Warlords Ascending Read online

  Dunixan swallowed hard and he ducked his head, coughing into a hand, clearing his throat. “Forgive me. I’m quite overcome.”

  In that moment, Trev’nor saw the man beneath the title and his heart felt touched in turn. So this was the man the Gardeners had prepared to help them? A man who loved his country but wanted more for it—who felt emotional at the idea of what it could become. In such a small room, it was no challenge to reach out and lay a hand on the man’s shoulder, and he grasped that warm, hard bulk of muscle like a comrade in arms would.

  “Dunixan.” Trev’nor waited for those dark eyes to meet his and grinned the most outrageous grin he could manage. “You have no idea. You only saw Bromany. You didn’t see Coven Ordan, right?”

  As if he sensed something wonderful would come next, Dunixan slowly shook his head, lips parted in anticipation. “No. Coven Ordan is the home of the Bromany magicians, is it not?”

  “That’s precisely what it is. And it’s a very amazing place.” Not that Trev’nor had seen it with his own eyes, but he’d had plenty of descriptions of it. “When we’re done with this country, there will be water fountains, living memory stones, floating cities, irrigation canals, lush gardens the likes of which Khobunter has never seen. That is what we want to build in this country. You’ll help us.”

  Dunixan seemed to realize this wasn’t a request, and he didn’t hesitate to agree. “I will. My grandfather was the first to visit Bromany. He came home determined that his province, at least, would become like that country. He did his best, as did my father, but the pressure of two warring provinces as neighbors prevented them from doing what they truly wanted. I’ve been just as hedged in. I want what you describe. I want what I’ve seen with my own eyes, both in Bromany and what you’ve managed here in such a short time. I am your ally in this, Magus.”

  “Good. I want you to be my ally, Dunixan, but I also want you to be our friend.” He looked to Becca for support on this.

  She beamed at both of them. “Yes, Dunixan, please be our friend. Friends are so much better than mere allies. They look for ways to help each other. And they’re more honest with each other, too. We need honesty and true communication if we’re to accomplish everything we’ve set out to do.”

  “I must agree.” Something in Dunixan’s posture, a rigidity, eased. “I prefer to be your friends, certainly.”

  “Good, that’s settled.” Nolan clapped his hands together, grinning from ear to ear. “Now. A few things we need to discuss. My friend, would you like to have a few dragons claim your territory as their new home?”

  Dunixan blinked. Then blinked again before blurting, “Can I?”

  “Certainly!” Nolan assured him brightly. “You know, the reason why so many of them volunteered to come with us is because they ran out of room in the home nesting grounds. They don’t have the space or resources to support the next generation. Because you’re bordering the sea, they’ll have plenty to eat and good space to start a nest in. They’ve already been badgering me to request this of you. How about six mated pairs to start off with?”

  The warlord looked a little overwhelmed by this offer, his mouth opening and closing several times before he got a grip on himself. “I’ll happily accept them. They will help me protect the province?”

  “Let me explain.” Nolan leaned a little forward in his seat, as casual and at home as if he were back in Strae. “When a dragon claims a territory, absolutely nothing dangerous is allowed anywhere near it. They will squash it flat or burn it to cinders before it can even get a toe over the border. So if you offer them a home, sincerely, and they claim it? No army in the world will get over your borders, not without a serious fight.”

  Dunixan exchanged a look with Simin, the First Guard looking as overwhelmed by this offer as Dunixan likely felt, although the warlord had better control over his facial features. Simin looked happy but also dubious, as if wondering what the catch would be.

  “No catch,” Nolan assured them, smile crooked. “Just let them fish in the sea and give them a good territory to build a nest in. Something tall, like a mountain, will do fine. Explain the rules to them, introduce them to the people, and they’ll be the best guard dogs you’ve ever seen.”

  “Be a friend to them, in other words.” Dunixan’s eyes became shrewd. “Be a friend to them and they’ll be a friend in return?”

  “Kindness and friendships always opens doors,” Trev’nor stated simply, repeating the Tonkowacon wisdom, the words falling from his lips almost in a cadence.

  “That it does.” Satisfied, Dunixan nodded sharply. “Introduce them to me later, these dragons. I want to meet them. We’ll discuss what areas work best for them and make a plan.”

  “I’ll be pleased to.” Satisfied, Nolan leaned back.

  Trev’nor hated to bring it up, but someone had to. “Good things aside, we need to talk about what happens next. I really, really do not want a repeat of this place.”

  “What happened?” Dunixan took in their expressions and guessed grimly, “Riyu pulled his usual trick of lining the walls with hostages?”

  “Got it in one,” Becca answered sourly. “I hate that man.”

  “Trust me, my friend, no one likes him. And he’s the main reason I haven’t been able to let down my guard this past decade. I agree it’s a dirty tactic, but there’s no real way around it. You’ll have to press forward,” Dunixan counseled, although his tone was gentle and sad.

  Becca shook her head grimly, mouth pursed, hands clenched together so tightly the knuckles shone white. “We’re mages. We’ve been trained by the best. We’ll think of a way around this. Right now, I want to figure out what our next step should be.”

  “I think we should hit Riyu dead on,” Trev’nor opined. When he got three looks of disbelief, he hastened to defend himself, “Otherwise, we repeat the hostage situation with both Sha Watchtower and Jashni. Do you want to do that? I sure don’t.”

  Nolan rubbed his chin, staring off into space. “You think that if we take Riyu on we can order the other two cities to stand down?”

  “It has a good chance of succeeding,” Dunixan conceded, although the frown on his face suggested doubt. “I’m just not sure how we’ll get into Riyu. I know you have dragons and magic, but that place is heavily fortified. Riyu keeps the very best magicians to protect himself. The city won’t be easy to conquer, not like the rest of his territory.”

  “I actually have another, more immediate concern,” Becca admitted. “Rheben.”

  Trev’nor looked to her askance as he didn’t see what she meant by that. “Rheben? You mean the ruins?”

  “Yes, them.”

  “Not following, Bec,” Nolan admitted, brows twisted up in a quizzical expression. “The ruins have been there for centuries. I don’t see how leaving them alone for another few months is going to hurt anything.”

  Becca didn’t like this response and glared at Nolan. “Someone failed to instill in you the proper amount of paranoia. Can you think like a bad man for a sec? Three mages appear out of nowhere, conquer a place, disappear for a week, appear again, and then start taking Khobunter by brute force. One of them is named with the same surname as the site of some famous ruins. A paranoid man would link the two.”

  “Actually, even one that isn’t paranoid would wonder if there’s a connection,” Dunixan offered. “I wondered about it myself when I received the initial reports.”

  Trev’nor realized what they were driving at and groaned, rubbing his fingertips against gritty feeling eyes. “You think they’ll try to invade the ruins? Possibly for information?”

  “Or just destroy them outright. They don’t know what connection you and the ruins have, but they likely don’t want to find out, either. Just destroy it, check a possible problem off the list.” Becca caught her bottom lip between her teeth for a moment, worrying at it. “I have to say, I don’t like this idea. But it occurred to me earlier, and if I can think of it, you know someone else can too.”

  “Ther
e’s a lot of information there that we didn’t get to properly study,” Nolan agreed uneasily, shifting in his chair. “We barely skimmed the surface. And there’s still a great deal of infrastructure that I think is still usable, with some patching. I know it might not be immediately serviceable, but Trev, don’t you think you want to restore that city to its glory days at some point?”

  Raising both hands in surrender, Trev’nor said, “Alright, alright, you make a good argument. So, Bec, what do you want to do? Go there now, put up a barrier around it?”

  “I think we need two more days here to start a garden, get these people sorted, but yes. That’s exactly what I want to do. While we’re traveling up, we can strategize, think of which target we want to go for next.” She looked at Dunixan hopefully. “I don’t know how long we can keep you?”

  “At least another two weeks,” he assured her. “I didn’t plan to catch up with you this quickly so I built in some extra time. Especially if I can ride a dragon home?”

  “Trust me, not an issue,” Nolan assured him, eyes crinkled up in laughter.

  “Then I can stay for a good while longer.” Dunixan grinned back, as delighted as a child with the promise of a new toy.

  Trev’nor fully understood the delight of having dragons at hand and didn’t judge the man for it. Especially since he still got that heady rush whenever he got near his own dragon. “Look, I know we just started this meeting and all, but I’m starving. Let’s break for an early lunch, then maybe we can continue talking while working outside. If you’re set on staying here only for a few days, Becca, that doesn’t give us much time to work.”

  “True,” she agreed, going back to worrying her lip. “I can’t explain it, just an uneasy feeling we need to protect the ruins sooner rather than later.”

  Her instincts might or might not have been peppered with paranoia, but Trev’nor wasn’t in the mood to question her about it. Not in Riyu’s territory especially. “Ain’t arguing. Let’s go.” Heaving himself up to his feet, Trev’nor felt a decade older. But then, nothing about entering Khobunter had been easy. He felt exhausted to his bones some days. At least today he felt lighter. Having a Gardener come in and tell him he was in the right place, doing the right thing, helped ease the burden significantly.

  Not that he wouldn’t be up half the night wondering about the rest of what she said.

  Shaking the thought off for now, he left the office and then maneuvered so that he could walk next to Dunixan. “While we’re outside working, stand next to me. I want to talk about the changes you need in your own land.”

  Dunixan’s head snapped around, eyes widening. “You’ll do my province next?”

  “At least get started, sure. If we condition the soil right, and get some rain in, it’ll be far easier for Nolan to plant later. Raw power can only overcome so much.” Seeing the open joy on that face, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “I told you. It’s better if you’re friends with us.”

  “I have the feeling, Rhebentrev’noren, that you’ll be an amazing friend.” Looking about them, Dunixan added quietly, “I realize that this battle was rough on you, and I can see that you’re not really ready to welcome anyone in just yet, but I’m glad that I came when I did.”

  “So am I.” Trev’nor meant every word of it. “Trust me, so am I.”

  As usual with their plans, their thought to stay in Alred for two days didn’t last more than a few hours. Becca really should stop being optimistic about how much time it would take to settle a place they had just conquered. It never went as well as she hoped.

  In the end, they sent some of the dragons ahead to the ruins to guard the place while they took a solid week to build up the defenses in Alred, reorganize the government, and plant a rather extensive garden. The people still flinched when anyone spoke to them, but at least they began to tentatively voice an opinion after five days of being charmed into talking.

  The former slaves lingered as well, just a little while, burying and mourning their dead. It tore Trev’nor to pieces every time he saw someone at a grave. Becca sympathized whole-heartedly, but she couldn’t afford for her co-ruler to become an emotional wreck every day either. She quickly found him things to do away from the graveyard and kept him busy on the other end of the city.

  They had the rest of the day before leaving for Rheben. She planned to use that time to get a good storm coming this direction. Partially to top off the water reservoirs here but also to water Nolan’s garden. If she let it die due to lack of rain, he’d murder her in the dead of night.

  Sitting on the edge of the watchtower, she aimed her eyes directly west, focusing on the storm coming in off the sea. She’d been patiently nurturing it for a few days now, and by the time it arrived, it should be the perfect gentle, steady rain that Trev’nor and Nolan needed.

  “Becca.”

  Without turning her head, she responded, “What is it, Cat?”

  “Dunixan asks where you are.”

  Craning her head about, she looked up, but could only see the underside of Cat’s jaw from this angle. The dragon loved it when her partner came up to sit on the watchtower, as it gave Cat the perfect excuse to lounge on the top of it and sunbathe. “Tell him he can come up.”

  “Will.” The dragon let out a low crooning noise, like a cross between a purr and a vibration, mixed with a few high pitch notes.

  Figuring that she must be passing the message along via dragon, Becca went back to staring at the sky and her gathering clouds.

  An indeterminate time later (Becca never kept good track of time when she worked), she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Knowing who it must be, she hailed him without looking, “Sorry to make you climb all the way up here. I can’t move just yet; I’m babying a storm system.”

  “Your dragon explained,” Dunixan assured her, coming to crouch at her side. “Can I speak with you while you work?”

  “Sure. Right now I’m just riding herd on it to make sure it doesn’t get sidetracked by a random air current.” She patted the rough stone on her right, inviting him to take a seat.

  Dunixan promptly sat, at ease despite the fact that a simple railing separated him from a thirty foot drop. So, not afraid of heights, apparently. Good. Otherwise that flight home would induce heart failure.

  Continuing, she explained, “Someone up here keeps messing with my air currents, which in turn takes off with my storms, and it’s severely aggravating. It’s half the reason why I came up here in the first place, to figure out who’s the culprit and to stop them.”

  “I see. It can’t be another Weather Mage, correct?”

  “Correct. Probably an Air Mage, I can’t think of anyone else who has the magical ability to do this. And he’s up north, somewhere, that much I know. We’ll find him eventually.” Becca smacked a fist into her palm, smile feral. “And then I’ll have a little chat with him.”

  “I feel sorry for him when you do.” Dunixan grinned at her.

  Shrugging, she let that pass and asked, “What did you need to talk to me about?”

  “There are a few things I want to clarify.” Dunixan wrapped his arms comfortably around the banister as he spoke, the pose oddly childlike. “I know we’ve touched on this before, but…you’re not expecting help from home?”

  “No one really can,” Becca confirmed with a sad smile. “Most of our mentors and teachers hold political positions in Chahir and Hain. They literally can’t move without implicating their countries. The one person that might be able to help is my older brother, but his wife is six months pregnant, and I can’t force that decision on him. Besides, there’s a good chance he’d try to drag me home.”

  “Ah. I did wonder about that.” Dunixan studied her from the corners of his eyes. “You are from a long line of mages?”

  “No. My brother is my adopted brother. He’s a soldier.” Becca could have left it there, but this was a good chance to give her friend and ally more background. Information on their history had more or less come along in context
, but not all of it, and he needed to know who they were to understand why they reacted the way they did. “You heard about how a Gardener came to me when I was eight, and Shad took me out of southern Chahir to Strae at that point. Nolan didn’t elaborate much more than that.”

  “Correct.”

  After so many years, she could say this now with only a pang, and not an urge to cry. “My birth family abandoned me at the first signs of magic ability.”

  Dunixan hissed in a sharp, shocked breath, hand rising to grip at his neck in an instinctive move. Of course, to him, the idea was unfathomable. The one iron clad rule in Khobunter that everyone stuck to was that you didn’t abandon family. No matter what they did. To this culture, the idea of her being thrown away was unfathomable.

  Giving him a sad smile, she kept going: “It’s still a death sentence to have magic in certain provinces in Chahir, although King Vonlorisen decreed otherwise. I was cast out of the family, given enough provisions to give me a head start, and my mother told me to run for northern Chahir. As if an eight-year-old had any real prayer of making that kind of journey. The Star Order Priests, of course, could detect me and hunt me down. Shad was ordered by a Gardener to come get me, to guard me. He and his wife, Aletha, somehow managed to find me before the priests could and rescued me. It was his choice to adopt me as a little sister and I have to say, the world has never seen a better big brother than him. I feel blessed by that. But Dunixan? If you wonder why I am so adamant about protecting magicians, and restructuring this country, it’s because I know exactly how these people feel. I have run for my life. I have been hunted down like a rabid dog. I’ve known betrayal and heartbreak and ground-shaking fear. I refuse to let it continue.”

  Becca forced herself to stop and breathe, as just saying the words brought back dark memories. Breath shuddering in her lungs, she looked to the sky, unable to meet Dunixan’s eyes for a long moment. When he didn’t say anything, she dared a glance.