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The city that Justin had been born in was little different from many of the lands surrounding Torn Sky’s hinterland: hilly and warm, with a fairly dense urban sprawl in one of the many wide valleys, with terraced hillside estates serving to support those city dwellers with food. Antiochus wasn’t impressive by any means, with even the capital of the Bull Kingdom eclipsing it in grandeur—Leon could easily see why Justin in his youth had wanted something more, and why Kamran didn’t care enough about the city to rule it directly.
Still, the city had certain attractive qualities—it was quiet and open, and some of the estates were tasteful and elegant. Thankfully, it was one of the larger and more tasteful estates that Justin’s ark took them to.
The ark landed upon a fairly small arkpad, one surrounded by cypress trees and rows of blue and white flowers—a color combination that caught Leon’s eye, but could have meant nothing at all. The main estate was only three stories tall and was about as large as Leon’s villa in Occulara had been. A few larger halls, a private wing and a guest wing, and a single inner courtyard, all made of pale white limestone. The same limestone paved a small forecourt and a path leading from the arkpad to the estate, both of which were flanked by more cypress trees. The estate occupied the entire summit of a broad hill, while the terraces below were divided into olive groves and vineyards, and the distinct combination of fruity and herbal smells of olive and grape presses wafted upward from the foot of the hill.
Regulus met Leon’s party at the arkpad, joined by several servants and a plate of refreshments—water, wine, bread, and fresh fruit. The man himself radiated eighth-tier power, marking him as respectable if not particularly strong by Nexus standards. He wore a plain blue tunic long enough to reach the top of his knees and a pair of simple leather sandals. What little hair remained on his head was silver with age, and his hairline was so severely receded that Leon understood completely why Regulus seemed to have shaved it. Despite what his hair might have implied, Regulus appeared only about middle-aged, with noticeable lines on his face, though he wasn’t particularly wrinkled. His skin was mostly well-tanned, but the fairer shades Leon glimpsed on the underside of his arks and at the edges of his tunic showed that color was earned from long days under the Origin Spark.
“King Leon,” Justin said, “this is my friend, Regulus of Antiochus.” Justin stepped forward to facilitate the introductions, while Regulus offered Leon his arm.
Leon took the man’s arm, clasping wrists solidly. “A pleasure to meet you,” he said. “Thank you for your hospitality.”
Regulus’ sharp eyes flashed in Justin’s direction for a moment as a frown added lines to his face. Then, he forced his face into a pleasant, if strained, smile, and said in lightly-accented Nexus common, “Think nothing of it, King Leon. I’m happy to be of service in this matter.”
“I suppose that means I don’t need to introduce you,” Justin wryly stated.
“Formal introductions are so tiresome,” Regulus grumbled. “I lost my appetite for such ceremonies long ago, old friend. Let us relax. We will be stressed and on edge soon enough.”
Justin hummed, conceding the point. Then, he set about to less rigid introductions, starting with Valeria, then Cassandra, Alcander, Zhang, and Daryun. Again, Nestor and his golems were completely skipped, and Leon imagined the dead man was grateful for that, if otherwise bored out of his metal skull.
Regulus welcomed them to his estate warmly, letting them pick from the table of refreshments before leisurely escorting them into the main estate building.
The interior was as conventional as it was comfortable, with floors of dark wood in most halls and dull white tiles everywhere else. Rich rugs were abundant, though rarely were they anything more than a single dyed color. The furniture was sparse, leaving the halls feeling so open as to be almost empty, while the hearths were burning actual wood instead of using fire enchantments. The furniture itself was made of expertly made olive wood, and the upholstery was simple, if a little thin.
A few tapestries hung from the walls, but the main wall decorations were conventionally painted murals—mostly landscapes, though Leon noted at least a couple portraits. All depicted a younger Regulus; most had a woman with him with sunny hair, modest clothing, and a sweet smile; and three had Regulus and this woman with children. One portrait had only a single child, a boy, perhaps two or three years old. Another had two children; the first boy, now around five years old, and another boy, about as old as the first was in the previous portrait. A third showed both boys in their teenage years, and the fourth—and last portrait—showed the boys now fully grown and without Regulus or, Leon now presumed, his wife.
Leon noted that neither the woman nor the boys were anywhere in Regulus’ estate—at least, as far as he could tell through the wards. If they were Regulus’ family, then he imagined they would’ve joined the man in greeting Leon’s group on their arrival if they were present.
As things were, he refrained from asking about them as Regulus and Justin settled in with Leon’s companions, and the servants, after bringing in more bowls of grapes and olives, plates of bread, and jugs of water and wine, left them all alone. Once the doors shut behind them, Justin and Regulus’ polite if inconsequential talk ceased, and Leon sensed privacy wards snap into place. They weren’t up to his standards, but they were at least strong enough that the windows—real, physical windows that weren’t light projections on a wall—didn’t have to be closed.
“I suppose we should get down to business, then,” Regulus said, a look of profound seriousness falling over him. “I’d give more time to recover from an undoubtedly long journey, but we’re pressed for time…”
“That we are,” Justin stated.
“We are made of sterner stuff than most,” Leon confidently responded.
“We are!” Alcander added as he crossed his arms and nodded emphatically, drawing a curious look from Regulus before his eyes returned to Leon.
“I know the broad strokes of your plan,” Leon said. “I’m ready to hear the details.”
“The details,” Regulus said, “and then rehearsal. We shouldn’t need too much practice, but we should all at least memorize both the plan and the maps we have.”
Leon nodded, waiting for them to begin without interruption.
Justin began, conjuring a familiar map of Torn Sky onto a table between everyone, then drawing everyone’s attention with a bead of golden light. “We have our way in. An… old friend, Niam, commands one of the western gates. He’s going to allow us in without inspection.”
Grimacing slightly, Leon noted, “We’re barely at the first step, and you already sound unsure. How much of a friend is this ‘friend’?”
Justin and Regulus shared a look, and the latter stated, “He’s another man from Antiochus. He followed us to Torn Sky and benefitted from our patronage. We… haven’t had much contact with him in the past few decades, and with the war in the planes, there is extra scrutiny of the city’s defenses… But he agreed to aid us for only a modest sum.”
“How modest?” Cassandra asked, her ears perking up slightly.
“Enough khosrids to see his family here in Antiochus into an estate that would provide for all their needs,” Regulus said.
“They’ve already moved in,” Justin added. “Niam will follow through. His mother raised him to honor his oaths.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Leon asked.
“There are other ways into the city that don’t involve passing through the gates,” Justin said with a look at his daughter.
“Aqueducts, sewage tunnels, old mine shafts from before the city was so expansive,” she said with a proud smile, which turned almost preening as Justin nodded with a proud smile of his own. She summoned a blue light over several points along the outer wall. “These are mostly sealed or otherwise heavily fortified, but we could use them to get inside if the gate doesn’t work out.”
Satisfied now that they had options, Leon hummed and nodded for Regulus and Justin to continue.
“Tion Bey will meet us inside,” Justin said. “He commands a guard regiment.”
“Another friend from Antiochus?” Daryun asked doubtfully.
“No,” Regulus admitted. “And I’d hesitate to even call him a friend.”
“I wouldn’t,” Justin replied. “He saved my life.”
“He did,” Regulus admitted. “And then he extorted you for a position in the city’s guard.”
“He benefitted enough from my patronage that he’ll follow through on this,” Justin said. “Besides, I saved his life later.”
“Is Kamran’s city so violent,” Zhang asked, “that incidents of life-saving are this common? One would think that this would be one of the safest places in all the Storm Lands…”
“One wouldn’t be wrong to think that,” Regulus conceded, “but not all life-saving incidents are caused by violence.”
“Tion Bey saved me from a corrupt minister whom I refused to bribe,” Justin said. “I was almost arrested and beheaded for his accusations, and only Tion Bey’s testimony saved me. About fifteen years later, one of Kamran’s oldest arks malfunctioned when he was commanding a hundred men in Kamran’s personal arkpads. There was a power issue that caused the thrusters to activate at maximum acceleration before the ark had fully taken off, and it crashed into the guardhouse. I was nearby and managed to pull Tion Bey and several of his men from the wreckage.”
“And you believe that he’ll remember that enough to follow through?” Leon asked.
“If he doesn’t,” Justin said, “the boxes of khosrids I’m giving him and his men will ensure he plays his part.”
Leon frowned again, not liking the idea of relying on corruptible men, but he wasn’t in charge of planning this mission. He didn’t know these men or this place, and so despite his temptation to call the plan off there and then, he held his tongue.
“Tion Bey will give us the run of the city, along with a secure safehouse,” Regulus said, indicating the place on the map with another bead of light, “and then Maemon will get us into the palace itself.”
“Only a single safehouse?” Leon asked before moving on.
“This is the one we’ll use,” Justin clarified. “Space within the city will be limited with the festival ongoing. We’ll be able to blend into the crowds easily, but it also means that the possibilities for safehouses are limited.”
Leon suppressed another grimace.
“Maemon,” Justin continued, “will be escorting us as ‘tributaries’. We’re bringing gifts to Kamran to celebrate the ‘founding of Torn Sky’. Really, Kamran’s ‘triumph’ over the Thunderbird Clan.”
Leon hissed through his teeth, but instead of criticizing the plan, he said, “The disguise enchantments I’ve made will help here. We can change our appearance to suit our needs and suppress our auras.”
“How long do they last?” Regulus asked. “Such enchantments never last long, in my experience.”
“Hours,” Leon said. “Almost half a day before the bracelets are permanently warped from magic, which will destroy the enchantments.”
“Half a day will be more than enough time,” Justin said. “With Maemon, we’ll be able to enter the palace. He won’t be able to accompany us throughout the palace, so we’ll be on our own from there—though there’ll be hundreds, if not thousands, of other tribute-bearers along with us, ready to feast in Kamran’s palace for the duration of the festival’s opening day. We can blend in with them easily. But even without Maemon, we’ll be able to get around; I know the way through the unused and hidden passages of the palace, and can take us unseen all the way to Ariana’s chambers.”
“So easily?” Daryun asked, doubt dripping from his voice. “Given what I’ve heard, this woman is treated like a daughter, house arrest aside. Wouldn’t that mean her guard detail is heavy?”
“We met enough in secret that I know those hidden passages well,” Justin said as he conjured another map over the first, this one a far more detailed map of Kamran’s palace than Leon had seen before that projected upward, allowing every level to be seen without needing to separate them on a larger sheet of paper. “Let me show you the route,” Justin said as he manipulated the bead of light through the labyrinthine structure floating in the center of Torn Sky.
As could be imagined from such a giant palace, the chunk of earth it was floating on was thick enough to have an extensive warren of tunnels and chambers below the surface, almost all of which were devoted to palace ward maintenance and servants’ facilities. But there were also tunnels and passages leading through this ‘underground’ maze and through almost all of the palace’s larger buildings.
“These passages are meant only for a select few, allowing them to move through the palace unnoticed,” Justin explained. “Ariana knew them, and through her, I learned of them. They are guarded by golems and wards, but not men. When we enter the palace, we give our gifts to Kamran in this reception hall, and then make our way here under the cover of the other tribute-bearers…” He illuminated what looked like the closest entrance to these private passages in the antechamber of a large hall. “We tap the bricks in the wall in the right way, and we’ll have our way into the tunnels. From there, it’s a straightforward—metaphorically, certainly not literally—way to reach Ariana’s chambers.”
Leon followed Justin’s bead of light as it moved through the map, eventually reaching a chamber within the palace’s highest tower.
“This will place us within the area of my wife’s confinement,” Justin said. “I don’t know exactly what’s in there, but I do not expect any guards to be within her chambers. But… they’ll be close enough to hear her if she screams, or if there are any other sounds of violence…”
“How do we know the entrances to these tunnels still function?” Cassandra asked. “Changing the ways to get in, or having engineers shift them around periodically, would foil this plan entirely. Getting through this palace without using these tunnels seems like it would be impossible…”
“It certainly would be,” Regulus agreed. “More than ten thousand soldiers guard its walls alone, and ten thousand more patrol its halls. Kamran’s personal guards are warriors of great renown and will not allow us to proceed unchallenged should they spot us.”
“And these passages are meant to be secret,” Justin added. “Adding too much conventional security would only reveal them to too many people. They haven’t changed since I was last employed in the palace, I know they haven’t been.”
Leon pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s taking quite a bit on faith,” he said. “Is there no way to verify that?”
“If my way doesn’t work,” Justin said, “then I’m sure you can find a way to access these passages. Or aren’t you confident in your enchanting skills?”
Leon glared at him. “I’m confident, but Kamran is a fifteenth-tier mage, and old enough to have forgotten more about ancient runes than I’ve ever learned.” He refrained from looking at Nestor standing stock-still in the corner of the room, the dead man remaining quiet, looking like nothing more than another golem.
“Then there shouldn’t be a problem,” Justin said as he turned his eyes back to the map.
“What are we bringing as gifts?” Valeria asked, changing the subject.
“I’ve managed to acquire a large amount of a new substance called storm crystal,” Regulus stated proudly. “It’s incredibly valuable and would make an honorable gift for an honorable occasion. It would be a shame to give it to Kamran, but to free Lady Ariana, I won’t lose any sleep over losing so many crystals.”
For the first time since their briefing began, Leon had to fight not to smile. He supposed so far east it was possible for someone like Regulus, who wasn’t a Nexus Lord or a direct advisor to one, not to know that Leon was the source of this ‘new substance’, but he wasn’t interested in bragging, so he kept quiet about just how much storm crystal he was carrying in his soul realm.
Still, he gave Justin a questioning look, and the man stared back unfazed, clearly in no hurry himself to reveal that bit of information.
“There are plenty of places for this plan to go wrong,” Regulus said, moving on. “We should go over it a few more times and ensure that we memorize these maps. Justin, we both have other contacts in the city who could be of use, and we should all know who they are in case they’re needed.”
Justin nodded. “We also need to work on our disguises and ensure that we’re on the same page about who we are and why we’re here in case we’re challenged at any point.”
“That much should be easy,” Leon said as he conjured the enchanted jewelry that he’d made before setting out on this journey. There were enough copies that they all had enough to practice with, and should they need more, he could always make more. In fact, he was playing with the idea of making enough that they could all replace theirs if the disguise bracelets were destroyed somehow. It might be a bit origin power-intensive, but he had the days to do it…
This was still a rough plan, and he was concerned they couldn’t scout the palace out more beforehand, but they’d make do. One way or another, Valeria’s mother was going to be freed in less than a week.
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