Official Reckoning Read online

  Noral tilted her head but kept her civil appearance. Aliana was unreadable, even though I felt her a cold fury build. Briare had no intention of hiding her annoyance at being interrogated over something we’d done for the common good of the Empire. I placed a hand on her arm, trying to pull her attention away from the woman in front of her.

  She turned to face me and sighed, then came close and bumped her forehead affectionately against my shoulder before she turned back, visibly calmer.

  Faye studied the interaction closely, I noted, but made no comment on it.

  “If the tales of Abarat are to be believed, it is a wise assumption that he will gather his forces and attempt another strike at the heart of the Empire,” Faye said. Her voice took on a more official tone, and grabbed my attention. “He will have little interest in the scraps left behind by Cyron, especially considering that the after-battle reports led me to believe that he was fighting for the traitor against his will. As such, I would like any investigations into Abarat’s location to be sent through me.”

  “And what would you suggest we do, Madame Official?” Noral asked.

  “Numbers of undead and golems have been seen amassing at our western borders, near the mountains,” Faye said with a sigh. “If there was ever a place to try and find a master mage elf, that would be it. We will be heading to investigate, and I would like the th… four of you to join me. I can’t command it, but I think I won’t have to, will I?”

  I looked at the other three.

  “We’ll go,” Aliana said softly. “Not because you’re ordering. Because it’s what’s needed to defend the people of this Empire of yours.”

  “Perfect,” Faye said with a smirk. “I look forward to working with you. You are dismissed.”

  With those words, the aide rushed back into the room, pushing the desk back in. Whether we liked it or not, we weren’t wanted around here anymore. While she couldn’t order us around, I really didn’t feel like we would do much good just standing there.

  With that, we all turned away. A thought came to mind which made me wonder. If she’d dismissed us hunting down the monsters that Abarat would never want for his army in the first place, why was she now saying that we would be hunting Abarat by going after those same monsters?

  I didn’t say anything about it, but it was a question I stored away alongside the bad feeling I had about our good Madame Official.

  7

  The word came a few hours after our meeting with the Official, Faye. It wouldn’t be just the five of us. No, she was bringing a whole platoon of Lancers with us, most of the ones that she’d brought in. Taking such a large force out into the wilderness that was the western borders of the Empire meant collecting provisions, finding horses, assigning weapons, all sorts of things that apparently took more than a day to prepare.

  As such, while I hadn’t expected to leave right away, I was surprised to realize that it was going to take us a few days at least to be ready to move out.

  “I don’t like it,” I growled under my breath as we returned to our quarters with the sun starting to set. “There’s something about Faye that just…”

  “I know,” Braire said. “Well, not because I feel it myself, but because you were so uncomfortable in her presence.”

  “I wasn’t uncomfortable,” I said and shook my head. “It’s just… There’s something about her I can’t put my finger on. Something that just irks me every time I look at her. I can’t help it, and I’ve learned to trust that feeling around people. Something about my rogue mage-ness that—”

  “What?” Aliana asked, as she laid on the bed and grinned up at me. “Suddenly you have the power to read into others’ minds, see into their thoughts, and know what their intentions are?”

  “No, nothing like that,” I said, twisting my mouth. “I don’t know how to explain it. But there’s something off about her, that much I know.”

  “Well, I won’t argue on that particular topic,” Braire replied as she poured herself a drink from the nearest carafe. “The woman was an absolute bitch. Official or no, she needs to be knocked down a peg.”

  “Just remember to take her on without her armor,” Noral pointed out, then picked up the bronze pitcher, sniffed it, and made a face. “What the fuck are you drinking?”

  “Apple juice,” Braire responded with a shrug. “Not too many apples in the underworld, and it wasn’t a fruit that grew naturally in any of the places where we grew up. As we’ve spent time here, I’ve acquired a taste for it. The tart with the sweet makes for a delightful flavor.”

  “I just assumed that you would drink something that had a bit of alcohol in it,” Noral said, and moved over to the corner of the room that had mead in a small pitcher. She poured herself a goblet.

  “Why would I drink?” Braire asked. “We’ll ride out into battle at any moment, and we need to keep our wits about us.”

  “We won’t leave tonight, that much is certain,” Noral said, and sighed as she took her first sip of the mead. Just the thought of it made my teeth ache, but it was her drink of choice, and I wasn’t going to judge her for it. “We’ll leave tomorrow morning at the earliest, and probably not even then. After that, it will be at least a week’s march to the western border, longer depending on how we choose to travel.”

  Braire shrugged. “I like the apple juice. I could add something alcoholic to it if I were in the mood to drink. Not now, though.”

  I looked around. All this talk of drinks made me a little thirsty, and a little hungry as well. Most of the day had been spent rushing about the palace, trying to make sure that everything was going according to plan for the departure. At no point did I see Faye address the Lancers about the elves, but with most of them leaving the capital city anyway, we would have time to address that later.

  I looked around the room as I slowly paced. There was a lot on my mind. The dream hadn’t come again, and the details had started to slip away. The woman I’d met remained fixed, however. And now this feeling that I couldn’t explain about Faye. Something was off, in me as well as her, and the more I tried to dive into it, the fewer answers I had.

  I needed a drink now, I realized. I poured some red wine for myself and sipped.

  Aliana had moved away from the bed. She came to me and wrapped her arms around my waist, then pulled me back into her and lightly kissed my neck.

  “What troubles you, Grant?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered truthfully. “Everything and nothing at the same time.” That was about as good an explanation as I could manage.

  I felt her smile with her lips still pressed against the bare skin of my back, as her fingers lightly traced over the exposed muscles of my stomach, hips, and chest. Her thoughts wandered away from what troubled me.

  In all honesty, my thoughts started to wander as well.

  I turned to face her as she pressed her lips to my neck, my shoulders and down my chest.

  “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” the djinn asked with a coy grin on her face as her hands slid down my arms to my hands. She enjoyed the feel of the muscles in my arms under her fingertips before she drew my hands to her breasts and slipped them under her immodest clothes to toy with her nipples. She was aroused, I knew, and it was contagious, spreading over to me as her fingers slipped down my hips again. This time, she didn’t stop at my waist but gently cupped my cock as it grew and pushed against her fingers.

  She undid the strings of my trousers and slowly pushed them down as she leaned closer to me. Her breasts lay heavy against my bare skin as her kisses trailed from my chest over my stomach.

  “You want a taste, don’t you?” I asked as I watched her drop to her knees and remove her clothes with a light flick of her wrist.

  “You’re asking a question to which you already know the answer,” Aliana purred as she settled on her knees, her wings languidly stretching out behind her as she pushed her heavy breasts around my cock with her hands and gently worked them up and down, letting me w
atch as she fucked me with the heavy orbs. She rose and fell until even they weren’t enough to contain me, and then smiled as she leaned down to lavish the head peeking out from between her breasts with attention from her tongue.

  I softly groaned. My eyes closed as she continued to ply with me both her breasts and mouth, smoothly and easily drawing my mind away from our troubles for the moment as it focused on more immediate concerns.

  I ran my hands through her hair, stroking and caressing her locks, even toyed with her horns as they glowed a gentle, pulsing red before my left hand curled around the back of her head and flushed her with sensation from the burning runes. She knew what I wanted from her and didn’t need a connection to tell.

  It certainly helped, though.

  I let out a shuddering breath as my hand gripped the back of her head firmly and pulled her to take my cock into her mouth. Her hand dropped between her spread thighs and her fingers eagerly found her already-dripping pussy, stroking and toying with it as I pulled her to take me deeper into her mouth, pressing the head into her right cheek and then her left before I filled her mouth. I didn’t stop as I found the back of her throat and filled that, too, with a firm thrust of my hips.

  Her approving moan was muffled by the shaft between her lips. Her fingers thrust inside herself in time with my cock in her mouth. My hips drove forward as her head bobbed to take it in, every thrust met by her in kind. I breathed in, then let out a low, growled moan as I felt one of her hands come away from her sex to grip my ass and pull me closer, willing me to fuck her harder, take her harder.

  “My lord?” came a voice from the doorway of our rooms. “My ladies? I apologize if I interrupt… Oh!”

  My eyes shot open to see Cal standing in the doorway. A look of shock crossed his face as he quickly turned away, but didn’t exit the room, interestingly enough. Aliana tried to pull away from the cock filling her mouth and throat, but I held her in place, unwilling to give her up just yet as I looked at Cal, feeling annoyed and unwilling to deal with his distractions.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice throaty and thick. “Speak quickly.”

  “Apologies, my lord, if it were any other message, it… I would have waited until a more opportune hour,” Cal said, still looking away. My grip on Aliana slackened and she dropped back, gasping in a deep breath but not pulling too far away, leaning in to run her tongue over the shaft. I got the sensation from her that she didn’t much mind being taken with someone else watching.

  Even so, she pulled herself up to her feet, collected her clothes and put them on quickly, then licked and cleaned her lips.

  “What’s the message that you just couldn’t wait to interrupt us with?” Noral asked. She’d taken a seat to watch and looked just as annoyed by the interruption as I was.

  “The Official, my lord,” Cal squeaked softly, not daring to look back to see if everyone in the room was decent. As it turned out, everyone but me was, and I quickly reached down to pull my trousers back up to cover myself. “She sends word that the Lancers will be ready to leave the city come morning. Moreover, my lord, she wishes to share her last evening meal in the city with you before departing.”

  “With me?” I asked, and narrowed my eyes. I moved over to the bed where I’d left my white shirt and pulled it on.

  “With you alone, my lord,” Cal said, and finally summoned the courage to turn around and face us, looking relieved that everyone in the room was dressed and not engaged in something that he had absolutely nothing to do with. “She made that explicitly clear. She wishes for you to join her in her quarters for the evening meal. She said that I was to escort you there personally.”

  “Is that so?” Noral asked. “At any other time, I would say that this was the highest of honors.”

  “In that case,” I growled, shaking my head, “I accept her invitation.”

  I quickly found my boots then turned back to Aliana and gave her a heated, lustful kiss. “I’ll return to finish what we started.”

  “You’d fucking better,” she snarled through clenched teeth and smacked my ass as I made my way to the door.

  8

  There was more than a little heat inside me as I followed Cal through the palace, heading deeper into the chambers than I’d ever been before. Busy as we were with hunting Abarat down, there hadn’t been much time to explore. I’d told myself when we were offered apartments in the Imperial Palace that I would take some time to look through the place, find out more about the history of when it had been built and who lived in it, when all this was over.

  I wasn’t hopeful that such a time would come, now. With the Emperor returning from his meditation, I rather doubted that he would give us the kind of free rein needed for me to explore. Sure, if the three sisters acted as familiars for me again, I could use that to slip the rules that would bind me and might actually be allowed to explore the palace at my leisure.

  Of course, using my time and theirs, and our magic, for a task that was mostly born of curiosity on my part might be considered wasteful. Which was why it needed to be done when all this was over.

  If nothing else, it was something to look forward to.

  My eyes trailed across the palace grounds, and finally to Cal, who patiently guided me.

  “I hope you weren’t badly affected by our actions,” I said softly as we stepped out into the gardens. The cool evening air washed against my skin. “I honestly don’t know a thing about all these politics. It was never my world, and I was sort of dragged into it. Never really had time to consider what I was doing until I was right in the middle of it. What I mean is… Well, I tend to look to the other three for guidance when it comes to handling all this political horse shit, and they generally don’t think of the needs and lives of the people who are affected by their actions.”

  Cal turned to face me. There was a small smile on his face. “I think I know what you mean, sir. Either way, you needn’t worry. I wasn’t punished for the tardiness of our return, and I think most of the men and women involved knew and understood the reason for the ladies’ delay in returning, anyway.”

  I nodded. “If anyone gives you trouble for it, be sure to send them to me for answers. I don’t know much about the political intricacies of this place, but I’ve been told that I’m rather skilled in the art of intimidation.”

  Cal chuckled in response. “Well, I don’t think it will be necessary, but if it is, I might just take you up on that, sir.”

  Unable to think of any good response to that, all I could manage was a smile. I watched as a group of servants rushed in the same direction we were headed.

  “When you said that she wanted to share the evening meal with me, you weren’t joking, were you?” I asked, talking more to myself than Cal, but he turned to face me and shook his head.

  “Those were her words, sir,” the messenger said with a nod, and indicated with an outstretched arm for me to enter the room. “I only relay them to you.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “I think I can find my way from here. I assume you have other tasks that you’d rather attend to.”

  He didn’t answer, simply bowed and beat a quick retreat. He had been pleasant enough, but there seemed to be a good deal of fear surrounding Faye the Official. While Cal seemed a bit more comfortable around me and appreciated my offer to absorb any foul responses to our delay, he likely thought I wouldn’t be a match for the fury of an Official, and my protection in that case would amount to very little.

  Time would tell if he had a point or not. I was rather curious about it myself, although I really hoped that there wouldn’t be any innocent bystanders injured by my actions, or those of Aliana, Norel, and Braire.

  I studied the dining hall that Cal had led me to. There was a small round table in front of a happily crackling fire. It was decked out with plates, silverware, and even a couple of candles to improve the lighting as night fell. There was a second, rectangular table which held the bulk of the food that was
being served. A small feast had been prepared. Roast pheasant, sliced into thin strips, paired with what smelled like lamb stew, filled the room with a mouthwatering aroma. There were loaves of bread and cheeses presented as well, along with a tray of fruits and sweetmeats set out for us to serve ourselves.

  Standing in front of the fire was the tall woman we had met with earlier. She looked no less imposing than she had while seated in the Official’s chair. She’d changed her hairstyle—her long blonde locks were now in a loose bun atop her head. She still wore the Emperor’s colors, but her dress was a good deal more flattering than the outfit she’d been in before.

  Funny, I thought. She didn’t seem the type to array herself in evening dress when we first met.

  She turned around upon hearing my footsteps and smiled pleasantly as she walked over to greet me.

  “Grant, thank you so much for agreeing to break bread with me,” Faye said. Her eyes gleamed oddly in the firelight as she crossed the room. “I hope that I didn’t tear you away from anything overly important.”

  I considered telling her just what her invitation had interrupted. The thought of shocking her with as many explicit details as I could made me smirk, but Norel would frown on it. I sensed the three of them trying to obtain an impression of how I felt during my meeting with the Official. I steeled myself, not letting my nerves show.

  “Nothing that can’t be taken back up later,” I replied as honestly as I could. Norel would be proud of my diplomacy.

  Faye smiled in response and extended her hand to me. The term ‘kiss the ring’ was rather common, at least where I’d been raised, and describing bowing to authority. It was usually a metaphor, but in this case, I realized, I was supposed to very literally bow and kiss the ring on her finger.