Library

Chapter 29

Rhuyin

Being in the presence of the War Leader, despite the fact that he and Elex looked so much alike, made my stomach clench. This was the man responsible for the defense of my country and my Commander in Chief.

"So you are confessing this why, exactly?" he demanded of Naya.

We sat in his conference room. Elex had gone to him immediately and demanded to meet. I didn't know what words had been exchanged between the brothers, but both of them had seemed angry when they stalked into room. Erix's face had remained expressionless throughout her confession.

"Because—I couldn't Bond with Tik without him knowing what I'd done," she said, her face pale but her eyes brightened when she looked at her Bonded. "I realized I screwed up as soon as it was done, but I didn't know how to tell anyone."

Tik just squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Did you think Bonding with a Mageia was going to save you from punishment?" he demanded, his expression stern.

"No, sir," she whispered.

"No, that was my idea," Tik surprised us all by speaking. "I've been reading up on Illyrian law. You can't execute one part of a Bonded pair. So if you want to execute her, you'd have to ex—execute me, too."

"Tik?" Elex exclaimed in surprise, but the young Mageia just continued staring at Erix defiantly.

"Look, we were going to get Bonded no matter what. We both knew we were right for each other from the moment we touched," the young man said, glaring at Erix. "I just moved the timing up. Alexandria needs Mageia too badly to lose even one. And if you try and take Naya away from me—you'll have a hell of a lot more to worry about than some fucked up buildings."

I almost gasped at the boy's defiant exchange with the War Leader. No one spoke to Polemos like that.

Erix stared at the boy for a long while before a small smile formed on his lips.

"Well, with Naya Bonded, she wouldn't be subject to capital punishment," he said. "That wouldn't be fair to her Bonded, who is innocent, however devious he may be."

I couldn't help but gasp a little when he mentioned capital punishment.

"They're just kids," I said, my voice trailing off with a belated, "Sir. She was manipulated and used by someone far older and more experienced. Kopanos is an asshole and master manipulator."

"That's your senior officer you're referring to," Erix said, his turning his glacial blue gaze on me.

"He's a senior officer who enjoys torturing and tormenting anyone he thinks is weaker than he is," I responded. "I have no doubt that he targeted Naya from the start."

Erix stared at her for long moments, his eyes empty of emotion. Something seemed to stir in their depths after a while and he finally sighed and glanced away from us, running his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"We can discuss your punishment later, Naya. I agree that there were…mitigating circumstances in your situation. For now, I need to figure out what to do with the information you've given me."

Erix got to his feet and began pacing the room, as if the energy inside him needed some kind of outlet.

"You still need to complete your mission for Omada," he said, nodding at me. "We need Stergiou's testimony."

He looked at each of us in turn.

"This goes no further than this room. You do not speak of this to anyone,"he insisted. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Kopanos has been on my radar for some time, but I didn't have anything specific I could use to tie him back to Alexandria," he said. "Until now."

"Are you going to arrest him?" Tik asked eagerly. He was furious at what the man had done to Naya.

A sinister smile spread across my brother's face.

"Oh, no. I'm not going to arrest him," he said. "I'm going to do something much worse. I'm going to use him."

He turned and pointed at Allard.

"And you, Elusian, are going to help me."

***

Before we knew it we were on our way to Alexandria.

Hey, trouble, Betts signed as she came toward Hel and I as we chatted on the deck of the Chrysalis.

To my surprise, I had learned she held the rank of Captain in the Illyrian navy. My surprise was due to her age, not because of any doubt that she was an able leader. I had seen how well she handled the crew of the Chrysalis even though she couldn't be that much older than I was.

Hey there! I responded. I'd been working with all of them on improving their signing skills.

You ready for your first real mission?she asked.

I snorted.

I've been on missions before,I responded. Just…not to freakin' Alexandria.

She chuckled and switched to speech.

"I get it. I remember the first trip I made along the Alexandrian coast. We ran dark all along the coast and past the Alexandria Harbor. I don't think I was able to take a deep breath between Boughazi and Silsila."

"I read that it gets pretty shallow all through there," I said.

Betts nodded.

"The harbor is like this," she said, taking her hand and making the shape of the letter C. "Think of it like a circle, but with two narrow entrances here and here," she said, pointing to her thumb and forefinger.

"That, plus the barrier reef, makes it almost impossible to attack Alexandria from the sea," she said. "Which has been a major problem throughout this whole damn war. A lot of our strength is in our Navy. Those two openings keep us from getting enough ships close enough to do any major damage to the city. The harbor is as shallow as six feet for much of it, which means any ship that sails it would have to have a very shallow draft."

I felt the approach of my Bonded, glanced over my shoulder and smiled. Luke and his brother had been napping. Neither of them were experiencing the bouts of seasickness this time around but both were a little more fatigued than normal. Elex had speculated that it was due to the fact they were both now Tesseris Mages and thus connected to all the elements.

Luke returned my smile with one of his own and wrapped his arm around my waist, resting his head on my shoulder. The warmth of his touch made me smile. It made me happy that he felt comfortable enough to be openly demonstrative with his affection.

"How do the Alexandrians get around it?" I asked, turning back to Betts. "I don't remember hearing about any problems maneuvering through there."

"That's because they use their Mageians mercilessly," Luke responded for her, that strange vibration flicking across my skin, causing his words to be understandable even though he was behind me. "Water and Air Mageians are stationed around the clock at Boughazi and Silsila. They are forced to use their powers to transport ships through the ports of entry and keep them high enough in the water to safely traverse the harbor."

"Why don't they just dredge the harbor?" I asked.

"Because that would remove the protection it's offering to the city," Betts responded. "Deepen the harbor and it makes it too easy for a warship to blast its way through the gap and pummel the city."

"Couldn't an Earth Mageian help?" I asked.

Betts shook her head.

"No single Earth Mageian would be strong enough. Plus, moving that amount of earth would take time. The Alexandria defenses at the lighthouses would pummel any fleet that approached. They'd be sitting ducks until they were done."

When I considered the amount of power my Bonded had used to protect us from the explosion in Nymphaeum I wondered if she might be wrong about that fact.

"The locals call them lighthouses, but they are really just fortified towers. They're staffed by teams of Fire Mageia responsible for protecting the harbor," Elex added. He was trying to sign and speak at the same time but struggled a little.

He had backed off the overprotective brother routine in the last few days a little. Something about imminent death or capture seemed to put things into perspective for him I guess. I knew he still didn't trust me or think that I was capable of fully protecting his brother, but I could only overcome his concerns with time. I was glad he was at least giving me a chance because I knew Luke had been struggling with the tension between us.

"So how do we get by them?" I asked.

"We're not going to," Betts responded with a grin. "Illyrians have been sailing these waters for thousands of years. We know them inside out. There's a bay a few miles west of the city that I've visited dozens of times. We're going to come in under the cover of darkness. We'll row you guys in on one of the dinghys to a cove just west of the city. Me and my crew will wait nearby to extract you."

"How will we get into the city?" Luke asked.

"You'll be meeting up with one of our agents on the highway. He'll be responsible for getting you into and out of the city," she responded. "From there, you will need to play it by ear."

I nodded; the irony of the hearing challenged person "playing something by ear" not lost on me. I felt Luke's grip on me tighten reassuringly.

"We can do this," he said. I nodded in response. We had to.

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.