Crown (The Manhunters Book 3) Read online

  When he was done, the building shuddered. Rayph grinned.

  “We have him,” he said.

  Cable nodded.

  They stepped out into the hallway and were met with guards and wizards.

  Cable rushed forward. Her blade was a vicious thing, angry and vengeful. She moved like a river, flowing over her enemies and drowning them in blood and pain. Rayph concentrated on the wizards. They tossed spells back and forth. The tower rumbled and men screamed. Within a few moments, it was all over and Rayph and Cable stepped carefully up the blood-covered stairs.

  When they reached the top of the tower, Rayph kicked in the door. A dart flew straight at him and he smacked it away with his sword.

  Radamuss sat in the chair behind the desk. He grinned as they walked in and smiled at them.

  “You have locked the building down. You have pulled off my magic-dampening spell, and you have fought me into a corner. Do you think this wise?”

  “I have you, Radamuss, you just don’t know it yet,” Rayph said.

  The rat king nodded. “I’m sure you do, Rayph. I’m sure you thought of everything. But did you really? You locked this building down. Every exit is slammed shut, every cell locked. You have closed me in, but did you think it through? The front door exploded when you entered. It was destroyed. How did you lock it after that?”

  Rayph shook his head.

  “You did bring me another snack, though. I’m going to enjoy her,” he said looking at Cable. He stood and she dropped into a crouch. “She doesn’t know, well she should. Your piddly weapons can’t hurt me, darling. My wounds close up instantly. I’m invincible. I regenerate. I can’t die. So I’m just going to taste you, dear one. Just going to take a little nibble.”

  Rayph jumped in the way. Radamuss grinned. “You then,” he said.

  Rayph touched Cable and her skin turned to steel. Rayph said his words and the same happened to him.

  “Your biting days are done, rat.”

  “But my last meal was so satisfying. Holy meat is the best, don’t you think? And I did love the mess she made. For a beginner, she did really good. That girl is going to make a mark in the world, isn’t she?”

  Rayph looked away, his mind showing him the image of Trisha stepping off the cliff.

  Radamuss laughed. He smiled and pointed at Rayph. “You killed her, didn’t you? First you damned her, then you killed her. You’re hard to work for, aren’t you?”

  Rayph brought his hands high, but Radamuss shook his head. “Nope,” he said. “Time to go. Things to do, you know.” Radamuss broke into pieces, exploding into a hundred rats at least and flowing out the door. Rayph rushed after him.

  He shot through the tower, watching as every rat ran in a carpet of fur and fangs. His body shuddered as he thought of the way they bit and the way Trisha had looked, blood-coated and wild in the alley. He watched that they didn’t break out in different directions, but they were staying together. Rayph knew that if one of them got away, Radamuss had escaped, and he prayed the rat was truly going back to his leader.

  Down halls and stairs the rats ran until they reached the foyer. Rayph stayed on the balcony as Radamuss took his form back at the shattered door. He grinned and waved at Rayph. “Such a temper,” he said. “Had you not blown this door to bits, you would have me.” Radamuss laughed and spun. He ran out into the streets and Rayph jumped after him. He got as far as the front door and watched Radamuss run. When the rat reached a section of the street covered in black paint, Rayph cast his spell.

  The portal opened flat to the ground and Radamuss dropped into the sewers. Rayph heard the beast scream out, then a slamming of steel and a lock rattled. Rayph touched his fetish.

  “You got him?” Rayph asked.

  “He is in the box. I’m headed to my workshop,” the trapper said.

  “Sisalyyon,” Rayph said. “Do we have Cosmo?”

  “I have him in my arms, Rayph. He’s safe.”

  Rayph grinned. He turned to Cable and smiled. “We will go after Ty in the morning. We all need rest and I need to secure this place while I have it.” Rayph turned to the door and cast his mending spell. The door reformed, strong and impenetrable again.

  The Smith

  Rayph sat in the office of the Crown, looking at its papers and a map of its floor plan, and shook his head in disgust.

  “I despise this place,” he said to Smear.

  “Wanna burn it to the ground?” Smear asked.

  “That is the best idea you have had for some time, but it is not a thing I can do. The Crown is a national construct. It is not my place to destroy it. That is Thomas’s call.”

  The door was thrown open and Smear’s dagger was in the air before Rayph saw the spy move.

  The man who walked in waved a hand in the direction of the blade and it melted, forming into a lump of steel. The leather of the handle unraveled and fell lifeless to the floor. The wood used to form the grip became raw wood, even grew bark, and it tumbled to the ground as well.

  Roth Callden stopped and bowed to them both. Rayph looked at the items on the ground and stared stupefied at the mage.

  “What was that?” Smear said. He slowly collected the materials of his dagger and set them on a table to stare at them.

  “In order to understand the construction of a weapon, I crafted a spell to undo the weapon and revert it back to its raw parts. Helped quite a bit,” Roth said.

  “When did you craft this spell?” Rayph asked.

  “About four years ago.”

  “When you were ten?” Smear asked.

  Roth cocked his head to the side as if trying to figure something out before nodding and smiling. “I guess I was.”

  “You can really do it, can’t you?” Rayph asked.

  “Do what?”

  “You can really free the brothers.”

  “I believe I can,” the young mage said. “I will need that dagger soon.”

  “You will have it when the time is right.” Rayph reached to stroke the handle of his weapon and felt a stab of grief at the thought of letting it go.

  “Right now, I need your help,” Roth said. “I need the Smith.”

  “Where is he?” Rayph said.

  “He is on a slaving block in Leeth. He will be sold tomorrow by the slaver Benta Konya for too much money to buy.”

  “You want me to break him out?” Rayph asked. His disdain for slavery was monumental. He needed only a reason and he would attack it with everything he had.

  “A more delicate hand is needed, I fear,” Roth said. “Will you come with me? I need an introduction.”

  Rayph thought of Dran, and decided he couldn’t help her yet if she had been taken. He turned to his greatest weapon. “Smear, I need you to go find Dran. She has been gone for too long and we need to make that our focus.”

  “If they have her, they could be listening to what we say,” Smear said.

  “I don’t think so. The only people that can use these fetishes are the ones I give them to. Even if Brody has one, he can’t use it. They can make her listen, but they can’t make her tell them what we say,” Rayph said. “Their only real threat is Radamuss and his bite, but we have taken that away from them. She can hold out for a while if they ask her hard, but we can’t stop that. Go find her and bring back information on where she is. Don’t try to spring her yourself. They will be expecting you.”

  “Sure, boss,” Smear said.

  “How is Trysliana?”

  “She is weak. She can’t raise her left arm. She is walking but with a bad limp.”

  “We can’t take long in doing this,” Rayph said, turning to Roth. “I need to be here.”

  “If there was any other way, I would not ask, I just need an introduction,” Roth said.

  They stood before Thomas. Roth possessed the ability to create a portal to any place at any time. He did not need to know the area, just have a good notion of where it was and be willing to just walk through. Rayph stepped out of the portal and droppe
d to a knee. Roth did as well.

  Guards rushed in close and placed blades at their throats, then Thomas waved them away. “That was unexpected,” Thomas said. “What takes you out of Dragonsbane, and whom have you brought along, my great teacher?”

  Rayph stood and Roth followed suit. “I would like to introduce one of my allies, Roth Callden of the Callden Collective.”

  Thomas nodded. He stood and walked down from the throne dais and stopped before the wizard. “Roth Callden. You are Tienne nobility?”

  “I am indeed. I am also a wizard of note with a group of powerful friends. We have vowed to serve the worlds we protect, and this is one of them.”

  “You came to me for a reason, I would imagine. I will not take up more of your time than is needed,” Thomas said. “Walk with me.” They exited the throne room and walked down the hall. Guards made to follow them, but Thomas waved them off. “I am with Rayph Ivoryfist. I need no further protection.

  “Why come to me?” Thomas said.

  “We need a slave,” Roth said.

  “He is the man that forged Fannalis and his brothers. He is old beyond age and has been wandering the world, making weapons for great and powerful people for a long time. I have met him a few times,” Rayph said. “Without his other sons, I have been unable to utilize him, but I promised him one day I would find him and undo what he did out of need.”

  “He is a slave now?” Thomas asked.

  “Roth says he is.”

  “How can I help?”

  “He is being sold in Kolin tomorrow,” Roth said. “The queen of Leeth will be at the sale. She is not supposed to be bidding on him, but she is the only person that could nullify the sale.”

  “I will not allow an attack on that nation. Leeth is a slaving nation, but it is not an enemy,” Thomas said. “No matter how much I want to go there and change that place, I can’t commit my people to a war for the freedom of another nation.”

  “We are not asking for a war,” Rayph said. “We are not even asking for you to let us sneak in and take him. We are simply asking for diplomacy. Go talk to her. Tell her the Smith is needed by us, and ask her out of courtesy to grant you him as a gift.”

  “Will she do that?” Thomas asked.

  “She is the only one that could,” Roth said.

  “What if she asks for a favor in return?” Thomas asked.

  “Weigh the favor. If it is something you think you can do, then do it. If you think the cost is too high, let us know and we will find another way,” Rayph said.

  “I will do it,” Thomas said. “For Fannalis, I will do this thing. But I will not go to war.”

  “Good, I don’t want you to,” Rayph said. He looked at Thomas’s hand where the thorns of Fannalis had scarred the boy. Rayph remembered the day the boy had met the wizard trapped within the dagger. That day Thomas vowed to help free him if he could. Thomas was a man of his word. Rayph loved him even more for it.

  “Roth, do you need any more from me? Dragonsbane calls.”

  “No, Ivoryfist. I think you’ve done everything you can here,” Roth said.

  “Roth and I can take care of this without you,” Thomas said. “You go back to your war. You have a few more days to end it.”

  Queens

  “You are part of a wizarding coven?” King Nardoc asked Roth as they walked into a great sitting room. Thomas turned to a servant and whispered to him. The man nodded and hurried away.

  “I am a member of a group called the Callden Collective.”

  “The Collective? Is that right?”

  “We call ourselves a collective, yes.”

  “It was named after you. Are you its master?” the king asked.

  “It was named after the city we live in. I am simply the nobleman of the city, not the master of the group,” Roth said.

  “Does this Collective have any women?” Thomas walked to a table set in the corner of the room and poured a drink from a decanter. He handed the drink to Roth and poured one for himself.

  “Our group does have a woman in its numbers. She is mighty and—”

  “Can we bring her with us?” the king asked.

  Roth stared before nodding. “We can, I suppose, if she is not too busy. I am supposed to be traveling with a member at all times, now that you mention it. I will ask her. Is there any reason you might ask me to bring her specifically?”

  “We will need her to keep things...” Thomas took a drink and Roth did, too. “Calm.”

  Roth touched his circlet and spoke Quill’s name. Suddenly she was in his head with him.

  “Roth, are you in danger?” she asked.

  “Not as of yet. I am talking to King Thomas Nardoc about a trip we are about to take, and he mentioned you might want to join us.”

  “Thomas Nardoc?” she asked. “As in the Thomas Nardoc, King of Lorinth?”

  “The same.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Roth smiled at Thomas. “She will be here very shortly. Please do not let her sudden appearance spook your men.”

  The air ripped open and Quill stepped in. Her white robes billowed around her differently and Roth realized she was not wearing her linen robe, but silk. Quill had donned fancy robes.

  She stepped into the room and dropped to her knee. She lowered her head, her hands trembling. Roth had seen Quill talk down great kings, had seen her scold The Rider. She had faced royalty and greatness many times, but Roth had never seen her nervous before.

  Thomas smiled. “Please rise.”

  Quill stood and her smile was immense. She seemed almost giddy.

  “I am Thomas Nardoc, King of Lorinth,” he said, extending his hand.

  “Yes, you are,” she said. “Thomas Nardoc, intended of Shalimarie. Thomas Nardoc, the man who struck peace between the Lathians and the Nation of Konith. You are the man who commands the Manhunters, the man who outlawed forced marriages. You passed a law that says no father can marry his daughter off for political means, that both mothers must bless the wedding before it can be arranged. You struck down outdated laws of heredity and made it binding for a woman to inherit title and lands. You are King Nardoc, twelve years old and already a legend. I am a big admirer of yours. Please consider me at your service.”

  Thomas embraced her and she froze. He pulled back and smiled. “We must find time to talk of your Collective and its members. I am very excited to form an alliance with you if that is possible,” he said.

  “Possible indeed. It would be an honor to strike an alliance with a man like you,” Quill replied.

  At that, two of the most beautiful women Roth had ever seen walked into the room. One was a raven-haired girl of young age. She might have been Roth’s age, but most likely she was younger. She had tan skin, lightly freckled, and wore a white dress that accented her budding form. Roth thought his heart was going to fly away when he saw her. He heard Thomas introduce her as Shalimarie, and he fought back the stare by looking at the other woman.

  This was a woman of maybe forty. She was the perfect picture of lovely, with immaculate dress and hair. She had been carefully put together, precisely worked to form the image of grace. She wore the king’s nose, but other than that, her face was like none Roth had ever seen. She was talking to him and Roth bowed his head, looking at his feet, embarrassed.

  “Forgive me, I missed what you were saying,” Roth said.

  “I was saying I have known your family for all of my life,” she said. “My father was in talks to wed me to your house when I was younger. I call the Callden family friend, if you will allow it.”

  “I am Roth. I am honored to meet you and humbled that my house would have the misfortune of missing such a fine pairing. Can I ask who of my kin you were set to marry?”

  “Father was in talks for me to marry Bradley Callden, but it was his brooding younger brother Ruther I had my heart set on.”

  “Ruther is my father,” Roth said. “Was my father. I carry his sword.” Roth’s hand flinched toward the weapon,
but Quill took his hand in hers, stopping him.

  “Yes, I remember that sword. Ruther was a master with it, even at his young age.” She smiled. “This is fun, I might have been your mother if for a different set of happenstances.”

  Roth nodded. “That would have been fine indeed.”

  “Mother,” Thomas said to her. “We are going on a trip. All of us. We need to visit Leeth and speak with her fine queen.”

  The queen mother paled. “That will be—”

  “Lively,” Thomas said. “She has the power to be a great boon to Fannalis, and so I must ask of her a very important favor.”

  The queen mother looked at Thomas before slowly nodding. She looked at Shalimarie and took the young girl’s hand. “How will we get there? Do I need to pack for an extended time?”

  “You do not,” Thomas said. “We have portal mages with us. This trip will hopefully be a short one. Our host will not want it to go on for any longer than necessary.”

  Thomas brought his mother, his Shalimarie, Quill, Roth, and a herald through Quill’s portal. She opened it in front of a lavish bar and they entered briskly. The herald was sent to the castle and the rest of them sat to a fine meal. Quill asked if it might be a bit rude to eat before meeting with the king and queen. Said the royal family might want to share a meal with them.

  The hush that ran through the building when Quill spoke the word ‘king’ brought fear crawling up Roth’s spine. Thomas looked about the room before turning to Quill with perfect composure and shaking his head. “I will not be welcome at her table, and if I were to find myself there, I would never eat what she might serve. Please know this, Roth Callden, we—you and I—are only going to survive this because of the company we keep.”

  Roth did not know what that meant, but the very words nearly sent him into a panic. They sat in the pub until the hour was late before the sound of horses and a carriage stopped outside. Thomas stood. He wiped his mouth with his napkin and took Shalimarie’s hand. He kissed it one time before stepping behind her and bowing his head. Thomas grabbed Roth and pulled him behind Quill.