Through the Ashes- The Complete Series, page 54
part #1 of Through the Ashes Series
“Why? You ask me to just trust you and do as you ask, but you won’t do the same for me.”
“You can’t just sneak around following one of the most important people in the world, and you sure can’t do it by yourself without something really bad happening. That’s why I’m asking you not to go. Plus, finding me with you when he caught you might make an actual enemy where there was none before.”
“Fine,” she said, looking into his beautiful eyes. It would’ve been nice if they could stand there like that forever, but she had work to do. “Well, I just had to tell you. Anyway, I know you’re hungry, so let’s go get something to eat.”
She had already eaten, but Chef would probably know where Tallon stayed when he was in the city, or he would know who to ask. He did seem to know everything about everyone.
Bells crouched on a rooftop, her heels and thighs aching from maintaining the position for so long, and watched the tavern across the street. She had followed Tallon for an hour, but so far had learned nothing new. Tallon visited a couple shops in the market plaza before heading to the tavern, but the only purchases she saw him make were a light meal and a human-made disposable lighter.
She carefully went prone, lying on her stomach to give her limbs a chance to stop cramping, and rested her chin on her arms atop the roof’s peak.
After fifteen minutes of chatting with people at the bar and buying drinks, Tallon settled into a booth seat that didn’t give her the best view of him, but it was good enough to see him if he got up, or anyone who sat with him.
She muttered, “What do you think, Sword, are we going to catch him in the act?”
The sword never answered her questions directly, at least not using pictures like she had told Jaekob. That was merely the easiest way to explain it. She often tried to think of better ways to explain how the sword communicated, but she lacked the words. It connected with her mind on a deep level—somewhere instinctive, even primal—sending her what felt like flashes of intuition.
Maybe it tapped directly into her subconscious. She tried not to think about the time Jaekob said he worried about how it was affecting her mind. Talking to her subconscious could certainly do that, though it was only one possibility. However it spoke to her, it only answered her question one way in all the times she had asked. While it acknowledged that Tallon didn’t tell the whole truth to the Crown of Pures and had left something important out, the sword stopped short of agreeing that Tallon was a traitor. That bit of intuition was entirely her own.
So, why was she risking her safety on some high roof while chasing a powerful elf through the city at night when weres were out? Ultimately, she trusted her gut when it spoke to her strongly. If she was wrong, it only cost her a night of sleep, but if she was right…
A familiar tingle started at the back of her mind—her rider bond with Jaekob. “So, he’s following me like I’m following Tallon. Bah. He’s not very good at this.”
She rolled over onto her back, reeled her fae senses in from the beam she had kept on Tallon for the last half-hour, then pushed them outward in every direction. Experience told her that when their minds connected like this, it meant Jaekob was in range of her senses.
Sure enough, she found him heading in her direction, creeping down a nearby alley. Once again, she wondered how he found her. Their rider bond probably told him what direction she was in or something. She had already come to accept the idea that he could find her anytime he wanted to. Apparently, this was one of those times.
She refocused her senses on Tallon. She could probably dodge Jaekob by using her shadow walking abilities, but she didn’t bother. He would find her again, but at least he would see it with his own eyes when Tallon slipped up. Bells felt certain that was going to happen soon.
A woman appeared out of nowhere in Tallon’s booth, and Bells gasped. That was impossible. She would never miss someone walking up to the booth and sitting down. The woman must have used magic. Unlike Bells, Tallon didn’t jump at all when the woman appeared, and his body language showed he was comfortable, even relaxed, as he and the woman chatted. Although his mouth was moving, she couldn’t hear what he said. Oh! Right, she had her senses pulled back to help her to find Jaekob. Frustrated, she hurled the tightest beam she could create at the booth occupants.
The woman with him was no dragon—Tallon was meeting with an elf. The knot in Bells’ gut immediately settled down. This was it…
Bells never understood how her intuition often made her aware of things to come, but she trusted it more than she trusted most people. Her instincts didn’t let her down. She paused for a moment of confusion, though, when her fae senses didn’t bring her any other information. She should be hearing their conversation, but the only thing it had told her was that the woman was an elf.
More magic? Bells growled in frustration, but there was nothing she could do against that kind of spell, not before they both left the tavern.
She didn’t have to wait long before the elf woman and Tallon stood at the same time. He threw something down on the table and then they headed for the exit together.
Bells frantically scrambled to get off the roof before they came out the door, succeeding by only a couple of seconds. Her fae shadow abilities would probably have kept her prey from spotting her, but with magic involved, she took no chances.
Tallon and the woman came out the door onto the street, then turned north.
Bells grinned, realizing she would have plenty of time to get Jaekob.
Bells found Jaekob easily, despite him doing his best “I’m really a trash dumpster” impression. When she stepped in front of his hiding spot and looked right at him, he growled and muttered something under his breath. It was probably for the best that her enhanced senses were busy elsewhere at the moment.
That thought made her grin and after second, he grinned back. “How did you find me?”
“You know very well. You may have a better grip on the weird bond we got when I rode you—”
“Twice,” he said with a wink.
“What?”
“You rode me twice. You’re probably the only person alive to ride a dragon twice. I suppose you should feel honored, right?” He smiled again
Bells rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling back at his cocky, mischievous face. “Great. You know how to count, and I am totally honored you did it for me.”
“You should be.”
“Can we celebrate later, though? Tallon just left the tavern, and while he came alone, he left with an elf woman who just suddenly appeared next to him in the bar. Magic, I assume.”
“That’s a safe assumption. Lead on, little fae, but please try to stay as far away as you can without losing track. If the woman has magic, she’s a wildcard, so play it safe.”
“Always,” Bells replied, and then she headed down the alley, moving parallel to Tallon. Even though Jaekob followed her from as far back as he could manage, Bells didn’t need any extraordinary senses to hear his heavy steps in the alley. He was quiet enough, for a dragon, but he was a big man. She thought it was unlikely the target would hear him, though, so long as the behemoth didn’t knock over a trashcan or something.
Block after block, she followed Tallon north through the city. He skirted the main market plaza, so Bells had to take a wide berth as she followed. Once beyond the open market area, her target turned left, then right. Right again. Left. He never traveled on the same street in the same direction for more than two blocks in a row, but his many turns never took him far off track as he continued heading north.
They traveled at least a mile that way—as the crow flies—and Bells felt her exhaustion coming back fast. She hadn’t really caught up on sleep or recovered from the ordeal of retrieving the mirror, so she wasn’t operating at peak level.
Her thoughts were focused on her exhaustion, not on her prey, when she suddenly realized she could no longer see him. She closed her eyes and pushed at her senses, forcing the tightly focused beam out even farther. Nothing. Only when she swept it back and forth did she catch a fleeting impression of Tallon and the elf inside a rather nice house up ahead. She let her enhanced fae senses dwindle to near zero and felt a bit more spring in her step, a little more energy. Fae abilities were useful but impossible to keep up forever.
As she waited for Jaekob to catch up, she tried desperately not to fidget or pace or do some other stupid thing to give away her hiding spot. He really needed to hurry up so they could go catch that traitor doing something treasonous.
Jaekob appeared, scurrying around a bush, and crouched beside her. He whispered, “Wow. For a farmer, you sure are high-strung. You need to relax a little.” His eyes sparkled with mischief.
Bells made sure he could see her as she rolled her eyes in response. Then she said, “Okay, I’m going to send my fae senses out and try to find their exact location. Hopefully, I’ll be able to figure out what they’re up to.”
She closed her eyes and imagined all six senses spreading outward from her in a cone, rolling over the house and seeping inside, seeking her prey. Nothing. She sensed the house itself, but no people inside. Actually, she didn’t sense the inside, either.
Her chest rumbled as she growled, “They have some way of blocking my senses. More magic. I can’t hear or see or even feel anything on the inside. Not even the inside itself.”
Jaekob pursed his lips, drawing them to one side. “Well, that’s probably a sign that we shouldn’t be doing this. A big, neon sign that says to go home and leave him alone with his elf… Whatever she is. Hey, I don’t judge. That’s his business.”
Bells was once again a little startled at the differences between dragon and fae cultures. Dragons had no modesty by fae standards, but he respected her views if she took the time to make him aware of them.
She said, “I can’t see or hear inside the house. Can you see anything inside with those telescopic eyes of yours?”
He looked at the house for a few seconds, then shook his head. “No, there aren’t any openings big enough to see through, even with dragon eyes. I’ll go sneak down the embankment and crawl up to the house. If I see anything, I’ll let you know,” he said, tapping his temple with a finger.
“Hold on,” Bells replied, grinning. Dragons had telescopic eyes, but she had other talents to make up for it.
She opened her small belt bag and pulled out several seeds. Spreading them on her palm, she fished through them before picking a small brown seed and returning the rest back into the bag. “This seed grows a vine, and you should see how fast it goes with a little nudge. This kind of vine loves showing off its blossoms, and it puts out trumpet flowers. I can ask it to grow into the house and then we’ll hear what’s going on inside, no matter what kind of magic they put up to stop eavesdroppers like us.”
Jaekob raised both eyebrows and his eyes went wide. “That’s creative. And a little scary. Do me a favor, would you? Don’t ever give me a plant as a gift,” he said, and Bells wasn’t completely sure he was only joking.
Bells smiled as she watched Jaekob staring intently at the growing vine. He always seemed so amazed at such trivial things, and it never failed to amuse her.
Once the vine crept its way into the house, passing under a tiny gap beneath the house’s side door, she asked the plant to grow a couple of its small yellow flowers inside, as well as to grow two offshoots near where it had taken root in the soil. The offshoots dried out in seconds, turning them rigid and hollow.
Staring at the plant, Jaekob asked, “So how do we listen in on what’s going on in there?” The pitch in his voice had risen noticeably, his excitement plain.
She replied, “I love how much you enjoy watching me work with plants. I sometimes take it for granted. So, to listen in, just put the hollow end in your ear. We’ll hear them clearly and hopefully get some idea of what he’s up to.”
“That was the plan, yes,” he replied, one side of his mouth ticking up in a half-grin. He reached for the vine, then watched her.
Bells simply leaned over and put the end of a dry, hollow offshoot into her ear. Right away, she heard someone moving around. When Jaekob had followed her example, she said, “It sounds like he’s in the kitchen. I think I heard dishes rattling.”
Footsteps retreated, walking to the other end of the house.
Jaekob whispered, “I hear muttering. It sounds like they’re talking to someone in there. Can your plant get closer?”
“Yes, I think so.” She focused on the vine again, and it was more than happy to oblige, growing impossibly fast thanks to the energy she was siphoning into it. The conversation grew louder almost immediately, and in seconds, Tallon’s voice became audible. She also heard a woman’s voice.
Before Bells commented, Jaekob said, “That would be his wife, I’m sure. He doesn’t talk about his personal life much, but it’s almost impossible to get a seat on the Crown of Pures without proving you can be a stable leader by having a stable family, first.”
Bells nodded, but her attention was on trying to catch the gist of the conversation. The woman once mentioned Shmsharatsh, startling Bells, who tilted her head to get a better angle on the vine.
Woman: “You don’t know it was that blasted sword. I mean, haven’t any of the other mind slaves done this?”
Tallon: “No, not yet. But he was fine before that upstart fae used Shmsharatsh on him. She killed the part of him that made him who he was. I’ll never forgive her for that.”
Woman: “We don’t know for sure it’s a side effect of her enslaving him with that sword, and I bet she didn’t know, either. Don’t forgive her, but don’t let that eat you up. You need to keep your head on straight, now more than ever.”
Tallon: “I’m well aware.”
Woman: “Yeah. I just hate that we can’t discuss this in front of him—I hate to leave his side.”
Tallon: “So you tested the idea while I was gone? Our boy has those seizures when we mention the sword in front of him?”
Woman: “Every time. But I fear other topics may do the same.”
Tallon: “That’s what I thought, but I didn’t even consider other topics doing it, too. Dammit, he doesn’t deserve this. First, he gets dumber than a fae on dew wine, standing wherever I leave him until we tell him what to do, and now, this?”
Woman: “You’ve been saying this since we got here, but maybe now the rest of the Pures on the Crown will listen to you.”
Tallon: “The Crown needs to do more than just listen. I believe in the Crown and what they have accomplished so far, but it isn’t enough.”
Woman: “What more do you want from them? They have all the power they need from over half the people on this planet.”
Tallon: “I think we have a duty to use that power wisely, but that means we actually have to use it.”
Woman: “You think that will bring our son back? Or is it that you think people have too much freedom, and they might be better off if they let someone else make their decisions for them, like fae? I think the Crown owns more fae than it needs without making everyone else become step-fae.”
Man: “You say ‘fae’ like the word burns your tongue. Don’t blame them all for what one country bumpkin girl did to our son. Speaking of which, if I can get the Crown members to start seeing things the way I do, one of the first things we’ll do is talk about a bill to make their equality a little more… equal.”
Woman: “I really wish you wouldn’t. I’m sorry, and I know I can’t tell you how to do your job. I know this is all coming from a place of trying to do better for our people, so I can’t even really be mad at you.”
Tallon: “Mad at me? Whatever for?”
Woman: “For what happened to our son, of course. Or for thinking you and the rest of the Crown should make all the Pures live like fae.”
Tallon: “Don’t be ridiculous. First of all, even if we were weak enough to accept being treated like them, we’d never be like them. Everyone knows fae do better when someone tells them what to do and how. That’s why elves took on the burden of leading them in the first place. So what’s the real reason you have a problem with the Crown doing a better job of leading?”
Woman: “I don’t mind them doing a better job. But the way you’re talking, it makes me afraid. I don’t think the Crown should be allowed too much power or else all our people will start to fear you instead of respecting you. Fear and respect are not the same things.”
Tallon: [pause] “I see where you’re coming from, darling. Thank you for not questioning my motives like the rest of the Crown representatives, but you don’t know them like I do. The people on the Crown are people I trust, people I believe in. They could never be corrupted by power. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to spend time with our little boy before I go back to work.”
There was some faint muttering, then the sound of heavy footsteps moving away and then going upstairs.
Only a couple of seconds later, the woman’s voice came through the vine, soft yet clear as a crystal goblet: “Oh, Tallon, you noble idiot. You’re right to say they can’t be corrupted, because in truth, they already are. It is already too late.”
There were lighter footsteps, then the sound of running water blocked out every other sound coming through the vine.
Bells looked at Jaekob, her eyes wide with shock. She said, “I’m not sure how to process all of that.”
Jaekob shook his head, pulling the vine tube from his ear. “Process which part?”
“Where should I even begin? The all-knowing Crown of Pures that rules fae daily life didn’t basically enslave my people out of greed, or even some quest for more power over anyone they could take it from. That, I could have understood.”
