“Very well,” Iannis said. “I’m leaving you in charge, Fenris. Is there anything else you need?”
Fenris shook his head, smiling. “We’ve got everything in hand. You get on that ship, and wipe the smiles off the faces of whoever is resting on their laurels right now. I’m sure they’ll be shocked to see you arrive not only in perfect health, but wearing aboriginal clothing.” He grinned and clapped Iannis on the shoulder.
Iannis grinned back, a rare sight that caused my stomach to flip-flop again. “Strangely, I look forward to turning the attendees on their heads with my arrival. I may even miss these clothes,” he added, running a hand down his buckskin tunic, and I snickered. I’d sort of gotten used to seeing Iannis dressed like a Coazi, but now that I thought about it, he was going to shock the shit out of the mages at the Convention, something I was really looking forward to.
“You take care, okay?” I told Fenris, wrapping my arms around him. He grunted a little as I squeezed tight, but his arms came around me and he hugged me back nonetheless. “I’m going to miss you.”
“We’ll see each other soon enough,” Fenris assured me. “In the meantime, though, it will be a nice change of pace to be in charge here instead of being ordered around. Perhaps I’ll have a little fun with Captain Milios.”
I laughed as Iannis gave Fenris a stern look. “Not too much fun, please. The last thing I need is to receive news that the soldiers have escaped, after I’ve informed the Convention that we apprehended them.”
“Don’t worry,” Fenris said dryly. “I’ll be sure not to make you look bad.”
I gave Fenris one last hug, then boarded the airship along with Iannis. A high-pitched whistle shrilled across the plains as Annia put the engine into gear, and as we lifted off, I looked toward the horizon and wondered exactly what was in store for us next.
20
“So we’re finally here, huh?”
“Just about,” Annia told me, drumming the fingers of her right hand against the helm. Her left hand firmly grasped one of the wooden handles jutting out from the wheel as she banked left, heading straight for the capital city. Dara glittered brightly in the reddish-gold sunset, gilding the roofs of the houses and buildings packed close together in the small coastal city. We could see the Capitol Dome from here, a great white marble dome with a golden statue of Jeremidah, one of the founding mages of the Federation, jutting out of the top. My heart began to drum a little faster – this was where the Convention was taking place. “Just need the Chief Mage to tell me where exactly to put the ship down.”
“I’m sure he’ll be up here soon,” I said, my fingers lifting briefly to touch the serapha charm resting against my chest. As soon as Iannis hadn’t been needed on deck anymore, he’d disappeared into the captain’s cabin for some much-needed rest. We were all exhausted, but he’d used up loads of magic during our escape, so I couldn’t blame him for wanting some shut-eye. Unlike Annia and myself, he actually had to attend the Convention and foil whatever new plot the Benefactor was hatching, so it was important that he and the other delegates were clear-headed upon arrival.
“Yeah, well you might want to tell him to rise and shine, because we’re gonna be landing soon,” Annia said. She brought her hand up to cover a yawn, then reached for her mug of coffee and took a long draught. “And he also better get me a five-star hotel, because after the day I’ve had I could sleep all week.”
“Oh I’ll make sure he does. You’ve been a lifesaver.” I patted Annia on the back, then for good measure dug my thumbs into her shoulder muscles and started rubbing in circular motions. Since Annia was the only one who could fly this thing, she’d been attached to the helm all day, pushing us through the skies at top speed to get us to Dara before the day was out. Iannis and the other mages had helped by clearing the weather and ensuring the wind blew in a favorable direction, but without Annia there was no way we would have made this thing work.
“Ohhhh yeahhhhh,” Annia groaned, arching her back as my right thumb found a knot. “You can keep that up for as long as you want.”
I grinned. “Thanks, but I think I’ll go get the Chief Mage now.”
“Tease,” Annia grumbled, shooting me a dirty look over her shoulder.