Is there anyone quite like her?
He fought an urge to brush the sand from her nose.
“Who says I’m not afraid of you?” he asked her.
He saw her turning that comment over in her mind and felt it was best to end the conversation before he said something stupid. He got up, dusted the sand off himself, and went looking for his pack. He had just reached the ship, where Wyatt was coiling a length of rope, when the two scouts returned.
“There’s a passage up that way,” Mauvin announced, grinning.
They came to the side of the ship, where they found their packs and, pulling out their water sacks, threw their heads back and guzzled to quench their thirst.
“It’s amazing,” Alric said, wiping the water from his beard. “There are these huge statues of lions—their paws are taller than I am! This really is Percepliquis. I want to go in. We should get going.”
“Wyatt and Elden are planning to stay here,” Hadrian told him.
“Why?” he asked, concerned and perhaps a bit annoyed.
“They plan to fix the ship while we’re gone and have it ready for us by the time we get back.”
“Oh, okay, that makes sense—good sense. That’s great. Now let’s get our stuff and get going. I’ve waited all my life to see this.” Alric and Mauvin trotted back aboard the Harbinger to find the rest of their gear.
“Kings,” Hadrian said to Wyatt with a shrug.
“Be careful,” Wyatt told him. “And keep an eye on Gaunt.”
“Gaunt?”
“You’re too trusting,” Wyatt said. He nodded to where Gaunt sat near the dwarf on a large stone slab. “He spends a lot of time with Magnus and he was unusually friendly with me and Elden, like he was buddying up with the drafted members of the party, trying to form a group of dissenters. Remember what I told you on the Emerald Storm? There’s always one member of any crew who’s looking for a mutiny.”
“And he’s our only hope,” Hadrian replied with a lilt of irony in his voice. “You’d better be careful too. As you know, the Ghazel are no joke. Keep an eye out. Don’t sleep on the ship. Don’t light any fires.”
“Trust me, I remember the arena at the Palace of the Four Winds. I have no desire to cross swords with them a second time.”
“That’s good, because this isn’t an arena and there are no rules. Out here they’ll swarm over you like an army of ants.”
“Good luck.”
“Same to you and make sure this ship is ready to sail when we get back. I’ve been on enough jobs with Royce to know that while the going in may be slow, the coming out is usually a race.”
The ruins of the city began at the water’s edge, although this was not entirely evident until they left the sand and moved inland, where they had a wider perspective. The large stone blocks were part of the broken foundation of white marble columns that had once stood a hundred feet tall. They knew this by discovering three remaining columns still upright, yet how they had managed to remain this way was bewildering, as the blocks had shifted precariously.
They found the passage Alric and Mauvin had discovered, which began at the feet of two huge lions carved from stone. Each was easily two hundred feet tall, although one was missing its head, which had fallen away. The remaining lion showed a fierce face with teeth bared and a full and flowing mane.
“The Imperial Lions,” Myron muttered as they passed under their shadow and Royce paused to light his lantern.
“I’ve seen these before,” Arista whispered, her head back, looking up at the sculptures. “In my dreams.”
“What do you know of this place, Myron?” Royce asked, lifting his light and peering forward into a vast labyrinth of crumbled stone and silhouetted ruins.
“Which author would you like to hear from? Antun Bulard did a wonderful study of the ancient texts as well as—”
“Summarize, please.”
“Right, okay, well, legend has it that this was once a small agrarian village, the home of a farmer’s daughter named Persephone. They lived in fear of the elves, who had reportedly burned nearby villages and slaughtered the inhabitants right down to every man, woman, and child. Persephone’s village was next but a man called Novron appeared in the village. He fell in love with Persephone and vowed to save her. He begged her to leave the village but she refused, so he decided to stay and swore to protect her.
“He took charge and rallied the men. When the attack came, he defeated the forces of the elves, saving the village. He revealed himself to be Novron, the son of Maribor, sent to protect his children from the greed of the Children of Ferrol.