It feels so good to type out Book 7!
Sorry about the delay on this one. I'm not kidding: First chapters are tough, yo'. But now that's out of the way and so we'll be back to normal Tues/Thurs chapters.
“I probably should have warned you not to look at the things in the sky,” Arthur said sheepishly.
Beside him, Rose, one of the leaders of Snow Moon Hive, gave him a dark look. She was sitting beside him in the dark rower’s boat, which would take her and Arthur through the portal to the king. Though she was a very self-possessed, even fairly collected woman, she currently had her hand over her heart.
“What kind of card is this?” she demanded, then didn’t wait for an answer, “Why would you put something like this in your heart?”
“It’s Brixaby’s, and… you would not believe how little it costs on mana,” Arthur said with a shrug.
The older woman shuddered, then looked behind herself to where the two Legendary dragons sat in the same rowboat, which had been stretched to ridiculous proportions to fit her blue dragon, who was every bit as large as a Legendary should be. Also Brixaby, who, while not as large as a typical Legendary, was no hatchling himself.
In front, the hooded dark rower paddled them along without seeming to be disturbed by the weight.
“It was interesting to be conducted in such a fashion,” said Rose’s dragon in an unusually cultured voice. “Usually, portal cards are instantaneous.” He snorted, and a patch of the water suddenly glittered with ice.
“Please do not alter any aspect of the river,” said the rower. “It is the fabric of reality itself.”
“My apologies.” The blue inclined his head.
Rose looked at Arthur with a question in her eyes. He could only shrug.
“In any case, it seems we only have a few minutes before we were thrown into the thick of things.” Rose visibly shook off the last remains of her earlier surprise and fright before she leaned toward Arthur. “Are you certain you wish to banish Desmond and Sybil from your hive?”
Arthur gave her a flat look. “They were colluding with Whitaker to overthrow me as leader. I’m not keeping them around.”
She puffed out a breath and leaned back. “I understand but be aware that this may bring more trouble to your hive’s doorstep.”
“How?”
“Not everybody is content to be a junior leader. And there is a certain amount of… resentment at seeing the youngest of us get their own hive. Now you will be the only one and may be seen as vulnerable.”
Arthur rolled his eyes. “Any one of them could have challenged Chester at any time and taken his place.” If someone had stepped up years ago, it would have saved a lot of pain and suffering.” He did not say that last bit aloud, but knew it showed in his expression.
“No, Arthur, they could not. I’d known Chester for decades and am surprised you came out unscathed. How many Legendary cards are you holding in your heart?” She shook her head and made a quick indicating gesture to show she did not actually expect him to answer her. “No, no, never mind. I’m not saying you are wrong with Chester or those two useless fool. I am telling you to watch your back.”
“I live in Blood Moon Hive,” he said with a small smile. “Hive of assassins, right? I’m always watching my back.”
She gave him a look like she was not sure if he was kidding or not, and truthfully… he wasn’t sure either. He’d heard the rumors and had had an assassination attempt on him once, though he wasn’t certain if that had come from his hive or not. If there was a secret cabal of assassins in Blood Moon, he had not yet been made aware of them.
Rose gave Arthur a long look, as if trying to decide something.
“You’re young,” she said. “And I hope that you will not take this as criticism, but I have been running a hive for a very long time. I know that this job is not easy, even with a capable partner at your side.”
Without meaning to, Arthur’s mind flashed to Cressida. I have help, he thought, though a selfish part of him wished she was a Legendary user, like him. There was nothing wrong with being a Rare, but he worried that following him might throw her in waters too deep for Rare cards to handle.
But she would never jump ranks—Not without Joy.
Misreading his sour expression, Rose again made a negating gesture with her hand. “I’m not talking about your dragon, though he does seem unusually powerful,” she said with a small tick of a smile. “It’s just that you have your fair share of work ahead of you. But… it may be that you have more energy than me. I’d like to help, in what little way I can.”
Then, to Arthur’s surprise, she rolled back her sleeve on her left arm. She had a card anchor mark there, as an elegantly drawn tattoo, the runes exaggerated and distinctly feminine. This was a higher-level mark meant for both decoration and utility. From it, Rose withdrew a card and held it between them.
“I am not gifting this to you. It’s merely a loan to help you out,” she warned. “I don’t care if it’s in your heart. I will get it back when I need it.”
He smiled. With his more flexible heart deck, that wouldn’t be a problem. “I understand. Let me see it.”
Foe’s Eye
Uncommon
Mind
Whenever a person of ill intent approaches the wielder of this card, or a trusted ally, that person will appear as if they are outlined in fog. The darker and more malevolent the fog, the worse the intent. This card does not use mana, however it is more effective if the card’s wielder is sensitive or cognizant to the emotions around them.
Arthur nodded, eyebrows rising. “I have someone in my retinue who would fit this card better than I would.” Even if he wasn’t already aware of Kenzie’s empathy cards, he could feel his own incompatibility with his Master of Cards. He could use it for himself, but not nearly as well as she could.
Rose shrugged. “As long as I get it back when I need it. It has saved my life a number of times.”
Arthur eyed her. “What do you want in return?”
“When I know, I’ll tell you,” she said with a smile.
At that moment, the boat bumped against the dock. They had arrived.
Arthur stood to extend a hand and help Rose disembark. As he did, he glanced over at the dark rower. “Has the portal’s location been adjusted, like last time?”
“No,” the rower rasped.
Arthur thought he caught a hint of smugness in the tone and wondered about it, but he set that question aside for later, as there was a kingdom-wide emergency he had to deal with.
He and Rose walked out of the portal, followed by their dragons. They arrived once again in a stark marble receiving room, and a guard wearing the King’s livery stood by to greet them. The man did not look surprised, only businesslike and officious. He waited until he was certain no one else was arriving through the portal before he addressed them.
“Rose of Snow Moon, Arthur of Blood Moon. You have been expected. Please follow me.”
The hallway was painfully clean, as always. Arthur glanced down at himself and realized that he was still wearing his chain mail and the basic leather gear that he used when fighting scourglings. Quickly, he blinked into his Personal Space and hunted around in his spare clothing. He didn’t have anything that was appropriate for meeting with royalty just laying around, but he could at least put on a clean pair of pants and a shirt that buttoned. Lastly, he splashed fresh water on his face and ran a comb through his hair.
The face in the mirror he had set up in a corner was gaunt and tired, the cheeks still flushed from high adrenaline. Arthur looked like he had been missing out on regular sleep, which was true, and had been running flat out from one emergency to another during every waking hour, which was also true.
Nothing he could do about any of that.
Rose gave him a quick double take when he emerged an eyeblink later, cleaner. “That’s a neat trick. You have a personal hygiene card?”
“Something like that,” he said. She was an ally, but he certainly was not going to reveal all the cards in his heart.
He noticed she was looking a little cleaner and more put together than she had been a few minutes ago. She might have a hygiene card herself, but it was likely slower acting, refreshing someone’s appearance on an ongoing basis.
The guard led them around perfectly neat, though empty, hallways and into what Arthur remembered as a royal receiving room. The double doors were opened by a pair of two other cards and Arthur stopped in surprise and shock.
He had been expecting Lung Bei. And of course, she was there as always with her ghostlike presence curled snakily around the room.
But what he had not been expecting was for King Elizar himself to be standing there among the other hive leaders, holding court. Hale and healthy, and unusually young looking. And, from the looks of it, listening intently to what Whitaker had to say.
As soon as they entered the room, Whitaker turned and sneered at Arthur.
“There is the traitor right now.”
Next chapter: Tuesday Feb 17th 9:00PM PST