Syla lamented that shehadenemies. Never as a healer would she have considered any Kingdom subjects to be foes. She’d saved the lives ofcountless soldiers during her years at the temple. Why couldn’t their senior officers shift their allegiance to her without a fight?
“Wreylith will fly along with us and perch on the wheelhouse.” Syla hadn’t checked with the red dragon yet but believed she would do so, though Syla might have to arrange a large offering of delicious livestock as part of the deal.
Fel opened his mouth, likely with an objection on his lips, but he didn’t utter it. “Thatmightdeter assassins, but I still don’t think you should risk yourself. Even if our own people don’t strike against you, your plan is to engage with the stormers and their winged allies. And they have many more dragons than you do.” He waved toward the sky where the yellow and blue dragons had tried to get her.
“I know.” Syla wished she could reach out to the Freeborn Faction for help.Theyhad dragons. But, even though she’d spoken recently to Chieftess Atilya, and the woman had promised assistance, she hadn’t stuck around, and Syla didn’t know how to get in contact with her. “Nonetheless, we have to take back Harvest Island, and I don’t know where the shielder components are. Maybe if we capture one of the high-ranking dragon riders, we can question him or her for that information.” She couldn’t imagine capturing Captain Lesva or successfully getting her to share intelligence even if she did, but there had to be less powerful individuals who knew where the components were. After all, not all riders were bound to—and received magic from—their dragon allies. “This is the logical way to achieve that.” She waved to the weapons platform again.
“Wait until your aunt finds someone else who can operate it,” Fel said.
“I would be open to handing the duty to someone else. It’s draining, and I agree that I’d be vulnerable to attack while using it.”
“Yes. Vorik knocked you off there, and you barely reacted. You’re lucky he didn’t thrust a dagger into your heart.”
“You know he wouldn’t do that.”
Fel narrowed his eyes, looking like he wanted to object, but he’d been with her the numerous times that Vorik had risked his life on her behalf, and the two men had even fought together against gargoyles. “You’re lucky hislieutenantdidn’t thrust a dagger into your heart.”
“True. But he was busy stealing our components.” Syla sighed, lamenting for at least the twentieth time that she’d allowed herself to be distracted by her desire to use the weapons platform to end General Jhiton’s life. Hedeserveddeath after ordering his troops to slay almost everyone in the royal family—herfamily. Of course, she’d been thinking more about how he was Vorik’s superior officer and that if Jhiton disappeared, Vorik might…
What? Renounce his loyalty to his people and stand by her side? To spend his nights with her and help her stave off assassins, manipulative lords, and scheming relatives during the days?
If only. But he was as loyal to his people as she was to hers. It had been a foolish impulse, and she’d deserved defeat.
“I’m open to someone else operating it,” Syla said again, “but I also want to send it and the fleet to Harvest Island soon.Tomorrow, if the ships can be readied that quickly. As long as the stormers and their dragons have control there, more people will die and more property will be destroyed.” She remembered the fires that had burned throughout the countryside. “And we have to assume that they’re coming up with other schemes as we speak. They wantallof our islands, not one.”
“I’m aware,” Fel said grimly, then looked across the courtyard.
Carrying lanterns and armfuls of books, Aunt Tibby and Teyla were walking out of the keep and toward the weapons platform. In addition to what they held, Teyla had a pack slungover her shoulder. She set it down by one of the marble posts of the platform.
“Have you learned anything new?” Syla asked, joining them.
“Have you figured out how to have someoneelseoperate it so that Queen Syla may stay safely in the castle?” Fel asked.
“We’ve not learned that, exactly,” Tibby said, speaking to Syla and ignoring Fel, other than to slant him a brief peeved look, no doubt for his troglodyte ways.
Teyla, who was usually chatty when discussing her archaeological passions, didn’t answer at all, instead glancing at Fel and blushing. Syla, reminded that they’d had a sexual encounter in the canyon of randiness-inspiring cactuses, wondered if she should ask Fel to step away. She didn’t think either of them had wanted that joining, nor had they figured out how to interact with each other in the aftermath. Fel had a tendency to lookoverTeyla’s head instead of at her.
“We haven’t found anything about weapons platforms at all,” Tibby continued, not noticing the silent exchange, “but we did translate a text that talks about how a moon-marked individual might activate artifacts left behind by the gods. Once activated, those artifacts stay in that state for a time before falling into a dormancy that preserves their magical power. I’m surmising that if you activate the weapons platform, it might be easier for someone else to use afterward.”
“Would it stay active long enough for a trip to Harvest Island?” Syla asked.
“I don’t know. We would have to experiment.”
Teyla climbed onto the platform and peered at a couple of runes under the handprint mark on one of the marble posts. “You pressed your palms against the marks on these two columns to activate it before, didn’t you, Syla?”
“Activate it? It was more than that. Those magical projectiles shot out to hit that black dragon, and then they targeted theweapons built into the laboratory that were firing at all the other dragons, friend and foe.”
“Yeah, that was amazing.” Fingers tracing a rune, Teyla brightened, seeming to forget her discomfort.
Of his own accord, Fel had stepped away, remaining in the area so that he could protect Syla but not insisting on being a part of the conversation. Syla thought he gave good counsel, even if he was as protective as a nanny with a squadron of five-year-olds, and wouldn’t have minded including him, but she didn’t want her cousin to feel stifled. With time, they would hopefully work things out.
“You were directing those, right? Telepathically?” Teyla looked at her. “The projectiles struck with great precision.”
“I was, uhm,willingthem where to go, I guess you’d say. There wasn’t any means of targeting things other than that.”
“It was effective. What an amazing gift from the gods. I’m so glad we found it.”
“Me too.”
