Did you succeed in getting him?”
Sespian and Yara stepped out of the crevice behind Maldynado and Basilard.
“Sire!” Books blurted and attempted to bow from where he knelt at the top of the rubble pile. He almost pitched face-first down the slope.
“Charges at the pass?” Sespian asked mildly.
“Er, did I not mention that, Sire?” Amaranthe had reached the top of the rubble pile and could see out to the forest beyond the destroyed tunnel. She turned around to give Sespian a sheepish smile. “I must apologize for the destruction of a section of railway, especially when we didn’t need that particular distraction.”
“She’s rather cavalier about destroying imperial property, isn’t she?” Sespian said.
“She has single-minded focus,” Maldynado said. “She’ll stop Forge and help the empire, even if she has to blow up the entire continent in the process.”
Amaranthe decided it’d be better not to comment. Besides, if that craft was still around, they needed to get out of there quickly, as soon as she made sure her men were well.
“Is Akstyr all right?” Amaranthe peered more closely at Books and touched his arm. Dark bags lurked under his eyes, and a swollen bruise rose from the side of his jaw. He must have had a grueling night too. “Are you all right?”
“His injuries are graver than mine, and he had to do some draining magical mumbo jumbo to keep that aircraft from noticing us. I left him on watch in navigation. If everyone here can climb, we can get back on board, and I can tell you the rest.”
The grim set to Books’s face told Amaranthe she might not want to hear “the rest,” but she nodded and said, “Agreed.”
Chapter 19
Akstyr removed his nose from the navigation cabin window and sat back in the chair. Books was walking out of the crumbled tunnel entrance with the others. That was good, Akstyr supposed, though apprehension stirred anew in him when he saw Amaranthe and Sicarius. Books would tell them what Akstyr’s role had been in this mess. Amaranthe would forgive him, he figured, but Sicarius? After all the times he’d thought about betraying Sicarius for that bounty, it’d be pitiful if confiding in his mother was what earned Akstyr a throwing knife in the back.
But he ought to be safe for the moment. He’d memorized the schematics and dissected one of the tiny metal balls from the shaman’s box. If the emperor was truly implanted with one of the spheres, the team would need him to help with the operation. That meant Sicarius couldn’t kill him. Akstyr grimaced. Until five seconds after the surgery.
Light winked somewhere outside, and Akstyr lurched to his feet. He was supposed to be keeping watch, not simply sitting around. He and Books had followed the black craft out of the mountains at a distance, though they couldn’t have kept up if they’d tried. For all of its size, that thing skimmed through the air effortlessly. From miles back, they’d watched it shoot narrow white beams into the top of the cliff, caving in the tunnel. The craft had loitered, its red searchlight probing the rubble, for a long time before drifting south along the railway. Books had waited longer than Akstyr thought they should before flying close to the destroyed train tunnel. Once there, they’d shouted for survivors and tried to pull rubble away but had had no luck. Books had been in the process of calculating how to use blasting sticks on the blocked entrance when the explosion had come from within.
Akstyr scoured the horizon, searching for the light he’d seen out of the corner of his eye. Dawn might only be an hour or two off, but it was still dark outside. It didn’t take him long to find the light. A small, blue circle pulsed on and off on top of the cliff. Something the black craft had left behind on accident? Or on purpose?
Akstyr closed his eyes and stretched his mind in that direction, but once again he did not sense anything otherworldly about the device. “Can’t be good, whatever it is.”
He jumped to his feet, and, reminded of his wound with a stabbing pang, hobbled toward the door, intending to warn the others. He almost crashed into Sicarius, who was striding into the navigation cabin ahead of Books and Amaranthe.
“Uh,” Akstyr said eloquently.
The icy stare Sicarius leveled at him made Akstyr stumble back, wound forgotten. The man was always icy, but there was an extra edge to his glare today. Had Books already spoken to him?
When Amaranthe came in, she patted Akstyr on the shoulder. “Keeping us afloat?” She waved at the controls, then noticed him favoring his leg, and added, “And keeping yourself alive?”
“Yes.” Until Sicarius gets me alone, Akstyr thought. He pointed toward the glowing object on the cliff. “I was going to tell you about-”
“I see it,” Sicarius said.
Amaranthe leaned on the console and peered outside. “What is it?”
“I could only guess.”
“That’s permitted, you know,” Amaranthe said. “Especially considering there’s more knowledge behind your guesses than the rest of us have put together.”
Books huffed at that comment. Akstyr caught his eye, pointed to Sicarius’s back, and signed, Did you tell them? About… He tapped his chest.
Books opened his mouth, but Akstyr stopped him with a shushing wave, then wriggled his fingers.
Not yet, but I told Amaranthe there was something she’d have to know. I can’t keep this a secret. It threatens the group.
I know, Akstyr signed, but please don’t tell her when he’s around.
He pointed to Sicarius only to realize Sicarius’s head had rotated in his direction. Akstyr gulped. If he’d seen all of the signs…
“My guess,” Sicarius said, “would be that it’s a monitoring device.”
Amaranthe tore her gaze from the blinking light. “Monitoring… us? The cave-in? To see if we make it out?”
“Yes.”
“And would it then be able to send that information back to the enemy craft?”
“Yes,” Sicarius said.
Books raised a finger. “How do you know what it’s capable of? Akstyr says it’s not magical, and even if it is-”
“We’ll do explanations later,” Amaranthe said.
“We need to get this craft moving,” Sicarius said. “The emperor’s destination is Sunders City.”
“Can’t you even tell me if-”
“Now.” Some of Sicarius’s icy glare hit Books.
Books quailed under it and slunk to the controls. “Very well.”
Sicarius and Amaranthe headed back down the corridor, and Akstyr overheard her asking, “Our craft won’t be anywhere near as fast as theirs, will it?” and Sicarius responding, “No,” before their conversation was too far away to hear.
“So good to have him back,” Books muttered.
“I’ll say.”
“Wait,” came Amaranthe’s voice from the corridor.
Akstyr winced in anticipation of more trouble when she hustled back in, dragging Sicarius behind her.
“Were you able to get through to the shaman’s workshop?” Amaranthe asked. “Did you find anything?”
“Yes,” Akstyr blurted, relieved to have a chance to remind that he could help with the implant. He hustled down the corridor to the cabin he’d claimed for himself, grabbed the box and the schematic, and rejoined the others. “These are the implants. I’ve studied them. With some help, I think I could remove one.”
“Oh!” Amaranthe startled Akstyr by grabbing him by the shoulders and kissing him on the cheek. “That’s more than I dared hope for. Wonderful.”
Books cleared his throat. “ I helped retrieve them.”
