in a world in which they didn’t constantly have to fling themselves into danger, one where Tylie could finish growing up and study whatever she wished without having to worry about becoming a tool for one nation or another.

• • • • •

“It’s a fine raft, Farris,” Zia said from her cross-legged perch on precisely the fourth log from the right, the one that continued to bind her to it.

“Thank you.” It was too dark to see Pimples’ smile, but Cas could tell from his tone that it was there.

Cas did not say anything but admitted that he had put together an admirably sound raft, given the awkwardness of working around Zia and the limited time and resources they’d had. Now, he and Cas stood on the edges, poling it through the water and staying close to the shoreline while Zia rode in the middle.

So far, nothing inimical had disturbed them. The swamp was much quieter than it had been earlier, with only the occasional squeak of a bat or hoot of an owl. Cas did not know if the stillness had to do with the late hour or if Phelistoth might be nearby. She kept glancing skyward, expecting him to catch up with them and grow angry that they had presumed to move his prisoner.

“I’m sure you’ll build a fine house someday,” Zia added.

Cas held back a snort. During the hour they had been poling their way toward the part of the marsh where they had left the fliers, Pimples had been chattering about his plans for constructing his dream house. He had also regaled her with stories from his academy days and some of their missions against pirates—either by accident or design, he hadn’t recounted any tales that had involved attacking the Cofah. Cas had heard the stories before and had not spoken much, but to her surprise, Zia responded enthusiastically, also sharing a few tales of her school days and explaining her interest in science and history. She wanted to be a researcher at a university and maybe a teacher, but she found the idea of standing in front of rows of students intimidating. Pimples had promised her that she would be good at it, based on the fact that he had known her for almost three hours. Cas poled along silently, letting them bond. It could only help if a Cofah princess thought fondly of them, or fondly of Pimples rather.

“Take us to the right, Pimples,” Cas said. “I think the fliers are up that hill. That little beach may be as close as we can get.” She
hoped
the fliers were up that hill. All of the trees, waterways, and hills looked the same, especially at night. Usually, she prided herself on her sense of direction, but she wouldn’t be shocked if they pushed their raft into a river and out to sea instead of finding the fliers.

“Pushing,” Pimples said, shifting to the back of the raft and shoving them off the bottom in the desired direction.

“Why does she call you Pimples, Farris?” Zia asked.

Pimples managed a dramatic sigh while pushing on his pole with both hands. “It’s the horrible nickname my squadron gave me. Most of the pilots get names that embarrass them. I’m told it’s a rite of passage.”

“What’s her nickname?”

“Raptor.”

“That doesn’t sound embarrassing.”

“She’s special.”

Zia frowned at Cas, as if this were her fault.

“Lieutenant Cas,” came an unexpected whisper from the trees.

“Is that Tylie?” Cas lifted her gaze, assuming Phelistoth would be nearby.

“Yes, and I’m with Colonel Abram.”

“Is that Quataldo?” Pimples whispered.

“I assume so.” Cas had noticed that Tylie rarely used people’s surnames.

Tylie stood beside a tree and waved at their raft. Cas did not see Quataldo, but trusted he was there. But
why
was he there? And where was Tolemek?

Cas poled harder, pushing them the final few meters to the bank. The raft snagged on something under the water, and she had to jump off early. If Zia weren’t stuck on the log, they could have let their little craft go, but she assumed the princess did not want to float away. Pimples jumped in and helped Cas tug the raft to shore.