Page 157 of Grave Situation

“Was there an attack near here?”I ask Leicht. Surely not. They’ve been striking at backwoods villages and farms, not this close to established cities with trained fighters—and mages in residence. Even before this crisis arose, there were mages who’d chosen not to live at the academy making their living in cities like these, where they can sell practical magics. There have to be at least two stationed at the naval yard—the Navy loves mages. They help make ships more watertight and structurally sound, and air mages can give sails a little help when the wind isn’tcooperating. A small-scale zombie attack so close to here would be doomed to fail.

“A village two miles inland,”Leicht confirms, and my heart sinks.“Nobody was injured, and the zombies are no more.”He pauses, and it feels as though he’s talking to someone else.“The dragon and rider assigned to the city had just begun their morning patrol when they spotted a group of people behaving oddly. The zombies didn’t even get beyond the outskirts of the village.”

That’s something, at least.

Jaimin joins me by the railing, his eyes on the same dragon I’m watching. “Do you think?—”

I fill him in on what Leicht just told me, and he makes a frustrated sound. “It’s not good that they’re venturing this close to densely populated areas. What are these damn necromancers planning?”

“I wish I knew. I wish we knew who Domys was working with.” Whoever they are, they’re clever—very clever. I’m still not sure how many necromancers are out there, but the more I think about it, the more inclined I am to believe there aren’t many. Maybe only one, other than Domys. The mage masterminding all of this has managed to slide under the radar for a long time, and if there were multiple necromancers hungry for power, vengeance, or whatever their motive is, it would be hard to keep them leashed and the entire operation secret.

This is someone with patience, with resources, and who’s put in a great deal of time on research and study. They’ve negotiated an alliance with the temples—gotten the high priests to agree to cooperate with the slaughter and desecration of thousands of people. My opinion of the temples has been low for a long time, but even I don’t believe they’d do that without great temptation. This mage knew exactly how to manipulate them—and perhaps cause the downfall of millennia of religious tradition.

In other words, this is a dangerous person.

We reach the yard, and the commander is walking down the dock even as Peiris and Coryn throw ropes to the waiting sailors.

“Talon Silverbright?” he calls crisply, and I half raise my hand, wondering if I’m supposed to salute.

“That’s me.”

His gaze flicks over me, but his expression gives nothing away. “Good. The ship and crew are ready to depart when you are. We can take care of locking down your vessel.”

I glance over at Peiris. It’s their boat, so their decision.

“Thank you,” they say politely. “And thank you also for keeping it while we’re away.”

“I understand that your mission is of the greatest urgency.” His gaze shifts off to the right, to where the lone dragon still patrols. “That it has to do with our current troubles.”

“That’s right,” I confirm cautiously. I’m not sure exactly what he was told.

He nods. “Then we’ll do whatever it takes to aid you. Camblish Naval Clippers are the fastest seafaring vessels in the world—we’ll get you where you need to be as soon as possible.” He looks me squarely in the eye. “There was an attack a few miles from Trijmbin this morning.”

“I know.” I point up, where Leicht lazily circles. “The dragons talk.”

He blinks. “You’re a rider?”

Turds.Turds.How could I have forgotten? “No, I’m a telepath.” I leave it at that and hope he’s ignorant of how Talent works and the fact that even the strongest telepaths can’t talk to dragons.

That seems to satisfy him, because he continues, “I don’t want those things any closer to the city. It’s bad enough they’ve been raiding villages up and down the river.”

What?

“We just came downriver,” Jaimin says. “We didn’t see any sign of raids. When did this happen?”

The commander’s blank expression shifts to annoyance. “They’re staying inland enough that we’re useless against them. Any village or farmstead more than an hour from the river is at risk.”

My thoughts fly to Wat and his farm that’s a few hours’ ride inland from the nearest town. Dammit. Maybe Ishouldhave told him about the zombies, told him to get his family and stay in town with Virk for a while. I can’t change that now. “Commander, I don’t want to tell you how to do your job, but as my friend said, we just came from upriver, and I don’t think people are fully aware of how serious things are. Perhaps have your men advise that those on outlying properties should temporarily relocate. Safety in numbers, and all that.”

His face goes back to blank. “I have my orders.”

Fuck. I nod. “Of course.” I’m going to need to talk to Master about this. The monarchs have to start protecting people better, and that means encouraging the isolated ones to leave their homes for the short term. “We’ll be ready to go in half an hour. We just need to use your facilities first—and confer with Leicht.”

“Leicht?”

I point up again, and the commander nods.

“Of course. The hospitality of the Kingdom of Camblin is yours.”

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