Elven Fury by Lindsay Buroker

Author:Lindsay Buroker [Buroker, Lindsay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-10-26T16:00:00+00:00

9

A crowd milled in the street outside the walled compound of what had been the elven embassy. Zenia, riding side by side with Rhi, arrived before the king’s carriage and his entourage, and it was clear from several blocks away that the tower wasn’t just damaged. It was completely gone. Whatever remained wasn’t visible above the wall.

The wrought-iron gate was closed when they arrived, as if nobody had been inside the compound since Zenia and Jev left. But the devastation inside promised otherwise.

Zenia and Rhi struggled to guide their horses to the gate due to the density of the crowd.

“Step aside,” Zenia called to the people gawking while they elbowed each other and whispered with speculation. “We are agents on the king’s business.”

She knew the crowd would disperse instantly when Targyon’s carriage and platoon of bodyguards came into sight, but she wanted to get a look before he arrived. More specifically, before the princess arrived. She doubted Yesleva had ordered her own people’s tower destroyed, especially less than a day after she’d arrived, but Zenia wasn’t sure if she could count the elf as an ally or not. It continued to unnerve her that Targyon was so clearly smitten with her.

“My captain said step aside,” Rhi roared when nobody moved or did more than glance at their horses.

Rhi poked people in the backs with her bo to achieve compliance. People glowered but backed away, clearing a path.

“I knew there was a reason I hired you,” Zenia said.

“For my wit and my charm and my big stick, eh?”

“At least one of those things.”

The hint of a feeling came from Zenia’s dragon tear. Indignation? Had the gem wanted her to use it to clear the crowd?

Her old dragon tear wouldn’t have been able to manipulate numerous minds at once, but this one definitely had greater range. How great? Zenia wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. She was glad Rhi was able to do the job with her bo.

When they reached the gate, Zenia joined the crowd in gawking at the pile of rubble inside the courtyard. What had been a tower of more than ten stories was now a two-story rock heap. Chunks larger than horses had tumbled all the way to the courtyard wall. What kind of explosion could have so completely obliterated the structure? It seemed strange that they hadn’t heard anything up in the castle. It was a couple of miles away, but sound traveled up the hill, and she’d often heard foghorns from ships approaching the harbor as she prepared for bed.

“Did someone set explosives?” she wondered aloud. “Or is it possible magic did this?” After her experience with those two elf wardens, she had no problem imagining their shadow golem tearing down the walls.

“We could take a look, but someone left the gate locked.” Rhi pointed her bo at the padlock, which had been secured again since Zenia opened it the day before. “It wasn’t noticeably effective at securing the compound.”

“Someone from the watch might have

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.