As the last of the skeens died, hundreds more centurions rushed through the Gates of Life to start disassembling the fabricated mountain and removing the debris. It would take some time, Vespasian realized, for much of the mountain was littered with blood and the bodies and body parts of skeens, centurions, and wild animals. Vespasian took another sip of wine and sat back in his ivory throne. He would never forget that moment, for in the space of an instant his life suddenly changed.
First the dizziness took him. It did not come all at once, but gradually, like the onset of too much wine. Then the sweating started. As he tried to put down his goblet, he spilled a bit of wine. Soon his hand was trembling, and he knew.
Desperately hoping that he could hide his condition from everyone but Persephone, he immediately leaned over as best he could and touched her hand. When she turned to look at him, she knew.
“Can you walk on your own?” she urgently whispered.
The best response that Vespasian could muster was to nod. Standing, he and Persephone started making for the rear entryway that led to their private hallway. The empress knew that if she and Vespasian could reach their private litter waiting just outside the coliseum walls, she could draw the litter blinds and tend to him.
As they left the viewing box, everyone else stood and bowed. Luckily, most of them quickly returned their attention to the arena floor. After quietly telling a few of the clerics that she and Vespasian would return after the intermission, Persephone wasted no time following her husband out.
Entering the relative safety of the hallway, she turned to look back. No one was following. Breathing a short sigh of relief, she considered taking one of Vespasian’s arms to support him, then thought better of it. If their charade was to go undetected, the emperor must be seen entering his litter under his own power.
As they finally exited the coliseum, Vespasian was on his last legs. Summoning the craft, he used it as best he could to help himself. His head still held high, he entered the ornate blue and gold litter bearing his insignia. Persephone followed, then drew the curtains and called to the litter bearers and the accompanying squad of centurion bodyguards to proceed quickly back to the royal residence.
Vespasian lost consciousness in Persephone’s arms, leaving her to wonder again what was happening to her husband’s mind and why. They were safe for the moment, she realized, but when would Vespasian return to her, and what would he be like when he did? Despite her many questions, one thing was certain.
Vespasian’s day terrors had begun.
Robert Newcomb
Rise of the Blood Royal
CHAPTER XIX
Those new cradles had better hold up, adrian thought.
Standing on the bow deck of theTammerland, she looked westward to where the strange structures lay beside the royal palace. I hope the other Conclave mystics know what they’re doing, she worried. If the cradles collapse, we’ll suffer troubles that I can’t begin to imagine.
Turning to starboard, she watched the other three Black Ships dutifully soar through the sky alongside hers. Sometimes they drifted so near that she could identify the acolytes who piloted them. Satisfied, she again cast her gaze westward. Soon the new cradles came into view.
The cradle spars rose hauntingly up from the earth like the bare rib cages of some monstrous half-buried beasts. They were stunning things to see. Will they support the great weight of the ships? she wondered. And who among us would have guessed that the Minions could build such wondrous things? The warriors surely had some help from the craft, she guessed. It would have taken more than a smattering of magic to build them so quickly.
As the wind ruffled her hair and robe, Adrian grabbed hold of some nearby rigging to better steady herself. She felt drained, just as she knew her three acolyte pilots also did. Even so, the trip from the Cavalon Delta to Tammerland had been short and uneventful.
When Tyranny had finally sent word by Minion messenger that the cradles were ready, Adrian and the other sisters had been pleased. But when the messenger went on to inform them about the lost Night Witch group, their happiness vanished. The flight home became a somber rather than a happy affair.
Nearly an entire Night Witch patrol has been lost to those horrible creatures, Adrian thought as the wind swirled about her. Twenty-nine brave and talented female warriors-many stripped naked and impaled. I can imagine no more humiliating death for Minion females.
Two of the Night Witches had been mates of warriors serving aboard the Black Ships, and it had been all that Adrian could do to keep the grieving husbands from leaving then and there to seek vengeance. But in the end their Minion sense of duty prevailed and they stayed aboard. Adrian felt sure that Tristan would have ordered warrior parties to bring home the dead, and that thought had helped to calm the raging widowers.
Every fiber in my being tells me that we are in for another terrible fight, she thought as the massive cradles loomed nearer. May the Afterlife see us through it. Little did she know how much the other Conclave mystics had recently learned, or what added wonders she would soon witness.
Just then she saw a Minion litter approaching from the west. As it neared she could make out Tyranny and Tristan sitting in it. She watched Tristan shout out an order as he pointed toward theTammerland. Soon the litter landed safely on the flagship’s bow deck, not far from where Adrian stood. Tristan and Tyranny departed the litter and came to stand by her side. After exchanging greetings, for the next few moments the three allies simply watched Tammerland draw nearer. Finally Tristan turned to look at Adrian.
“Was your trip uneventful?” he asked.
Before answering, Adrian noticed that theJin’Sai seemed unusually anxious. And with good reason, she thought. Tyranny also seemed particularly vexed. Adrian watched the Conclave privateer place a cigarillo between her lips and light it. She smiled.
“So you still haven’t given up those things,” she chided Tyranny. “Given that the four cradles are about to be tested, I can understand why.”
Exhaling the smoke through her nose, Tyranny waved the match out and tossed it over the side. As if she didn’t know how to answer, she let go a disparaging snort and tousled her hair. “You don’t know the half of it,” she growled softly.
Tristan gave Adrian a stern look. “Yourtrip, First Sister?” he demanded.
Adrian pursed her lips. “I’m sorry, Jin’Sai, ” she said. “The voyage went well. There is nothing untoward to report save for my sorrow over the loss of the Night Witches. How is Sigrid?”
“She was injured but she will survive,” Tristan answered. As he let go a sigh, his expression softened. “I apologize for being short with you,” he answered. “What you have yet to learn is that seating the ships in their cradles will seem like child’s play compared to what the wizards want to do next. I understand their plan but I still can’t believe it. The Conclave and the entire Minion camp eagerly await us. This will be a far more eventful day than you first realized.”
“What do you mean?” Adrian asked.
As Tristan explained the Conclave’s plan to shrink the ships, Adrian’s breath caught in her lungs and her eyes grew as large as hen’s eggs. Finally she found her voice.
“They actually believe that such a thing can work?” she breathed.
Tristan nodded. “They claim that the theory is sound. But Tyranny and I have our doubts. It seems that she and I remain the two great skeptics.”
Adrian shook her head in disbelief. “You can add my name to that list,” she said. “What are your orders?”
Tristan looked out at the looming cradles. It was nearly midday and the shadows created by the great wooden ribs stretched long across the grassy field. He pointed toward them.
“As the fleet approaches the cradles, you will slow the ships to a crawl,” he said. “Then you and the other sisters will cause the ships to hover over the empty ground lying east of the four cradles. Wigg and Faegan will take a litter aloft while the others watch and wait on the ground. They will then lower the ships one at a time. Jessamay and Aeolus will stand ready to help with the craft should anything go awry. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Adrian nodded.
