City of Towers_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [94]
“So you intend to accept this invitation? What possible purpose could it serve?”
“Let’s see … first, if Lailin is such a talented diviner, who knows what else he could tell us? At the least, he might be able to track down Jode or this Rasial.”
“True,” Pierce said.
“Second, I don’t know how long we’ll be in Sharn. As I see it, we could use all the contacts we can get, and this is an excellent opportunity to mingle with a class of people we normally would never see.”
Pierce said nothing.
“And finally, you’re talking to a woman who’s been living on gruel and water for six months—and army rations before that. You may not eat, but if you think I’m going to pass up a chance to dine with one of the wealthiest men in Sharn, you’re mistaken.” She grinned. “Now let’s find a coach.”
Menthis was a center of entertainment and nightlife, so they had little trouble catching the attention of a skycoach—a slender vessel apparently designed for gnomes and halflings. Lei was comfortable enough, but Pierce could barely fit in the ship.
“Don’t worry, lady,” the coachman said. An elderly halfling with long gray hair, he spoke with a strong Talentan accent. “I’ll take things slowly. Keep the big ’un from falling.”
Lei smiled. “My thanks, sir. We are expected at the Pride of the Storm. Do you know of it?”
“Ei,” the halfling said, nodding. Lei took that as an affirmative. “Guests of the Lyrandar, yes?”
“That’s correct,” Lei said, wondering if it was true.
The Mark of Storm gave House Lyrandar power over wind and water, and the heirs of the house had dominated the shipping trade for centuries. In recent decades, an alliance between Cannith, Lyrandar, and the gnomish shipwrights of Zilargo had resulted in the creation of the first true skyship. Propelled by the power of bound elemental spirits, these airships had revolutionized trade and transportation and proved to be a powerful weapon of war, but the bound spirits were difficult to control, and only a stormchild could command their absolute loyalty. It was unlikely that the Lyrandars knew of her excoriate status, but she couldn’t lie about it, and she had no idea how the House of Storm would treat an expelled Maker.
The halfling did not ask for payment—apparently Lailin was as good as his word. The skycoach rose up to the highest spires of Menthis. They were almost a mile above the ground, and Lei’s head swam as she looked down at the world below and tried to pick out the spires of High Walls far, far below. Winds whipped at her hair and shoulders, but the coachman was as good as his world and took the ascent slowly. Lei gripped the rails and gritted her teeth, waiting for the ordeal to pass.
Moments later they completed their circuit of the towers, and Lei gasped at the sight that lay before them. The flying ships she had seen before were small transports or weapons platforms, like the stormship they had fought at Keldan Ridge. Pride of the Storm was in an entirely different class. It was a galleon, easily one of the largest ships she had seen on land or air. House Lyrandar used the kraken as its sigil, and the stern of the ship was carved in the shape of a vast kraken. The effect was astonishingly lifelike, as if the great beast was in the process of devouring the ship. The kraken was stained black, while the bow and midships were carved from pure white wood. Four silver lightning bolts adorned the bow. Most of the kraken’s tentacles were carved along the side of the ship, but four arched out around, over, and under it, and these wooden beams supported the elemental rings that kept the ship afloat. Where most skyships were supported by a single ring of bound elementals, this vessel had two—a swirling belt of roiling clouds and a smaller ring of pure fire. Lei guessed that the bound air supported the ship while the fire elementals provided motive force. Staring into the flames, she wondered just how fast the galleon could move.
The skycoach came to a halt over the foredeck of the skyship. A servant in Lyrandar livery approached.