City of Towers_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [23]
“But Dravot …” Lei grasped for words. Clearly she hadn’t expected such treatment from a familiar face. “Tell me why! What have I ever done?”
Dravot’s face was as impassive as any of the warforged. “You have no rights to any answer, and you will receive nothing from any member of this house. You will leave this place now, and you will not trouble the rightful heirs of this house ever again. Do you understand?”
“Dravot—?”
“You will receive no answer from any member of the house. Do you understand?” Dravot drew one of his wands, glittering darkwood bearing a single band of gold.
Pierce studied the wand, determining whether he could shatter it with his flail before Dravot could unleash its powers. But as he let the chain slide free, Lei nodded.
“Let’s go, Pierce,” she said. Turning, she looked back at Dravot. “I’m glad that you’re alive.”
He said nothing, and the wand stayed level in his hand.
Slowly, Lei and Pierce walked away from the tower. Lei seemed dazed. Pierce put his hand on her back, holding her up and keeping her moving. They’d walked about fifty yards when there was a loud whisper.
“Jura still lives in Darkhart Woods.” It was Dravot’s voice.
Looking back, Pierce saw Dravot still standing at the gate of the enclave. Apparently he had used some magic to send the whispered words along the length of the street. Pierce looked down at Lei. The words had roused her from her shock, and now she was deep in thought.
“My lady?”
She raised a hand. “Let’s go back to the Manticore. I need to consider this.”
I don’t know why I let you talk me into this,” Daine said as he and Jode walked back to the central lift. Nearby a merchant was haggling with a customer over the price of an iridescent doublet, while a tiny gnome girl with a bright red cap was playing with a shimmering ball of light woven from strands of illusion. The girl’s pointed cap was nearly as tall as she was. “We’re soldiers, not inquisitives. And I never planned to see Alina again, let alone work for her.”
“You know, we’ve never talked about what you did for her.”
“That’s right.”
“Daine, I know it’s not what you had in mind, but the war is all but over. And Cyre is gone. Nothing’s going to change that. We need a new start, and if you’ve got a better way to get four hundred dragons, I’d like to hear it.”
They walked a ways in silence.
“Extraordinary collection of birds, wasn’t it? Such beautiful coloring.”
“True,” said Daine. “I wonder who they were before.” Jode chuckled and let the matter drop.
Once they were on the lift along with a few other residents, Daine unwrapped the leather packet. There was a sheaf of parchment inside, covered with sketches and Alina’s neat handwriting. Daine and Jode split up the pages and began to sort through them. One page described the Khyber dragonshards. It was mostly arcane gibberish, and Daine resolved to have Lei look it over. There was a map of Sharn, with brief notes on a few highlighted districts. The last few pages in Daine’s stack concerned Rasial. One included sketches of his face from a few different angles, while the other was a brief biography.
“Rasial Tann …” Daine mused, studying the parchment. “Here’s something Alina didn’t mention—he used to be part of the Sharn Watch, a unit called the Gold Wings.”
“Yes, that fits,” said Jode, tapping the top sheet on his pile, a description of various sporting events. “Look over there. Those hippogriff riders? They’re Gold Wings. The unit’s trained for scouting and responding to aerial crimes, but apparently many of the riders also participate in the games.”
“And as a former guardsman, Rasial would know how to avoid the patrols searching for smugglers … assuming he doesn’t still have friends on the inside.”
“So