Dragon Blessed Read online

  “How much did they take?” Tracen asked, looking over at him.

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “I can tell from the way you’re sitting there that it must’ve been a significant amount.”

  “It was a significant amount.”

  “How were you able to save up so much?”

  “My last job paid very well,” Fes said.

  Tracen grunted. “I imagine it did. You were gone long enough. I mean, you were out of the city for several months.”

  Several months, and during that time, he had nearly died.

  Had it been worth it? He had learned about the rebellion and learned more about fire mages. He had also discovered he might have some part of himself that was more than what he realized, some connection to the ancient dragons he had never known about. Despite that, despite the money he had earned, he still didn’t know whether it had been worth it.

  “I don’t intend to take a job like that again.”

  “Even if it pays as much as the last one did?”

  “Even if it pays the same,” Fes confirmed.

  “What would it take for you to take a job like that?”

  Fes looked around the shop. Tracen was a metalsmith, and he had skill at making weapons, primarily knives and swords that drew the attention of the empire. Most of his work was now commissioned by the empire and helped ensure the troops were well supplied, providing protection along the borders.

  “I don’t know. I doubt there are many jobs quite like that.”

  Maybe he should return to Azithan and see if he would pay anything for the dragon bone he’d taken from the fire mage. But, right now, Fes had ten gold, which meant he wasn’t poor. It was enough money to keep him solvent for a little while, but how much longer?

  “I’m sure others would pay you for your services,” Tracen said.

  “That’s just it. There probably are, but I’ve been trying to get away from that type of work.”

  “What would you do? You know I’ve offered—”

  “I know. That doesn’t change that I don’t get to do what I wanted.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Get away.”

  “And where would you go?”

  “Away.” Anywhere that he didn’t have to think about his family. His lost brother. Anything. And he had been close. Now… now he was farther than he’d been in a long time. “I came to the city after losing my parents. When I lost my brother, I should have left. This isn’t my home.”

  Fes didn’t know where his real home might be. The memories he had of his parents involved traveling, but he knew his real home was somewhere else. Maybe not even in the empire.

  Tracen glanced up from his work, meeting Fes’s gaze and then smiling. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

  Fes grunted. “Not now.” He slapped his hand on his thigh and got up, letting his gaze drift across the shop, taking in some of the items that Tracen had made. There were times he wished he had a skill like his friend. Instead, Fes’s skill involved searching for things of value and retrieving them. Apparently, things tied to the ancient and long-dead dragons.

  “Who did you have watching my home?”

  “Phildan, Jorand, and occasionally Peter.”

  “I think I need to speak with them.”

  “And when you find them, do you intend to be kind or should I send a warning to them?”

  “Why would they need to have a warning?”

  “I don’t know. Why would they need a warning?”

  Fes shook his head. “They aren’t in any danger of me doing anything.”

  “They’re probably over at the Sterling Chair.”

  Fes groaned.

  “So you know it?”

  “I know it. Not a place I necessarily enjoy going to.”

  “Maybe if you gambled more, you might.”

  Fes glanced over. “What would I gamble with?”

  “Well, you did just finish a job.”

  “And that’s all I have.”

  Tracen shrugged. He turned back to his work, and Fes left him. It wouldn’t do to keep interrupting him as he was busy and needed to finish with his tasks as he served the empire. Regardless of what Tracen said, Fes could never take a job like Tracen’s. He could never be a blacksmith. Fes didn’t have the patience for it.

  Making his way through the streets, he headed toward the tavern. The Sterling Chair was a tavern along the outskirts of the city and was the kind of place where soldiers and merchants and others with easy and disposable money went. It was the kind of place where gambling often led to violence.

  Fes knew better than to come to places like this. Not only did he find it too tempting to gamble, but when it got to where there was violence, he usually had no choice but to engage.

  He stepped inside the tavern. It was set up like a massive hall, and rows of tables filled the space. Twin hearths along the far wall provided warmth, and a steady din of noise hung over everything.

  Fes searched through the crowd, looking for signs of the men who’d been watching his home, but he saw no sign of them. He didn’t know them well, but he thought he’d recognize them if he came across them. There were other gamblers, and he resisted the temptation to sit down and play. If he did, he could end up with even less than he already had.

  When he made a circuit through the tavern, seeing no one, he began to head toward the front door. He caught sight of someone he had not expected to see.

  The flash of red hair was unmistakable as it headed toward the door.

  Carter.

  Fes started forward. The last time he had seen Carter had been in the north, far outside the city, though he wasn’t surprised that she had returned to Anuhr. Would she have another master—or had Reina not been her master? He’d never learned who she served, but it was certainly someone who paid well.

  Fes started toward the door after Carter.

  When he reached the street, he saw no sign of her. Hurrying along the street, he turned a corner and nearly ran into her.

  She grinned. “Fes. I thought I would find you in the Sterling Chair.”

  He stiffened, and she leaned toward him in the seductive way she had. He danced back, reaching for his daggers. “How did you know I would be at the Sterling Chair?”

  “People talk.”

  Fes looked around, concerned there might be others with her, but they were alone. “Where are your men?”

  “I told them that they wouldn’t be needed for this meeting. Do you feel otherwise?”

  “I have no intention of attacking you, Carter.” He had no hesitation in doing so, either. Had Carter wanted to fight, she could have. That meant that she was here for a different reason, and it was one Fes needed to understand.

  “Good. After what happened in the north…”

  “That was on you.”

  “We both had jobs. You know how it is.”

  Did she think he would let it pass at that?

  And could he let it drop? In Anuhr, Carter had enough contacts that he didn’t dare challenge her. If he did, it would be one he wouldn’t win. His connection might be to Azithan, but she had connections beyond the palace, and funds to back them up.

  “Why were you at the Sterling Chair?”

  “As I said, I heard you might be there. And I have a job for you.”

  “I don’t take jobs from you.”

  “You only take jobs from Azithan?”

  “Not only Azithan, and better than what you do.”

  She grinned. “I take my jobs from those with the ability to pay. You would be well advised to do something similar. You can’t keep crawling around on the city taking jobs from Horus again, can you?”

  It didn’t surprise him that she knew about his connection to Horus. She likely would have discovered everything she needed to know as he had once again been away from the city on the last job for Azithan.

  “You don’t know exactly how much Horus was willing to pay.”

  “I have a good idea.�
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  “What do you think you can get from me?” Fes asked.

  “There is a certain task that I need your assistance with.”

  “What kind of task? And why should I work with you?”

  “You probably shouldn’t. But…” Carter reached into her pocket and pulled something out. When she held it up, Fes’s heart skipped a beat. It was a totem—the kind that was made by Theole or Indra, and the kind that he had in his own pocket. He prized the ones that he had, having received them from Theole for helping protect his daughter. They were supposed to have returned home, traveling through the mountains where they would have crossed through the pass, and from there…

  Then again, their path would have taken them directly into Carter’s.

  “I see that I have your attention.”

  “You’ve already captured him once. What do you want with him?”

  “With him? No. I think you have it mistaken. We don’t have a him.”

  Fes stared at the totem. The detail on it was far more intricate than what he had seen from Theole. That meant Indra.

  She had her own magic, and though Fes wasn’t certain what it meant, he did know there was power to the young woman, and it was that kind of power that could be used and abused by those like Carter.

  “What do you want?”

  “That’s it? That is your only question?”

  “You have my attention.”

  “I can see that I have your attention. What I want is your commitment.”

  “How do I know you even have her?”

  Carter flashed a wide grin and motioned for Fes to follow. She started down the street, disappearing quickly. Fes had no choice but to follow, and when he did, they twisted toward the center of the city. It was under the emperor’s protection, and the homes here were much nicer. In the distance, the palace gleamed with soft moonlight, silver shafts catching off the white stone, lighting up the night. It was almost intentional as if trying to capture the moonlight, reflecting it out over the city.

  Carter stopped at a massive two-story house and climbed a set of stairs leading inside. Fes waited, thinking that Carter would try to break in, but she fished a key out of her pocket and entered.

  And he had thought he had wealth. For Carter to have a home like this—or, at least, access to home like this—it meant that she was even more wealthy than Fes had imagined.

  “It seems serving your master has paid well.”

  Carter shrugged. “There are benefits to such service.”

  She motioned him to follow her inside. On the other side of the door, he was greeted by a stark room. There were no decorations and no furniture. The room was pitch black, leaving Fes wishing for even a little light to help him see what exactly Carter might have here.

  She made her way through the room and reached a lantern that she lit. When it glowed softly, she guided Fes through the house and up a set of stairs. At the top of the stairs, she paused, reaching into her pocket for another key, and unlocked the door. She pushed open the door and stepped aside.

  Fes hesitated, looking at Carter for a moment before stepping up into the room. If this was a trap, Fes liked his chances of escaping. Carter was a skilled fighter, but Fes didn’t fear her, not the way that he once had.

  Inside the room were three men. Each of them was compact and armed with swords, but that wasn’t what caught his attention. It was the crossbows aimed at his chest.

  “Is this some sort of trap?” Fes asked.

  Carter shook her head. “Not a trap. And they’re not for you.”

  Fes looked around the room, and in a darkened corner, he saw her.

  Indra.

  She was huddled in the corner and looked so much smaller than he remembered. When he had last seen her, she had been on her way home, leaving the empire, heading toward freedom. And now she was trapped in the capital city, away from her father.

  “She’s just a child, Carter.”

  “I think that you and I both know that she is more than just a child.”

  Fes started to reach for his daggers, but the men with the crossbows changed his mind. “She’s just a child, Carter,” he repeated.

  Carter chuckled. “Do I have your attention?”

  “Yes. You have my attention.”

  “Good. She’s the assignment. You will need to escort her.”

  “Where?”

  “Why, to her home, of course.”

  Fes looked over at Carter, waiting for her to tell him that she had something else in mind, but she only met his gaze.

  “Why would you want me to escort her home?”

  “That is for me to know. But she has requested that you escort her and no one else.”

  Fes turned his attention back to Indra, studying her. Why would she be back in the city? She should have been home.

  “If you take this job, I will see that you are well compensated.”

  “How well compensated?” Fes asked carefully.

  “About the same as what you have recently lost.” Fes jerked his head around, and Carter flashed a smile. “The job in the north was mine, Fezarn. And you have my money. But if you take this, I will return it to you.”

  Fes breathed out heavily and turned his attention to Indra. “Let me talk with her.”

  Carter shrugged and joined the three men with the crossbows.

  Fes approached Indra slowly. A nervousness in the pit of his stomach warned him to be careful. “Indra?” He crouched down, getting to her level.

  She turned away from the wall, looking at him with her dark eyes. Her hair was cut shorter, and she was thinner than he last saw her. How long had it been? Several months. Long enough that she should have made it back to her homeland.

  “Fes?”

  “It’s me.”

  “Why has it taken them so long to get to you?”

  “I don’t understand, Indra. What are you doing here?”

  “My father. They grabbed us when we were heading through the pass.”

  “Who?” He glanced over at Carter. “You’d already been abducted by them once. I thought that we had you safe.”

  “We were. We are almost back into our lands. I could see my father already beginning to relax.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “I don’t know. We were almost there. And then…”

  “What happened?”

  He took a step toward Indra. She turned away from him, not meeting his gaze. “He’s gone, Fes.”

  “How? What happened to your father?”

  “They killed him.”

  “Who did?”

  She finally turned over to look at him, and her eyes were reddened. “The empire. The empire killed him.”

  Fes could only stare.

  Chapter Four

  Fes sat with his back against the wall, keeping an eye on the three men with the crossbows. They no longer had them aimed at Fes as they once did. He had thought they were trying to keep Indra in, but that wasn’t it at all. They were protecting her, though he still wasn’t certain why.

  The rest of the room was fairly unremarkable. There was a thick carpet, and two paintings hung on the wall, more decorations than were on the lower level of the home. A pallet in the corner was the only furniture, and Indra sat in the top corner, crouching against the wall.

  “Why would the empire have killed your father?” Fes asked again. He still wasn’t able to understand what had happened. When he had left Theole, he had been with the rebellion and reunited with Indra. The empire hadn’t been anywhere in sight, and even if they had come across them, the empire wouldn’t have killed him. That didn’t seem like the kind of thing they would do, but then again, what did Fes know?

  But if they believed Theole to be with the rebellion, maybe they would have.

  And Fes was the reason Theole had been with the rebellion. Could he have been the reason that Theole was dead?

  “I don’t know. They let us go, and we went off on our own. They even gave us a horse. We were making go
od time, and by the time we reached the mountain pass that would bring us back to our land, we were run down by a person with the empire.”

  “Are you certain?”

  Indra looked at him. Tears fell from her eyes. “I was there. I saw their clothing. I knew who was with them.”

  Fes couldn’t argue. Indra probably knew better than him, but Alison should have made certain that she was safe.

  “Who was it?”

  “I don’t know. Someone cold. Angry. I…” She turned away, sobs racking her again.

  Fes patted her shoulder, wishing there was more he could do to help. “And why do they want me to help you?” Fes looked over at Carter. The woman had been silent, and he had a hard time believing that she had some altruistic purpose behind summoning Fes here to get his help with Indra. Carter was after something, but he didn’t quite know what it was yet.

  “I told her you were the only person I would trust to bring me back home.”

  He had just left the city and then returned. And now he would be asked to take another journey?

  When he looked at Indra, Fes knew he didn’t have much choice. He had made a promise to Theole to protect her, and promises were not something Fes made lightly. Returning to her homeland was an even longer journey than the last one he had made, and it involved him venturing beyond the borders of the empire. But looking at her like this reminded him all too much of his brother sobbing after their parents had died.

  Fes patted Indra on the hand and nodded. “I’m going to help you.”

  She tried to smile, but couldn’t.

  He made his way over to Carter. “Tell me what this is really about.”

  “You don’t believe that this is really about returning her to her homeland?”

  “You abducted her father once. You tried to abduct her.”

  “Ah, Fes, you really can be clever sometimes.” He bristled at the backhanded compliment. Carter reached into her pocket, pulled out an item, and held out her hand. It was one of the totems. “This is what it is about.”

  “Their totems?”

  “These are more than totems. These are a sort of power that we don’t often see.”