Next, he went to CrescentBay. Zuhl had his seven enormous ships docked in his port and was busy finishing construction of his fleet. Ice floes were already blocking passage into or out of the port, so Alexander breathed a sigh of relief. Zuhl would be unable to move troops until the spring thaw. At least he had time.
He opened his blind eyes and looked to Jack with a smile.
“Abigail is well. She’s marching toward FellendenCity, and the shipyard is destroyed.”
“Thank you, Alexander,” Jack said. “I’ve been worried about her.”
Alexander stopped, frowning in puzzlement as the sensation came over him again.
“Bragador and Anja are coming,” he said.
Jack looked at him quizzically, then at the door. Several moments later, Bragador entered, trailing Anja behind her.
“Hello Alexander, I’m glad you’re awake,” Bragador said.
“Please, come in,” he said, motioning to a chair.
“Thank you,” she said, drawing the chair closer to his bed. Anja put her chin on the foot of his bed, looking at him with her big, golden, catlike eyes. “As I understand it, your wife has left. Had we known of your ship, we could have stopped her.”
“I know, but it’s probably best you didn’t,” Alexander said. “She’s succumbing to Phane’s magic.” He stopped, swallowing the lump in his throat.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Bragador said. “We tried to find the pirates who stole the keystone, but they slipped past us in the night, no doubt with the aid of magic. It seems that Phane will have his prize.”
“That leaves only one keystone,” Alexander said, “and I think I know who has it.”
“Perhaps we could be of some assistance in that regard.”
“I thought you didn’t want to get involved,” he said.
“We don’t,” Bragador said, “but it may be necessary. If what you say about this Nether Gate is true, then it cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. And the fact that Phane sent his agents to steal from us is incentive enough to work against him.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“If you’ll tell me where the final keystone is, I will send a dragon to retrieve it.”
“As I said, I think I know where it is, but I can’t be sure,” Alexander said. “I believe the Princess of Fellenden is attempting to take it to Ithilian. She’s not the enemy, but the man she’s traveling with may be. My magic tells me he’s evil, but I don’t think Lacy is aware of his true purpose.”
“Where can we find them?”
“They were in the south of Fellenden when last I looked,” Alexander said, “but they could be anywhere by now. I’ll have to look again.”
“I’ll wait,” Bragador said. “We’re anxious to rectify the situation.”
Alexander closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It took several minutes before he was free of his body again. He thought of the young woman with strawberry-blond hair and his awareness coalesced in the hold of a ship. She was sitting on a pallet in the brig with a thin, raggedy-looking blanket wrapped around her and looking miserable. Alarm coursed through Alexander as he took in the scene. She was a prisoner and she was wounded.
He looked to the next cell over and saw the man she’d been traveling with … the man without a conscience. A frantic search of the room revealed that the little black box was stored in the footlocker against the wall, along with the rest of their belongings.
Puzzled, Alexander began to systematically search the ship. His alarm grew when he saw the banner of Zuhl flying on the mainmast. The men manning the ship were all big, brutish soldiers, wearing furs and carrying crude, but effective-looking weapons. Then he saw something he didn’t expect, something that nearly made him lose his focus-a wraithkin. He would recognize the colors of Phane’s created agents anywhere, man mixed with darkness.
But why would Zuhl have a wraithkin aboard?
It made no sense.
He searched more carefully, scrutinizing the men, one by one. When he saw the Regency crest tattooed on the arm of one of the men, his puzzlement grew. Phane and Zuhl wouldn’t be in league with each other. Zuhl would never agree to it and Phane would double-cross Zuhl the moment the opportunity presented itself.
As he was floating there, trying to solve the mystery, a sailor walked straight up to him, as if he could see him, and smiled.
“Hello, Alexander,” he said, his voice not quite human, his colors altogether inhuman, “so nice of you to visit.”
“Rankosi?”
The sailor’s smile broadened.
“The keystone is nearly in my grasp,” Rankosi said, “and there’s nothing you can do about it. All I have to do is wait for Phane’s ruse to play out,” he said, motioning to the rest of the crew, “and I’ll have my prize. What’s that? Oh, I almost forgot … you can’t speak.”
Rankosi walked away laughing.
Chapter 11
Alexander rose into the sky until he could see the ship. It was sailing in a circle in the ocean between Ithilian, Fellenden, and Tyr. He returned to his body, confused and disturbed.
“I can say for certain that she’s on a ship in the open ocean due west of here,” Alexander said. “The rest is less clear.”
“How so?” Jack asked.
“The ship is manned by Regency soldiers pretending to be Zuhl’s barbarians,” Alexander said. “Lacy is in the brig. There’s a wraithkin onboard. And the shade is there as well.”
“The shade is on that ship, with the princess and the keystone?” Bragador asked, slightly alarmed.
Alexander nodded, frowning.
“Why hasn’t he taken the keystone?” Jack asked.
“That’s a very good question,” Alexander said. “Maybe it has something to do with the box. Mage Jalal said he couldn’t see the keystone, even though he was able to locate the other two. Maybe the box won’t open for the shade.”
“Mage Gamaliel might know more,” Jack said.
“Probably,” Alexander said. “I’ll see if I can send him a message.”
“For now, its location is sufficient,” Bragador said. “I’ll dispatch Aedan to retrieve Princess Lacy and the keystone at once.”
“Who’s Aedan?” Alexander asked.
“He’s the dark green dragon that met you when you first arrived,” Bragador said. “He’s well suited to the task.”
“Lacy is innocent in all of this,” Alexander said. “Please don’t harm her.”
“Of course,” Bragador said, getting up to leave.
Anja looked at her, then back at Alexander before curling up at the foot of his bed and closing her eyes.
Bragador stopped at the door, frowning slightly at her daughter before she left.
Alexander stared at the ceiling while the frustration of his predicament built in his gut. The world was fighting a war that he was supposed to be leading and he was helpless to act. He’d failed to retrieve the keystone … for the second time. And Isabel had left him. The last remaining shade was aboard the ship with the third and final keystone, his last chance to quickly end the threat of the Nether Gate, and he still didn’t understand the game Phane was playing.
Why send soldiers pretending to serve Zuhl to capture Lacy when he could have just as easily brought her to Karth in chains? Alexander had too many questions and too few answers.
Then there was Siduri. He didn’t know what to make of him, didn’t know if he should believe him … and yet he did. As fantastical as his story was, Alexander believed every word of it, and that scared him even more. He wanted to talk to Jack about the first adept but that would only give rise to questions within the inquisitive mind of his friend, questions that he couldn’t answer.
He needed counsel, so he decided to turn to the only people he could trust to remain absolutely silent about his experience-the sovereigns.
“I’ll be a while,” Alexander said, as he touched the Sovereign Stone.