their advantage in short order. If there's anyone left to kill at Dragon Forge when we've armed ourselves, I suspect we'll have the advantage.'
Chapelion looked up from the gun. 'What do you mean, 'if there's anyone left to kill?''
'As Slavecatcher General, I receive reports on the conditions of slaves throughout the kingdom. There's always some new outbreak of disease: malaria, leprosy, yellow-mouth, or cholera. I have the authority to impose quarantines on slave trading with infected abodes until these outbreaks run their course. I propose that we harness one of these diseases as a weapon. We need something with a high mortality rate, something easily spread, and something that doesn't immediately produce symptoms. Our carrier will need to be healthy enough to get inside Dragon Forge, after all. There is currently an outbreak of yellow-mouth in the abode of Rorg. It doesn't have quite the mortality rate I'd like… more than half its victims survive. But it's active now, and spreads easily. A single infected human within the walls of Dragon Forge will cripple the place.'
'You've given this some thought,' said Chapelion.
'It's the nature of my job,' said Vulpine. 'I've spent years imagining responses to mass uprisings such as the one we face.'
'Such imagination! Turning plague into a weapon of war,' Chapelion said, shaking his head. 'Not even Blasphet ever latched upon such a plan.'
'Do you object to it?'
'No. I'll dispatch a messenger to the valkyries at once. Sagen, here can serve as head of a squadron you select from among the aerial guard. The full treasury is at your disposal as well. Your plan is sound. Make it happen.'
Vulpine lowered his head respectfully. 'I'm honored by your trust.'
'I recognize a great mind when I see one,' said Chapelion.
CHAPTER EIGHT:
CONSORT OF DEMONS
JANDRA HELD THE silver bracelet in her fist as she knelt on the cobblestone road. She gave the metal ring a powerful whack against a stone. Anza raised an eyebrow as a shower of sparks erupted from the metal. She swiveled her head, as if trying to pinpoint some distant sound.
Shay couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. They were well beyond the bustling activity of Richmond now, no more than a mile from the palace. They'd left the fresh horses from Burke's Tavern in a stable in town to make a stealthier approach.
It was still a few hours before dawn; Shay's breath was coming out in great clouds. The world was perfectly still, quiet enough that the rustle of Shay's coat as moved sounded loud.
The sparks from Jandra's magic bracelet swirled around them. The air began to smell as if a storm had recently passed through the area.
'We're invisible now,' said Jandra.
'No we're not,' said Shay, staring down at his hands.
'The mirrors have a radius of about fifteen feet. Anyone inside can see clearly. If you're outside the circle, the mirrors edit the scene and show only a background image.'
Shay looked around. 'I don't see any mirrors.'
'These aren't the sort of mirrors you shave with. Magnetically Integrated Rapidly Rotating Optical Reversers are no bigger than a fleck of dust, all kept dancing on magnetic waves generated by the bracelet.' She slid the bracelet back on to her arm.
Shay nodded, understanding at least part of her sentence. 'You've made us invisible with magic dust?'
Jandra rolled her eyes. 'Shay, you're going to have to trust me. I don't have time to explain everything I…' Her face paled as she gazed off into the distance. Anza drew her sword and turned to follow Jandra's gaze.
'What?' whispered Shay, clicking the safety off his shotgun.
'Put down your weapons,' Jandra said. 'I didn't mean to scare you.'
'Why did you fall silent? Did you see something?' Shay asked, looking toward Anza. He wasn't going to put the safety back on until she relaxed. Anza stared into the dark, crouched as if ready to strike. Finally, she stood, the tension flowing from her body, and she silently slipped the sword back into its sheath.
Jandra ran her fingers through her hair. 'It… it's hard to explain.'
'Try us,' said Shay.
Jandra didn't look directly at his face as she spoke. 'Fine. I stopped talking because I suddenly had the urge to rewire your brain.'
'I don't understand.'
'When I said I didn't have time to explain everything, I found myself with the urge to reach out and physically rewire your brain. I wanted to give you some of my knowledge, until you were someone I could carry on a less frustrating conversation with.'
Shay frowned. 'I wasn't aware I was such a difficult person to talk to.'
'You're not,' said Jandra. She brought her fingers to her lips and started to bite her fingernails. Lizard watched her hands carefully. She caught herself and lowered her hands to her sides. 'The urge to alter your brain came from the goddess. She manipulated my memories so that I'd be a better companion for her. Now I'm thinking the same way she did. Maybe Hex was right. Maybe Jazz has tainted me so badly I can't be trusted with power anymore.'
As Jandra spoke, Anza wandered further up the road, about twenty feet away. She turned around and broke into a grin. She gave a thumbs-up sign.
'That one I understand,' said Shay. 'Apparently, we really are invisible. What I don't understand is why you won't admit to being a wizard. You use magic dust. You once possessed a genie. Why be coy about what's so plainly the truth?'
Jandra gave him a stern, serious look. 'Jazz had the same powers I once had. It corrupted her. She allowed people to worship her, to think she was something more than human. I don't want anyone's worship. I think honesty is my best hope of avoiding corruption when I get my powers back.'
'If you're afraid of getting your powers back, why have we come all this way?' asked Shay.
'I don't see any other option. So much in this world is broken, and I need my powers back if I want to fix it. I could heal Burke's leg, and restore Vance's sight.' They'd left Vance in Thorny's care; his sight had never returned after his fall from the roof. 'I might even figure out why Anza can't talk.'
Anza tapped her foot on the cobblestones and looked toward the night sky.
'Let's move on,' said Jandra. 'But not too fast. The magnetic field of the bracelet isn't all that powerful. If we took off running, or encountered a strong wind, it would disrupt the pattern and we'd be visible again. It's a good thing it's a calm night.'
Anza watched as the others walked toward her. Shay could tell the moment when they became visible to Anza by the way her eyes shifted their focus. He found himself increasingly comfortable with staring at Anza's face. There was a lot she could communicate with only subtle motions of her eyes and mouth. Anza didn't seem to mind being stared at. She projected a calm confidence when people were watching her. When Shay thought someone was watching him, he became self-conscious and awkward.
While he was comfortable staring at Anza, he still felt uncomfortable if Jandra caught him looking at her. Anza was beautiful, feminine in her grace and balance, yet somehow the multitude of weapons she boasted removed all temptation to think of her in a romantic fashion. Jandra was different. At first, he'd been put off by the idea that she was a dragon's pet. He'd assumed she'd be snooty and shallow, like other pets he'd encountered. Despite Jandra's impatience with his questions, he found her to be anything but snooty. She seemed, instead, to be driven by a need to help and protect others. Perhaps it was arrogant of her to assume that she could fix the world's problems, but Shay didn't judge her harshly for this. He found himself attracted to her nobility. Of course, he also found himself attracted to her in other ways. Even dressed in her ill-fitting, borrowed clothes, Jandra had a simple beauty about her that he found enticing.
The Dragon Palace loomed before them like a mountain. The night felt colder in its shadow. Jandra pointed
