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Fidelias hated flying

He sat on the litter, facing ahead, so that the wind sliced into his eyes and blew his hair straight back fro hie and relaxed as a newly fed lion Odiana had curled up on Aldrick&039;s lap to doze off hours before, and the water witch&039;s dark hair danced and played in the wind, veiling the beauty of her features Neither one evinced any signs of discoht, physical or otherwise

"I hate flying," Fidelias muttered He lifted a hand to shield his eyes froe of the litter A brillianta sea of stars, painted the landscape below in silver and black Wooded hills rolled slowly beneath them, a solid darkness, broken here and there by silver-kissed clearings and winding, half-luhts Aeris froh the air, one at each pole of the litter They wore harnesses that fitted theht of the three people inside, while the Knights&039; weight, in turn, was borne by the powerful furies at their co around the litter, and littered on the steel of their arms and arht The , and drifted back through the air toward the litter

"Sir?"

"Will it be er before we arrive in Aquitaine?"

"No, sir We should be there before the hour is out"

Fidelias blinked "That soon? I thought you said it would take us until dawn"

The Knight shook his head, eyes cooly scanning the sky ahead "Fortune favors us, sir The furies of the south are stirring and have brought us a strong wind to speed our way"

The forhly unusual at this season, is it not, Captain?"

The ht time and made it easier on everyone We haven&039;t even had to spell thethe litter Relax, sir I&039;ll have you in the High Lord&039;s palace before the witching hour" And with that, the soldier accelerated, ain

Fidelias frowned and resettled on his seat He glanced over the side of the litter again, and his stomach jumped and fluttered with an irrational sensation of fear He knew that he was as safe flying in the litter, escorted by Knights Aeris, as anywhere in the realm, but some part of his mind simply would not casually accept the vast distance between hiround below Here, he was far from wood and earth, far from the furies he could call to his service, and that disturbed hihts with him rather than his own And everyone other than himself had, in time, inevitably disappointed hiainst the wind, brooding Gaius had used hi Used him with a purpose, to be sure, and never carelessly He had been far too valuable a tool to waste through lect Indeed, at times, the precarious peace of the entire realed upon his ability to accomplish on behalf of the Crown

Fidelias felt his frown deepen Gaius was old-the old wolf that led the pack-and it was nothing more than a matter of time before he was hauled down to his death But despite that brutal, siainst the inevitable He could have turned over power to a noo, but instead, he had held on, wily and desperate, and delayed ainst one another in bids to see who could position his daughter or niece to ive birth to the new Princeps Gaius (with Fidelias&039;s aid, of course) had played the lords off of one another with h Lord of Alera spent years convinced that his candidate would surely be the one to wed Gaius His eventual choice had pleased no one, not even High Lord Parcius, Caria&039;s father, and even the h Lords had realized, in tiame had been well played, but in the end it had all been for nothing The House of Gaius had never been a fertile one, and even if he had proved physically capable of producing an Heir (which Fidelias remained unsure about), the First Lady had not, as yet, shown herself to be with child, and

palace rumor held that the First Lord seldom went to the same bed in which his wife slept

Gaius was old He was dying The star of his House was falling fro to the hem of his robes would fall with him

Like Aed at him, distracted him, burned in his belly It was a pity, to be sure, that A an intelligent decision Surely, if he&039;d had e her to see a more rational point of vie, instead, he would have to act directly against her, if she interfered again

And he did not want to do that

Fidelias shook his head The girl had been hisstudent, and he had let her come to mean too much to him He had destroyed some three score men and women in his years as a Cursor-some of them as powerful and idealistic as Amara He had never hesitated to perfor so trivial as personal attachment His love was for Alera

And that was really the issue at hand Fidelias served the realm, not the First Lord Gaius was doomed Delay of the transfer of power from Gaius&039;s hands to another could only cause strife and bloodshed ah Lords ould wish to assuht even co unheard of since the dawn of Aleran civilization, but which was rumored to have been commonplace in the distant past And should that happen, not only would the sons and daughters of Alera die point-lessly, fighting one another, but the division itself would be a signal fire to the enee Icemen, the bestial Marat, the ruthless Canim, and who knehat else in the unexplored wilds of the world Above all else, such weakening of the Realm&039;s unity had to be circu ruler, and swiftly Already, the High Lords quietly defied the First Lord&039;s authority It would only be a h Lords and their cities disbanded the realm into a cluster of city-nations And if that happened, it would be simple for the enemies ofwas left

Fidelias gri eon forced to re

that would et it done as swiftly and cleanly as possible

Which led to Aquitainus He was the est of the High Lords

Fidelias&039;s stomach roiled

He had betrayed Gaius, the Codex, the Cursors Betrayed his student, Aht become the most ruthless and bloodthirsty dictator Alera had ever known The furies knew, he had tried everything in his power to convince Gaius to take another path

Fidelias had been forced to this

It was necessary

It had to be done

His stohts of Aquitaine appeared on the horizon

"Wake up," he murmured "We&039;re almost there"

Aldrick opened his eyes and focused on Fidelias One hand absently caressed Odiana&039;s dark wealth of hair, and she let out a pleased little whi in theinto stillness again The swordsman watched Fidelias, his expression unreadable

"Deep thoughts, old man?" Aldrick asked

"So man pursed his lips "It depends"

"On what?"

"On what he is doing e interrupt him with bad news"

"Is it all that bad?"

Aldrick s He&039;s usually in a pretty good over has worn off"

"It was an idiot&039;s plan to begin with"

"Of course It was his He isn&039;t a planner of deception or subterfuge But I&039;ve never ly as he does Or anyone with his raer" Aldrick continued stroking the sleeping water witch&039;s hair, his expression thoughtful "Are you worried?"

"No," Fidelias lied "I&039;m still too valuable to him"

"Perhaps, for now" Aldrick said He s you any money"

Fidelias clucked his teeth "Direct action would have been preirl est favor of his life"

"I don&039;t doubt it," Aldrick murmured "But somehow, I&039;m almost certain that he won&039;t see it that way"

Fidelias studied the other man&039;s face, but the swordsrey eyes blinked lazily, and hisae him The Cursor frowned at the man, a mild expression, and turned to watch the city of Aquitaine cohts Firecrafters by the dozensthe city&039;s streets, and they burned with a gentle radiance through the , all soft yellows, deep amber, pale crimson, until the hill upon which the city was built seearbed in war color Upon the city&039;s walls, and just beyond theround far around into stark illuainst any would-be invaders

As the litter glided down, and closer, Fidelias could begin to hts Statues stood silent and lovely on the streets Houses, all elegant lines and high arches, contested with one another to prove the most skillfully crafted, the most beautifully lit Fountains sparkled and flickered, some of them illuminated from below, so that they burned violet or emerald in the darkness, pools of liquid flames Trees rose up around houses and lined the streets, thriving and beautiful life that had been crafted as carefully as every other part of the city They, too, wore veils of colored light, and their leaves, already changed into autumn&039;s brilliant hues, shone in toothe late hour rose to the descending litter Fidelias heard the trod of hooves upon paving stones soht club of soarden party as the litter passed over it, strings supporting a sweet alto flute that pursued a gentle, haunting melody The s breezes, along with the scent of late-bloo flowers and of rain on the wind

To call Aquitaine beautiful was to call the ocean wet, Fidelias thought Accurate enough, in its way, but wholly insufficient to the task

They were challenged by a barking voice before they had coh Lord&039;sthe hill upon which the city stood Fidelias watched as a man in the sable and scarlet surcoat of Aquitaine swept down froht sky above them, unseen-but the Cursor could feel the eddies of wind that their furies kicked up in keeping theuarding the High Lord&039;s ed a pass phrase with the captain of Fidelias&039;s own escort, though the exchange had the coroup swept on forward, down into the uards watched froht in the shapes of hunchbacked, gangly men The ht, steady tremors of power in the earth that led back to each statue on the wall and found hioyles:1" he breathed "All of thelanced at the statues and then to Fidelias and nodded once

"How long have they been kept here?"

"As long as anyone remembers," Aldrick ru" Fidelias pursed his lips in thought He did not agree with the principles of anyone who kept furies within such a restrictive confine-enerations But it certainly confirmed, had he been in any doubt, that Aquitaine&039;s raas more than sufficient for the task at hand

The Knights Aeris acco the litter departed toward a bunk-house for food and drink, while the captain of Aquitaine&039;s guard, a young man with an earnest expression and alert blue eyes, opened the door to the litter and extended a courteous hand to those within Then he led them inside the manor proper

Fidelias took casual note of thethe doors, the s, the presence (or evident lack) of guards It was an old habit, and one he would be foolish to surrender He wanted to know the best way to leave any place he walked into Aldrick walked beside hih she weighed nosolid, focused

The young captain swung open a pair of double doors leading into a long feasting hall, complete with mountain-style fire pits built into the floors,

already burning though the season had not yet grown truly cold That diht was the only illumination in the hall, and Fidelias took a moment to pause inside the doors and allow his eyes to adjust

The hall stretched out, lined with a double row of s a bit of aesthetic waruards, or assassins The tables had been taken down for the night, and the only furniture in the hall was a table and several chairs upon a dais at the far end The shapes of people entle ht down the hall and toward the dais

Upon a large chair covered in the fur of a grass lion from the Aed, buth cheekbones and a narrow face, led by a strong jahose lines were softened by the tuolden hair that fell to his shoulders He wore a simple scarlet blouse with black leather breeches and soft, black boots A goblet dangled lazily in one hand, while the other held the end of a long strip of silken cloth that slowly unwound fro more and more of her skin Aquitainus had eyes of pitch black, stark in that narrow face, and he watched the dancing slave with an almost feverish intensity

Fidelias&039;s eyes were drawn to the h Lord&039;s chair In the dimness, details were difficult to make out The man wasn&039;t tall, perhaps only a few inches ly built, his posture casually powerful, relaxed He bore a sword at his hip-that rey tunic perhaps revealed the presence of a hidden weapon Fidelias er&039;s gaze to be opaque, assessing

"If you value your head, Captain," Aquitainus irl, "it can wait until this dance is done" His voice, Fidelias noted, carried the faintest trace of a drunken slur

"No, Your Grace," Fidelias said, stepping forward and past the captain, "it can&039;t"

The High Lord&039;s back stiffened, and he turned his head slowly toward Fidelias The weight of the man&039;s dark eyes fell onto the Cursor like a physical blow, and he drew in a sharp breath as he felt the stirring in the earth beneath

them, a slow and sullen vibration, deep within the stone-a reflection of the High Lord&039;s anger

Fidelias assuh Aquitainus had acknowledged him He clasped a fist over his heart and bowed

There was a long silence before Fidelias heard Aquitainus&039;s reaction The hout the nearly deserted hall Fidelias straightened again, to face the High Lord, careful to keep his expression schooled into neutral respect

"So," Aquitainus purred "This is the infamous Fidelias Cursor Callidus"

"If it please Your Grace, Cursor no longer"

"You seem rather unconcerned with my pleasure," Aquitainus noted, with a droll roll of the hand still clasping the dancing girl&039;s cloth "I almost find it disrespectful"

"No disrespect was intended, Your Grace There are grave matters that require your attention"

"Require ant arch of brow "My I don&039;t think I&039;ve been spoken to in that fashion since just before my last tutor took that untiood deal ile," sniffed Aquitaine "The oaf&039;s real proble"

"Ah," Fidelias said "You will not face that difficulty with me"

Aquitaine&039;s dark eyes shone "Because you really do know everything?"

"No, Your Grace Only everything of ih Lord narrowed his eyes He re heartbeats, but the Cursor refused to let his nervousness show He took slow and even breaths and re

Aquitaine snorted and drank off his re ith an effortless flick of his wrist He held the goblet out to one side, waited a beat, then released it The blocky ht it The stranger walked to the table on the dais and refilled the goblet frolass bottle

"My sources told me that you had a reputation for insouciance, Fidelias," Aquitaine murmured "But I had no idea that it would be so readily forthcoht table this discussion for the h Lord accepted the goblet of wine fro on the floor before hih "I suppose," he said "Very well, then Report"

Fidelias glanced at the stranger, then at the slave, and then at the hanging curtains "Perhaps awould be more appropriate, Your Grace"

Aquitaine shook his head "You can speak freely here Fidelias, may I present Count Calix of the Feverthorn Border, in service to His Grace, High Lord of Rhodes He has shown himself to be a shrewd and capable advisor and a loyal supporter of our cause"

Fidelias shifted his attention to the blocky h Lord&039;s seat "The Feverthorn Border Isn&039;t that where that illegal slaving operation got broken up a few years ago?"

Count Calix spared the former Cursor a thin-lipped sht, rich tenor completely at odds with the heavy power evident in his body "I believe so, yes I understand that both the Slavers Consortiuave you commendations for valor above and beyond the call of duty"

Fidelias shrugged, watching the other h infor&039;s leader" He paused for a moment, then added, "Whoever he was"

"A pity," said the Count "I ireat deal of reed

"It could give a e"

Fidelius sood health"

"Perhaps I&039;ll put it to the test one day"

"Should you survive the experience, be sure to let me knohat you learned"

Aquitaine watched the exchange, his dark eyes sparkling with entle, and we have issues to discuss" He took another sip of wine and waved at the other chairs on the dais "Sit down You, too, Aldrick Should I have someone carry Odiana to her chambers so that she can rest?"

"Thank you, sir," Aldrick rumbled "I&039;ll keep her with me and take care of her later, if it&039;s all the sa Aquitaine The High Lord gestured,

and the slave girl hurried to one side, returning with the traditional cloth and bowl of scented water Then the girl settled at Fidelias&039;s feet and unlaced his sandals She rean washing Fidelias&039;s feet

He frowned down at the slave, pensively, but at a second gesture froh Lord, Fidelias uttered a concise report of the events at the caion Aquitaine&039;s expression darkened steadily throughout, until, at the end it had grown to a scowl

"Letme, Fidelias," Aquitaine arding Gaius&039;s chairl-in addition, she escaped frohts"

Fidelias nodded "My status has been compromised And she has almost certainly reported to the Crown by now"

"The second Legion has already been disbanded into individual centuries," Aldrick supplied The slave moved to kneel at his feet and to re piece of scarlet cloth wound around her had begun to slip and gape, displaying an unseearded her with casual admiration as he continued "They will meet at the rendezvous as planned"

"Except for the Windwolves," Fidelias said "I advised Aldrick to send the area"

"What!?" snarled Aquitaine, rising "That was not according to the plan"

The blocky Calix caht "I warned you, Your Grace If the mercenaries are not seen in Parcia over the winter, there will be nothing to link them to anyone but you You have been betrayed"

Aquitaine&039;s furious gaze settled on Fidelias "Well, Cursor? Is what he says true?"

"If you consider adjusting to changing conditions in the field treachery, Your Grace," Fidelias said, "then you may name me traitor, if it pleases you"

"He twists your oords against you, Your Grace," Calix hissed "He is using you He is a Cursor, loyal to Gaius If you keep listening to him, he will lead you to your death at Gaius&039;s feet Kill hihts any further He, thisbut your destruction"

Fidelias felt his lips tighten into a smile He looked from Aquitaine to Calix-then to Aldrick, where the slave crouched at his feet, her lips parted,

her eyes staring Over Aldrick&039;s lap, Odiana neither stirred nor spoke, but he could see her mouth turn up into a smile

"Ah," Fidelias said, his own s wider He folded one ankle over the other knee "I see"