“It couldn't have waited until morning?”
“I wanted it done as soon as possible, and he didn’t scare me.”
“No, but going into his room was inappropriate.”
“Why?” I turned to face him. “I apologized. He apologized. That was it. Then we heard the explosion and came out to investigate.”
“I see.” He glanced at my tail. “How is your tail?”
“Fine. I'm more embarrassed than hurt.”
“Don't be embarrassed. You were amazing.”
“Amazing?” I frowned. “For attacking someone?”
“For taking down a Ricarri. That's not easily done.”
“He turned out to be a nice man. I shouldn't have attacked him. I know better than to make assumptions about anything. It was unprofessional and rude. Ruder than him stepping on my tail.”
The King grunted.
I was about to say more when I saw a spot of black amid the gray stones. Jumping to my feet, I called out, “Stop!” Then I ran to the horns.
The pile was nearly gone. Most of the stones were in relatively good condition, considering, and roughly kept their original rectangular shapes. So, they were stacked neatly against a wall. But now that they were near the bottom of the pile, the stones were more damaged. A Ricarri man bent over for a large piece, but straightened as I ran to him. He looked over my shoulder at the King. I glanced back, seeing the King nod at the soldier. All the soldiers stepped back as I crouched to examine the scorch marks on the stones.
“All right, move this one.” I tapped a massive piece of jagged rock.
The Ricarri soldier lifted it out of my way, revealing more black swaths staining crumbled stones. But what I was interested in most were the chunks of metal scattered amid the rocks, some pieces embedded in the stone. I picked up a twisted piece of metal and sniffed it. The acrid stench of an alchemical explosive filled my nose.
Cursing under my breath, I gathered all the metal I could find, shoved it in my pockets, and stood up. I met the King's gaze and nodded.
“Someone caused this.” The King looked around the courtyard and then out of the hole where the gate had been. “Where is the Commander?”
“I'm here, Your Majesty.” Another Ricarri man hurried over.
“Commander Rongru, tell me how this happened.” The King pointed at the scorch marks. “How did someone manage to set an explosive device in the . . .” He looked around. “Where is this stone from?”
“From, Sire?”
“Where in the wall was it located?”
“It's impossible to say, Your Majesty.”
“No, it isn't.” I motioned at the smooth, rounded side of a broken stone. “That piece formed part of the arch over the gate. It was near the remnants of the device, which is why it's cracked, but there are no scorch marks, and the curved portions are still intact. The explosion would have turned the closest stones into pebbles, marked the next closest, and cracked the stones just beyond those. I'd have to determine the precise explosive used to determine its radius, but with this piece damaged, I don't need an exact radius. The blast origin was at least two feet away from this piece, perhaps more. Since two feet or more away from the sides of the gate arch would have beeninsidethe wall, someone must have planted the device near the top of the arch, probably on the wall walk.”
“No one could do that without the horns on duty noticing.” The Commander stiffened.
“Either a Raltven or an Argaiv could manage it. Raltven are good at scaling walls, and Argaivs could simply fly up the side.” The King glared at the ruin of the gate. “That is, if they set it outside the walls. If they placed it on the wall walk, only a Raltven could slip past the guards.”
“Or a traitor,” I said.
“No one got in, Sire! Not even a Raltven. And there are no traitors under my command.” The Commander looked from the stones to the hole in the wall. “Who could build such a weapon?”
“I could,” I said.
The King and his commander looked at me.
I took a piece of metal from my pocket. “This bears the distinct scent of brukrim, an explosive reagent. Whoever made this bomb was an alchemist.”
