Ashes And Spirit (Book 3) (24 page)

S
adira crossed her legs and tried to quell the impatience that seethed inside. Her thoughts wandered while the King of Hanover continued to whine about the issues with his army. How could Erandar be so dense and run a nation at the same time?

“No one will volunteer for service after what happened at Trilene. They are too afraid of being taken by the Guardians and Dragon Law. The people are restless and angry over the losses.”

Oksana rolled her eyes. “Then tell them not to be taken. Honestly, the Guardians took the same course of action we would have if our positions had been reversed. If your soldiers don’t want to be executed then tell them not to surrender.”

“They had no choice.” Erandar scowled at the blonde. “You pulled out of the battle and took your Kojen with you. What were they supposed to do?”

“Surrendering didn’t help them much, did it?”

“Our withdrawal from the battle was a strategic maneuver.” Sadira sighed, annoyed she had to explain it yet again. One would think that after several months of explaining it would sink in. “It would have been a draw. It was better to pull back and save our numbers.”

“What about my soldiers in the field? You didn’t even offer to help them escape with you. Instead you left them to be slaughtered.”

“Your soldiers were collateral damage. The Kojen are far more effective than your army in a battle; it was more important to ensure their removal.” Sadira shook her head. His inability to think beyond the end of his nose kept him from seeing the obvious. “You have handled the fallout from Trilene poorly. Instead of making the fallen soldiers heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for this war, you remained silent and let the people think for themselves. How do you expect them to follow the cry to war when you allow them their own thoughts and opinions?

We will place a mage here in Hanover with the appropriate abilities as an advisor. One to help you use the right words to inform your subjects what to think without them realizing they are being told. Someone to help you step in before they have time to form their own ideas.”

“It’s a little late to fix the situation now.” Oksana glared at him, tired of the king’s whining and his mess.

“True enough.” Sadira took a deep breath and stared out the narrow window of the keep. The brown land was covered in a thin sheet of snow. She considered possibilities. Kovan would have been an asset to have at this meeting except she didn’t trust him yet. His mental balance was still significantly off after months of fruitless searching for the babe his wench had whelped.

“Don’t give them the option of volunteering,” Azurynn’s silky voice filled the silence.

“How am I supposed to force them?”

Oksana shrugged. “Any who refuse will be put to death.”

Erandar scowled and threw his hands in the air. “That’s impossible. They would only revolt.”

“Not,” Azurynn said, “if you hold the fate of their family in the balance.”

Oksana slid a look of approval toward the dark Spirit user. “Very good.” She turned to Erandar with a twisted smile. “You will put out a notice that every male over the age of fourteen must present himself for indoctrination to the army. If he refuses, tries to hide or runaway, you will put to death any remaining family.”

Sadira smiled. “Let them know you have the full support of the Shadow Riders. In fact, I think
several
mages placed in Hanover to help enforce this new law would be most helpful.”

Erandar stared at them, horrified. “You want me to kill entire families?”

“A man will foolishly throw himself on a sword for something he believes in.” Sadira snorted. “However, put that same blade to those he cares about, and he will bow under its weight. People are incredibly foolish and easy to control in this way.” Why people were so stupid she had no idea.

A defeated expression settled over Erandar’s face. “If Rehnlas had helped as he promised, this wouldn’t have happened. But you are correct, I did handle this poorly and only have myself to blame.”

Oksana reached forward and placed her hand over his, false sympathy upon her face. “It isn’t your fault. It’s the fault of the people of Hanover for daring to oppose their king. You are the man set to lead them by birthright. They should trust you. Common people don’t know what is best for them. That is why they have rulers. They can lay the blame at no door but their own. When the mage we assign as an advisor arrives and explains how to deliver the message, every common man and woman in Hanover will know that
they
are to blame and have brought this upon themselves.”

Erandar nodded, soaking up every word. Sadira resisted sneering at him. Soon, the mage would ensure that even the king was afraid to think for himself. Setting that aside, she turned to the next issue. “Why has Rehnlas refused to help? I hope he hasn’t taken it upon himself to switch sides. That would be most…unfortunate for Turindar.”

“Nothing like that, I assure you. Rehnlas has swelled the ranks of his army and awaits your command. The problem is he claims he has no time to assist Hanover, although he would have plenty if he quit playing with his boats.”

“Boats?” Azurynn asked quietly.

The question held a level of hatred and malice Sadira had never heard before.

Erandar continued speaking, “Yes, his boats. I understand he needs to get the coastal trade up and running again for his economy, but he spends too much time trying to restore it back to how it was.”

“The way it was?” Azurynn’s tone turned deadly. “Does he plan on restoring all of the trade boats to exactly the way they were? Including the slaves?”

“As far as I know.” Erandar shrugged.

Azurynn slowly stood.

Sadira watched her warily. Oksana wore an expression of uncertainty that likely matched her own. Azurynn’s eyes looked unstable. Sadira held her shadows at the ready, unsure which direction the woman’s wrath would take.

Azurynn barely glanced at Erandar as she turned toward the door. “This meeting is over. I believe it’s time I paid a visit to Rehnlas.”

Sadira didn’t dare protest though they originally hadn’t planned to stop in Turindar. When it came to the slave boats of Turindar, reason and Azurynn parted ways.

Oksana glanced at Sadira. “Should we follow her?”

Sadira’s mouth twisted into a smile. “I wouldn’t miss this for anything.”

Azurynn strode into the courtyard of Erandar’s castle. A red haze filled her vision, and her hands shook in rage. Murynn stood ready, her wings partially spread. The dragon had always picked up on her strong emotions and desires despite the theory that black dragons had no mental connection to their riders.

The sun rippled off the silver underside of the black as the dragon shifted to bring her front leg forward so Azurynn could reach the saddle. Somewhere beyond the anger that clouded her mind, Azurynn registered Sadira and Oksana calling their dragons to them. She settled into the saddle, fastened the straps, and shot the two women a dark look. “Stay out of my way.”

“We wouldn’t
dream
of interfering,” Sadira said.

The amusement in the dark beauty’s voice only ignited Azurynn’s rage to a higher level. This was the same behavior she had once ridiculed Sadira over but it didn’t matter. She could no more walk away from this than Sadira could when Kalila had ascended to the throne.

She could kill Sadira, a quick lesson for Oksana to learn when people prodded her too far. Azurynn reined the rage and the thoughts in a fraction. Sadly, Sadira was still a useful ally. One day that would come to an end, and when it did, so would the arrogant shadow weaver.

Murynn took off without need for a command. Another oddity, just like her untarnished silver underside. Murynn’s spread wings also didn’t radiate the same level of hopelessness and sadness the way other Shadow Dragon’s did. Perhaps her dragon was as twisted and broken as she was.

Supposedly, they shared two parts of the same soul so it made sense. Later, when her mind wasn’t clouded by hatred and she could think clearly again, she would make time to delve into what made Murynn different.

A black Jump spun open and the Shadow Dragon dove into it. At this distance from the Kormai, the Jump was short enough that Azurynn didn’t hear the cries of the souls trapped in the void by soul spheres. Two more Jumps brought them out over Turindar.

The red haze consumed Azurynn’s vision and the wildfire of anger flared through her, blocking out the quiet voice inside her mind that wondered how Murynn knew how to get here. The dragon had never been to Turindar before.

Murynn flew past the castle with its red-brown walls. The deep black scales of the dragon’s wings absorbed the light of the sun and sent it in writhing shadows across the surface of her wings. For the first time, the dark emotions her Shadow Dragon carried beneath its wings flowed full force. Azurynn sensed the same rage within herself reflected back from her dragon.

Behind them, the two other black dragons came through Jumps and followed her lead.

Murynn’s thunderous roar echoed across the many channels of water that broke up the Galdar River’s progress to the Saragon Sea. All motion on the docks below froze for a brief moment before panic set in, and people trampled each other in an effort to get out of the way of the landing dragons.

The black crushed any that weren’t fast enough. Moving with the speed of a viper, Murynn snatched several up in her strong jaws that had escaped her landing, and crushed the life from them before flinging their bodies into the water.

Azurynn unbuckled the safety straps and leaped from the saddle. Murynn kept her wings spread, allowing a cloud of hopelessness to wash over the people huddled around the many buildings. Azurynn sensed the dragon preparing to loose shadow fire on them all. She put her hand on the dragon’s neck where the silver scales met the light-swallowing black scales. “Easy, my friend. Not yet. You will have your fun in a moment.”

She strolled forward. The chaos of the anger raging through her mind and body came under sudden and absolute control, swept aside by hatred and calculated clarity. Azurynn surveyed the cowering mass then turned to the boats, many of which were newly built. Silence cloaked the docks. Even the gulls and other birds that inhabited the channels had flown the moment the black appeared, leaving the waterways empty of all life—except people.

She could sense the women and girls, already housed in the bowels of the boats. Azurynn turned back toward the hushed crowd. “I thought I made it perfectly clear when I left Turindar that women on the boats were never to happen again.”