The Emerald Storm (The Riyria Revelations #4)

There was some slamming, an “Ah-hah!” Then Derning returned with a hammer and a chisel.

“The Ghazel fleet arrived and Drumindor isn’t working, but it didn’t blow up either, so I guess we have you to thank for that,” Derning told them as he went to work on the manacle pins.

“Don’t mention it. And I’m not just saying that. I really mean…don’t mention it,” Hadrian said with a wince.

“Now, half the folks—the smart half—are running, the others are going to try to fight. That means we don’t have much time to get out of here. I have horses and provisions waiting just outside town. We’ll take the mountain road north. I’ll ride with you as far as Maranon and then I’ll be going my own way.”

“But I still don’t get why you are here.” Royce said as Derning finished with one of the metal bracelets. “Don’t you work for Merrick?”

“Merrick Marius?” Derning laughed. “That’s funny. Grady and I were convinced you two worked for Marius.” Derning finished cracking open the manacles on Royce then turned to Hadrian. “We work for Cornelius DeLur. Imagine my surprise yesterday when I checked in and found out you worked for Melengar. DeLur got a big kick out that. The old fat man has a sick sense of humor sometimes.”

“I’m confused. Why were you on the Storm?”

“When the Diamond found that message from Merrick, Cosmos thought it important enough to relay to daddy, and Cornelius sent us. Grady and I started as sailors and are still well-known on the Sharon. We were so sure Royce killed Drew, which is why we thought you two were mixed up with Merrick. We thought it had something to do with that horn comment that Drew made.”

“Defoe—I mean Bernie killed him,” Royce said simply.

“Yeah, we figured that out. And, of course, that horn thing had nothing to do with Merrick. That was all Thranic’s group. When we heard you had been arrested, it wasn’t too hard to find ya.”

He finished freeing Hadrian who rubbed his wrists.

“Come on, most of your gear is out here.” He pulled Alverstone out of his belt and handed it to Royce. “Took this off one of the guards. I think he thought it was pretty.”

Outside of their cell, the tiny jail office was empty except for two guards, one looked dead, but the other might have just been unconscious. They found their possessions in a series of boxes set aside in a room filled with all manner of impounded items.

Outside, dawn rose and people were running with bundles in their arms. Mothers held crying children to their breasts. Men struggled to push overfilled carts uphill. Down in the harbor they could see a forest of dark masts. Drumindor stood a mute witness to the sacking of the city.

Derning led them up refugee-choked streets. Fights broke out. Roads were blocked and finally Derning resorted to the roofs. They scaled balconies and leapt alleys, trotting across the clay-tiled housetops until they cleared the congestion. They dropped back to the street and were soon at the city’s eastern gate. Hundreds of people were rushing by with carts and donkeys, women and children mostly, traveling with boys and old men.

Derning stood just outside the gates looking worried. He wistled and a bird call answered in response. He led them off the road and up an embankment.

“Sorry, Jacob,” said a spindly youth, emerging with four horses. “I figured it was best to wait out of sight. If anyone saw me with these, I wouldn’t keep them for long.”

From the crest of the hill, they could see the bay far below. Smoke rose thickly from the buildings closest to the water.

“We weren’t able to stop it,” Derning said, looking at the refugees fleeing the city, “but between you defusing the explosion and my reporting to Cornelius so he could raise the alarm, it looks like we saved a lot of lives.”

They mounted up and Hadrian took one last look at Tur Del Fur as the flames began to blow with the morning sea breeze and swept through the streets below.





Chapter 26

Payment


Merrick entered the Great Hall of the Imperial Palace of Aquesta. Servants were hanging Wintertide decorations, which should have given the room a festive feel, but to Merrick it was still just a d reary chamber with too much stone and too little sunlight. He never cared for Aquesta and regretted that it would be the capital of the New Empire—the empire whose security he had ensured. He would have preferred Colnora. At least it had glass streetlamps.

“Ah! Merrick,” Ethelred greeted him. The regents, Earl Ballentyne, and the chancellor were all gathered around the great table. “Or should I call you Lord Marius?”

“You should indeed,” Merrick replied.

“You bring good news then?”

“The best, Your Lordship—Delgos has fallen.”

“Excellent!” Ethelred applauded.

Merrick reached the table and pulled off his gloves one finger at a time. “The Ghazel invaded Tur Del Fur five days ago, meeting only a weak resistance. They took Drumindor and burned much of the port city.”

“And the Nationalist Army?” Ethelred asked sitting down comfortably in his chair with a smile stretching across his broad face.

“As expected, the army packed up and went south the moment they heard. Most have family in Delgos. You can retake Ratibor at will. You won’t even need the army, a few hundred men will do. Breckton can turn his attention north to Melengar and begin plans for the spring invasion of Trent.”

“Excellent! Excellent!” Ethelred cheered. Saldur and the chancellor joined in his applause, granting each other smiles of relief and pleasure.

“What happens when the Ghazel finish with Delgos and decide to march north?” The Earl of Chadwick asked. Seated at the far end of the table, he did not appear to share his companion’s gaiety. “I’m told there’s quite a lot of them and hear they’re fearsome fighters. If they can destroy Delgos, what assurance do we have they won’t attack us?”

“I am certain the Nationalists will halt their ambitions in the short term, milord,” Merrick replied. “But even if not, we face no threat from the Ba Ran Ghazel. They are a superstitious lot and expect some sort of world ending catastrophe to beset them shortly. They want Drumindor as a refuge, not as a base for launching attacks. This will buy the time you need to take Melengar, Trent, and possibly even western Calis. By then, the empire will be supreme and the Nationalists a memory. The remaining residents of Delgos, those once independent merchant barons, will beg for imperial intervention against the Ghazel and eagerly submit to your absolute rule. The empire of old will be reforged.”

The earl scowled and sat back down.

“You are indeed a marvel and deserving of your new title and station, Lord Marius.”

“Since you already have Gaunt, and Esrahaddon is dead, I believe that finishes my employment obligations.”