Flameseeker (Book 3) (29 page)

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Tachus Beshara glared at the old man before him as
he decided on the best course of action, after Vargas had reported that Amil
was responsible for the attack on Zebi. The two of them had met in one of the
mansion’s many private libraries—one with a massive window that overlooked much
of the city below, where white smoke lingered.

Vargas gave him a low bow at the waist. “You
should do something about this before your city is engulfed in panic. Many will
die.” His dark eyes twinkled.

He finds that amusing?
Tachus sneered.
I
will deal with him once I am done with Amil.
“I have already sent Masrah
and his group to investigate and kill any of those Batsuyou scum who are
responsible for this retaliation. This was a bold move on Amil’s part,
attacking me outright like this. And in my own city, no less!”

“But is it any surprise? You
did
order
Omari Batsuyou’s death.”

“It was a justifiable death,” Tachus argued. “He
was favored to be the next Councilmember instead of Saris. Omari has no skill.
No discipline. He would have made a mockery out of the Council if he were to ever
ascend.” He paused and hardened his gaze. “I appreciate your relaying this
message to me. Now, about my sister ...”

Vargas exhaled. “What about her?”

“I asked you in my last letter to bring her back.”

“With all due respect,
Shak’ha,
Ranaiah was
stubborn and refused to leave, even when I told her of your ire.”

Tachus growled.
Damnable woman! I will bring
you back here myself if I must!

He could sense that Vargas was hiding something
more. “What other news do you have?”

A small smile crept up from beneath Vargas’s white
beard. “There is but one more thing. I must humbly resign from your
employment.”

Tachus arched an eyebrow, surprised by the man’s
boldness.

“I have done all that you have asked, to the best
of my ability. Now it’s time you dealt with this issue yourself.”

A frantic knock came at the library’s door.

Tachus looked to the door, then exchanged a glance
with Vargas. Frowning, Tachus approached the door and opened it a crack. A
robed guard, breathing heavily, stood outside, looking nervous.

The guard gave a swift, low bow. “Honored
Shak’ha
,
there is a group of people demanding to see you.”

Tachus lifted an eyebrow. “What? Who are these people?”

The guard shook his head. “Strangers. Foreigners.
Though one of them looks familiar. There is also a half-breed amongst them.
They have captured Masrah and will not release him until they speak to you.”

Tachus blinked.
A half-breed? Here?
Most
half-breeds in Ankhram lived underground, and it was rare to see one wandering
the surface.

He nodded curtly to the guard. “I will be out
shortly. Have them wait in the meeting hall.”

The guard bowed again and bolted.

Tachus looked back at Vargas.

The old man’s eyes flashed with fire before
returning to normal. “He’s here,” he muttered.

Something in Vargas’s voice didn’t sound as if the
man had spoken himself. Tachus sensed something lingering in Vargas. He
concentrated, trying to look deep within him. Though he could not physically
see the unknown presence, he felt it. Something sinister. A divine power tinged
with an evil presence.

The presence blocked Tachus from looking deeper.

Vargas ... Who—what has taken hold of you?
He eyed Vargas suspiciously. “What is it you are hiding from me, Vargas?”

Vargas looked up, appearing startled. “What? I am
hiding nothing.”

“Do you know who those people are who are ‘demanding’
to see me?”

“No, I do not.”

Tachus faced Vargas head-on and tried to feel out
the strange presence again, but it seemed gone from him. Perhaps Vargas was
masking it. “Are you toying with me, Vargas?”

“Not at all,
Shak’ha
.”

Exhaling though his nose, Tachus spun on his heel.
I do not have time for this.
“I want answers, Vargas, and I am going to
get them. Come with me.”

He exited, expecting Vargas to follow, but the man
remained where he stood.

Tachus stared at him, dumbfounded. “You dare disobey
me?”

Vargas pursed his lips, then—lowering his head, remaining
silent—he followed Tachus out of the library into the marble hallway.

I will find out what he is hiding soon enough.

As they walked toward the meeting hall, Vargas
broke the silence. “You are making a mistake, you know. Dragging me along like
this.”

“Am I, now?” Tachus said, not looking at him.

“Something will happen if you do not set me free.”

“If that was meant to be a threat, then it was a
poor and foolish attempt. I will see that you spend many long days and nights
in a cell for your insolence.”

Vargas said nothing more.

They arrived in the grand meeting hall, where eight
guards kept watch over the six waiting strangers. The half-breed, the largest
of the group, had the assassin, Masrah seized by his arms. Masrah locked his pleading
gaze with Tachus’s as he entered the room. The guards stared fearfully at the
half-breed, but they kept their swords aimed at him.

Tachus approached the group slowly, assessing each
member. His gaze settled on a young man who was tall, lean, with a clean-shaven
head. The young man’s brown eyes locked on Tachus.

Tachus nearly gasped. He knew him. There was no
doubt how much he looked like his father. And he was
alive
? Tachus seethed.
“
Omari
.”

* * *

Kaijin’s eyes settled on Tachus when he entered
the room.
So that is Ranaiah’s brother
. The faces showed similarity, and
even the confident way he walked reminded Kaijin of her. He was definitely
older than Ranaiah.

Kaijin’s mouth tasted bitter as he scanned the
massive golden room with its high skylighted ceilings. He felt as if he were
being watched. Even Miele, currently resting on his shoulder, shuddered in
discomfort.

“We still haven’t seen Vargas. Is he here? Is
Za’thaak here? Did we arrive too late?”

He paused his mental conversation with his
familiar when Omari, eyes wide with rage, stepped forward to confront Tachus,
but a guard prodded his sword against his chest. He stopped and backed up to
his original spot. Percival, who sat on his shoulder, bared his fangs at
Tachus. Omari clenched his hands into fists. “Tachus Beshara, your crimes will—oof!”

Jarial had elbowed Omari hard in his solar plexus,
and Omari doubled over with the wind knocked out of him.

“No!” Jarial muttered to him. “We are not here to
make unproven accusations. We are here to learn the facts.”

Omari held his midsection, then coughed.

“Please, don’t stop him,” Tachus said with a wave
of his hand. “I would like very much to know what sort of nonsense this boy is
blathering about.”

Jarial looked around at the guards then to Tachus.
“If you may, honored
Shak’ha
, order your guards to stand down so that we
may speak civilly.”

Tachus arched an eyebrow. “I think not. The lot of
you come marching here with my cousin, Masrah, making demands, and
apparently”—he pointed his nose up at Omari—“making threats.”

“Masrah was captured due to his assassination attempt
on Omari,” Jarial said.

Omari caught his breath and muttered, “Not once,
but twice.”

There was a long pause. Tachus, keeping a straight
face, finally said, “I will order my guards to stand down, only if you release
Masrah. And
then
we will talk further.”

“Release ’im? Why? ’E tried to chalk Omari, ’e
did!” Nester said. Then he turned to Jarial. “Don’t do it, mate. It’s probably
a trap.”

Jarial, not appearing to be listening to Nester,
turned to Aidan, who was still holding the assassin, and nodded to him. “Let
him go, Aidan.”

Aidan frowned and hesitated, then reluctantly released
the assassin and shoved him to the ground. The young man crawled back to his
feet and rushed to Tachus’s side.

To Kaijin’s relief, Tachus kept his promise and,
with a wave of his hand, ordered the guards to lower their weapons and stand
back from the group.

Jarial bowed his head. “Thank you for being reasonable,
honored
Shak’ha
.”

Staying silent, Masrah slipped his hand between
the front of his jerkin and pulled out a tiny green ball. He held the ball
discreetly between his fingers.

Kaijin wrinkled his brow.
What does he have
there, I wonder?
He decided not to dwell on it any further.

Tachus eyed Jarial coldly. “Who are you that you
would lay claim that somehow one of
my
associates is responsible for the
assassination attempt on Omari?”

Jarial bowed low. “I am Jarial Glace, acting
member of the Council of the Nine, Fifth Seat, Illusion. My claims are based on
the fact that we found one of Masrah’s arrows lodged in Omari’s chest. The
arrow itself had the Beshara’s symbol etched on its shaft. Moreover, a similar
arrow was found on the body of the Citadel Councilmember, Na’val Faulk. The
clues have led me here. To
you.
”

Tachus’s eyes narrowed at Jarial. “Jarial Glace. I
have heard that name before. If you are somehow insinuating that I had
something to do with all of this, then you are sadly mistaken. Faulk’s death is
unfortunate, but is not my doing.”

“That will be for the Council to decide. Both you and
Masrah are hereby ordered to return to the Citadel to be tried for the murder
of Councilmember Na’val Faulk and the attempted murder of Council prospect,
Omari Batsuyou.”

“‘Council prospect’?” Tachus stiffened. “Hmph! Neither
I nor Masrah will go with you. And the fact you are siding with this Batsuyou
scum is appalling. Hardly Council material.”

Growling, Omari lashed out at Tachus.

Before Omari reached him, however, Masrah tossed
the green ball at him. Upon impact, the ball exploded into a cloud of smoke
around Omari. Omari gave off a greenish glow, and he shrank. His staff plunked
to the ground. With a squeak, Percival fell off his shoulder and landed on top
of Omari, who was now a tiny grey mouse.

“Omari!” Zarya exclaimed, rushing to the animals.
The guards began to close in, but Tachus held up his hand and stopped them.

“Soddin’ ’ells!” Nester exclaimed. “What’d you do
to ’im?”

Jarial scowled and muttered to Kaijin, “I think we
might have found our mysterious transmuter.”

Kaijin nodded.

Zarya picked up the mouse that was Omari before he
had a chance to flee and carefully cupped him in her hands. “He is frightened,
but unharmed,” she said to Kaijin and the others.

“That was unnecessary,” Jarial said to Tachus.
“Please dismiss that polymorph spell.”

Tachus gritted his teeth. He lifted his hand,
which burst into flames. “I think not. Omari is a foolish boy, and he got what
he deserved. And not only are the lot of you helping him, I have no doubt that
you are also involved in the attack on my city. You will not leave here
alive—none of you!” He cocked his hand back, preparing to unleash a spell on
the group.

“We did not attack your city,
Shak’ha
Tachus!” Zarya shouted. “Stay your hand!”

Tachus glared at the priestess but paused.

“No violence, please,” Aidan said. The giant’s
deep voice made Kaijin and everyone else turn to him. He looked back at
everyone a moment, then continued. “We have done nothing to you or your city.
We have come here peacefully seeking answers.”

Tachus eyed the half-Dragon coolly. “Your words
mean little, half-breed. You are helping my family’s sworn enemy.”

Zarya said, “But Aidan speaks the truth, honored
Shak’ha.
We have reason to believe that the attack on your city was the
work of an afriti and a man whom we are seeking.”

Tachus sneered. “Do not lie to me, woman. An
afriti would not attack me. Afriti are only loyal to Almighty Ignis.”

“Not this one, sir.” Kaijin met Tachus’s glare and
was about to say more when he noticed movement by the exit, out of the corner
of his eye.

A lone man had been standing in the doorway, hidden
in shadow. He turned to leave and stepped into the light of the hallway.

Kaijin recognized the dark red robes, short white
hair, yellow sash around his waist, and the slightly hunched gait. His eyes
went wide. “
Vargas
!”

The man stopped and glanced over his shoulder, and
then hurried off.

“Stop!” Kaijin rushed to follow.

A guard moved in front of him and blocked his way.
“Stay where you are!”

“Vargas! Get back here now!” Tachus yelled, then
he pointed to Masrah and four nearby guards. “After him! Do not let him leave
this house!”

The four guards rushed to the exit. Masrah drew
his hidden daggers and followed.

“This matter with you lot
will
be
resolved,” Tachus said. “But first, I want Vargas brought back to me. I do not
trust that man any more than I do Amil at this point.”

“We can help,” Zarya offered.

“And how do I know you all will not simply betray
me afterward?” Tachus asked, narrowing his eyes.

Jarial exhaled. “What if we leave something of
value behind?”

“Yes ...” Tachus tapped his chin, looking
thoughtful. “Your animals. Your ...
familiars
will make ideal collateral.”

Kaijin gasped. “What? Now wait a minute. We—”

Jarial held up his hand, silencing Kaijin. “You
will keep them as safe as possible?”

“Yes, of course. Now relinquish your familiars to
the guards, and do not allow them to attack—or else.”