Page 32 of Magick and Lead
All three Skrathan’s eyes went wide—they’d never heard their friend speak this way before. But they knew his words to be true. With Essa gone, Ollie was in charge.
“Alright,” Pocha said through gritted teeth. “Then what do you command?”
Ollie took another pull from his pipe and let out a languid stream of smoke. “First, we will have dinner. Then, we will do nothing.”
“Nothing?” Lure demanded.
“Nothing,” Ollie said, “but wait for our queen to return. For I’ve looked in the scrying waters already. If we leave her to her own devices, everything will turn out for the good.”
“For whose good?” Lure asked, their shrewd eyes narrowed.
Clever, clever Skrathan,Ollie thought.I must challenge Lure to a game of Torzame one day.
“Why, for the good of Maethalia,” Ollie said. “Of course.”
15
ESSA
The proprietor of the pawn shop pointed me to a large, horseless carriage called a “streetcar,” and said it followed a road that led all the way to the Air Base. But of course, I would not use heretical necromancer technology for transportation. Instead, I followed the car’s path on foot, walking for miles through a city that seemed endless.
I passed shops of all sorts. Scents of delicious-smelling foods wafted from the dozens of restaurants as I passed. And the people! In Maethalia there were many races—mankind humans, elf-scion humans, sprites, dwarves, faekin, a few goblins, dragons, of course, and many other beings who kept mostly to the wildlands. Here, everyone I saw was an ordinary human—but every variety of humanity seemed to be represented, from the dark-skinned beauties of the under isles to pale, red-haired northerners, to the lovely folk of the west. And I counted half a dozen languages spoken, too, leading me to believe Ironberg must contain people from every corner of the vast Admarian Republic. It was no wonder we’d had such trouble defeating them at war, I thought, when they had such a diverse swath of humanity to draw upon.
At last, the vast, towering buildings gave way to more modest brick townhouses, then to factories, then to fields. When it seemed as if my legs would carry me no further, I at last saw a sign that read, in the Admite language, McNally Air Base. The place was surrounded by metal fencing, and a wooden hut that could only be a guard shack sat in front of it. I strode up to the window and found two men inside, both of whom looked hardly old enough to have finished their schooling.
“I’m looking for an ace named Charlie,” I said. “Charlie Inman.”
The boys exchanged a glance. “Not pregnant, are ya?” one of them asked, and the other stifled a laugh.
I fixed them with a glare. “No,” I said, holding up my fist. “But I might try impregnating one of you with this if you don’t tell me where Charlie is.”
Their eyes went wide, then they both broke up laughing, falling over one another in their mirth.
“Damn. I like this one,” one of them said.
“Right? I’m afraid, but I like it,” the other one said. “Listen, hun, if it doesn’t work out with Charlie?—”
“Do you know where he is, or not?” I snapped.
“Sure, sure,” the first one said, wiping tears from his eyes. “Everybody knows Charlie. The guy’s like a god around here.”
This irritated me even more than their laughter had. Of course they adored Charlie… His betrayal of my kingdom had probably made him more beloved than ever.
“Where does he live?” I asked.
They pointed back the way I’d come. “Officer’s housing. C Complex. You can’t miss it. He’s on the second floor, I think.”
I turned on my heel and started walking.
“Go easy on him with that fist!” one of them called after me, and I heard them both laughing again like a pair of drunken leprechauns.
I shook my head, muttering curses.
You faring well out there, Dear Heart?Othura asked, sensing my irritation.
My feet are about to fall off. Aside from that, I’m fine.
You could have let me come,she teased.You’d be riding dragon back right now.
