When they were about twenty feet away, the one on the outside turned slightly, and they both raised their hands and shot fireballs. One at me, and one toward the dais.

  I’ll admit, I didn’t bother to hold back the scream of agony as my body burst into flames. The flames hissed, and I felt Oceana’s anger in the back of my mind as the flames were doused. I would have been in pain for months, and perhaps even died, if it wasn’t for my armor’s ability to heal. My skin felt crawly for a moment, as my skin organ was completely rebuilt in seconds.

  The drain on my magic tingled, but I hardly noticed after the excruciating pain of all my nerves on fire.

  When the pain faded, and I could see again, I saw both men had been overwhelmed and slaughtered by the guards. They were peppered in ice spikes, thrown daggers, and their bodies mutilated by telekinesis, air, and fire.

  I turned toward the dais, and saw Krenum was passed out, covered in burns, and soaking wet. Oceana wouldn’t have defended him, so it was probably one of the guards with a water ability, and I hoped people would believe that of me as well. As long as the guards didn’t compare notes that assumption would live on. I sent out my magic and dove into his body. A quick split second verified my magic would rebuild his skin and some of the flesh beneath, and I pushed magic into it.

  His skin seemed to waver and rebuild, as the burned skin was sloughed off. The shock from being burnt over almost his whole body wore off and his vital signs recovered. He’d be fine when he woke up, if a little shaky at first. At least, that’s how I felt.

  I felt Regina’s arms go around me from behind, and I knew she was scared, for me.

  Jaren was staring at me in shock, and I looked down in confusion. My normal breeches and tunic were mostly gone, a few blackened threads remained. My boxer brief armor however, was perfect. At least I wasn’t naked.

  I looked up and raised an eyebrow.

  Jaren said, “That’s impossible! You should be dead.”

  Oh shit, right, flesh sculptors can’t heal themselves.

  Jaren blushed, no doubt realizing how that sounded.

  “I’m glad you aren’t, but how?”

  I said, “Trade secret.”

  Jaren turned red faced. Oh hell, not this shit again.

  “Seriously,” I said, “It’s bad enough the king will hear of this, I’d rather not give him any more clues about how I accomplished the impossible. Right now, the evil bastard can’t heal himself, I’d rather keep it that way, wouldn’t you? It’s bad enough that he’ll already be trying to figure out what I know and he doesn’t, often just learning something is possible is enough of a clue.”

  Jaren looked thoughtful, then nodded in understanding.

  “No one is to speak of this, the assassins are dead.”

  That… was a rather hopeful command, and I doubted it would work, but it wouldn’t hurt. If it was just the council it might work, or maybe even the guards too, but I seriously doubted the people here to see the council won’t be gossiping about it as soon as they leave the chamber.

  Krenum said, “Those two must have come with that batch of refugees we took in last night looking to join us. We need to tighten security before it happens again. I’d guess James is the primary target, but they’ll be looking to kill us too. That means we need guards at the inn.”

  Yeah, that was the second major thing that went on, we’d gotten just under fifty new people that joined the city the night before. Most of them did not have war talents.

  Tam grumbled, “Fine, but they better not scare my business away, or I’ll kick them out.”

  He had refused guards the first time it was brought up. Tam could be disagreeable, but he was no Coren.

  Saria said, “I agree. We should put guards outside to screen who comes in. If they’re a new arrival, they need to be escorted and watched closely when in the chamber, and questioned as to exactly what they want before they’re even allowed in.”

  Tam said, “I hate the necessity, if they’re here to join us they won’t appreciate not being trusted.”

  I couldn’t disagree with that, but sometimes leaders needed to take security precautions. I also wasn’t all too eager to meet another assassin. They’d basically thrown their lives away to take me out, which no doubt was due to the king’s control over them.

  Jaren replied, “Perhaps, but they should accept it as prudence. We’ll only question them the first time they visit. It shouldn’t be hard to pick up the signs of enslavement to the king, all of us are very familiar with the signs after all.”

  Krenum said, “I also agree.”

  Jaren said, “Motion passes. Let’s take a twenty-minute recess while the guards set that up, and it will give a chance for Krenum and James to clean up.”

  Right, couldn’t stand in my skivvies for the rest of the morning. Plus, Regina’s soft hands against my naked chest were rather distracting.

  The third major thing that happened that day put the other two to shame as far as importance, and at the time I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing. Either way, it changed everything.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I was not woolgathering, and still rather paranoid about everyone that came in to be healed. I was sure that would pass, during council was the best time to work on and explore the possibilities of my power, even if I did reject most of them, I’d come up with a few ideas already that had saved lives. The rest of my day was kind of focused on my mates, and I liked it that way, which meant I’d have to do that work in council while I wasn’t busy healing.

  But after being burned alive, I figured it would take a day or two to get over it.

  It was late in the morning, and it wouldn’t be too much longer before we broke for the day and sought lunch.

  Two of the guards escorted a third man inside and toward the council dais. He wore what passed for a suit in this world and was impeccably dressed, even his black shoes were shined. He must have stopped at the inn to get a room and clean up before he came to the council, as even kings and queens got grubby on the road.

  He was in his mid-fifties at a guess, and had receding black hair, and intelligent gray eyes. He was thin and wiry, and his raptor’s gaze took everything in, the guards, the council, as well as myself. He seemed fascinated by the elves, both my Saria and Krenum, as well as the six guards, especially the three female ones.

  I couldn’t help myself, and I peeked at him with my magic when he got close enough. He was in excellent shape, he also had a powerful fire ability. Magical abilities didn’t vary all that much in strength, but his was on the higher part of that scale.

  He bowed deeply before the council, but looked comfortable in his shoes and the company, and also a little amused at his own show of respect.

  Jaren asked, “Who are you?”

  He smiled politely, “My name is Dale. I’m one of Queen Sera’s consorts, and here to gather information and perhaps speak of our mutual enemy?”

  Shocked silence fell in the room, even the guards twitched. It was a bit amusing, or it would have been if I wasn’t shocked as well, but I’d never seen Jaren quite so speechless before.

  Saria stepped in.

  “What is your purpose here?”

  Dale looked around, “Can we clear the room except for the council, and perhaps our friend James as well, since my queen is quite interested in his existence?”

  Friend? Right.

  Saria waved her hand, and the guards escorted the other commoners out of the room, and posted themselves outside as well. Regina tried to leave as well, but I took and held her hand. Maybe her ambition was being a house wife, but she was sharp and noticed things I didn’t, especially when it came to subtle differences of our disparate societies that I hadn’t fully learned yet. I’d want her opinion on this guy later.

  No one spoke until it was just the seven of us in the room.

  Dale said, “King Hanson has made a grave error in his anger, and according to our spies has sent two thousand of his soldiers to put down your little rebellion, along with six mages, and their orders are to burn this city to the ground as an example. They’ll be here in four days, just yesterday they started east from Dulcier. That leaves only twenty-five hundred soldiers or so to defend his western border, we will be attacking with twice that number, five thousand soldiers with magic, and we have twice again that number of troop fodder. With him having already lost two mages, and sending six, he’ll only have four left including Irwin to defend against us. Sera has fourteen apprentices with our forces, he won’t stand a chance.”

  Troop fodder? My mate must have noticed my confusion.

  Regina whispered, “Undead soldiers. Easily stopped one on one against a living thinking man, but effective in large numbers.”

  Right. Necromancy, and Sera was an arch mage, which meant she knew necromancy along with the other mage disciplines. It’d been a while since Irwin told me about them. Destruction, summoning, illusion, protection, and creation were the other five.

  Jaren asked, “And you’re telling us this because?”

  Dale smiled, “The queen is going to march at the head of our invasion, and we have no doubt the king’s head will be on a pike within two weeks. Desal will be no more, and she will rule out of Malburn to ensure its loyalty. With the exception of the great forest Laya, and the mountain range to the south, this entire continent will be Gritor.”

  He paused for a minute.

  “The queen was fascinated to hear about your city, and what you accomplished. You will of course, become her subjects as well. That said, she is grateful for the opportunity your rebellion has created for her, and she sent me to work out a mutually beneficial arrangement for you. She sees no reason to disturb what you’re creating here, and assuming your loyalty is given she will not feel the need to replace you with a noble of her own.”

  Jaren frowned, “Assuming we survive two thousand soldiers and six mages. We have five hundred, and one mage.”

  Dale shrugged helplessly, “There is that. But if you live you can consider yourselves safe from further violent intentions from the west, and you can run your city as you see fit as long as you agree to be her loyal vassal and pay a small tax of course.”

  He looked at Krenum and Saria, “She also has no designs on the elven forest, and she applauds your idea of trade. Many of her kingdom’s mages will be sure to take advantage of it, rather than risk the vagaries of fate in an ill-conceived trespass of your domain.”

  I wondered how he knew about that, Gritor must have spies even here.

  Tam cleared his throat, “If we do manage to win, it will be at a high cost, and we’ll be an easy target for a follow up attack. Why so generous?”

  Dale nodded, “An excellent question, and one easily answered. One, she’ll be focused on bringing Malburn, Garlis, and Dulcier to heel, a tiny city of a thousand is barely more than a village. Two, she truly likes the trade idea, I wasn’t exaggerating, and she knows that if she did take over this city and appointed a duke or baron over it, the elves would abandon the plan out of distrust.”

  He looked at Saria, who nodded in agreement.

  Dale added, “Three, once the king is dead your James will be the only flesh sculptor in the land, she does not wish him to be her enemy, and believes if she deals kindly with you and leaves your city alone, he will consent to be an ally and even work with her in the future if there is need. Unfortunately, she needs to bow to some political realities, or her own nobles will sense weakness and perhaps betray her. So, she must insist on at least the appearance of loyalty, as well as a minimal tax. In appearance to the nobles, you’d be part of Gritor, in practice you’d be closer to a vassal state, and can run your little city as you please as long as you pay the tax.”

  Jaren said, “We’ll need to discuss it.”

  Dale bowed, “Of course councilor Jaren, I’ll be at the inn and at your disposal. If you do choose to accept, I have the authority as one of her consorts to accept your fealty, so there’s no need to take a long trip. I will also be in contact with her, if you have other questions?”

  I cleared my throat.

  Jaren looked at me annoyed, but nodded.

  “A boon perhaps? A small matter easily granted that might endear her to the elven people? There are several elven females in thrall to the king in Malburn, it would be appreciated if they could be sent this way after Queen Sera puts that bastard’s head on a pike?”

  Saria looked at me with grateful surprise. I hadn’t told anyone how much it bothered me that we couldn’t save those elven women, there’d be no point and it would’ve only upset her, and it had been one of the first things that occurred to me after Dale presented his case. Freeing a city on the frontier and edge of Desal had been a desperate enough gamble in itself, going back to Malburn in an attempt to free them would have been suicide.

  Dale bowed his head slightly, “I imagine she’d be pleased to make that happen, as long as we’re all friends of course. As you might imagine, she doesn’t care for the abuse of women any more than any other female. But I will have to speak to her first and make no promises as of yet. I should know before we speak next?”

  When Jaren nodded, he turned and left the room. I’d found Dale a little arrogant at first but was forced to admit it was just confidence.

  As soon as the door closed, Jaren started to curse vociferously.

  Krenum asked, “What has you more upset, being outnumbered four to one in a fight just four days from now, or Sera getting her claws into us?”

  Jaren grunted, “Good question. The deal sounds and looks good on the surface, but after we give our oaths of fealty she could order us to do any damn thing she wants. But no, I’m far more worried about the two thousand soldiers and six mages.”

  Krenum shrugged, “Human mages won’t be a match for my lady, and she’ll be back in a day or two. I doubt even the vaunted Sera could match Karana. Six might be a little trouble, but I doubt it.”

  Tam snorted, “I don’t get that.”

  Krenum said, “It’s more about magical knowledge than strength. Much like a master swordsman could cut down a hundred amateurs. They might be stronger all added together, but her strength is in subtlety, understanding, and knowledge. There is also a good chance she’ll bring reinforcements, perhaps another mage.”

  Saria said, “The deal with Sera sounds palatable. She could order anything, and make changes after the fact as you said, but if she did she’d lose our trade. You might have to deal with it, but we don’t. She’d also lose James as a possible ally and gain an enemy. I don’t like it either, but I don’t think she’d betray her deal after the fact for those two reasons. Even a ruler such as her knows sometimes a softer touch is required, if proper obeisance is received. As long as we don’t hurt her pride, or make her look weak, the cost of pushing such a small city wouldn’t be worth it to her.”

  Krenum said, “I agree, the only reason she’d have to betray us is if she’d lose more by keeping the deal. As far as I see it, losing the trade deal with the elves and making James her enemy would only be offset by a true danger to her throne.”

  Jaren said, “Right, assuming of course that Dale was being honest about all that, and she actually gives a shit about a deal with the elves and James’ power as a sculptor.”

  Saria replied, “I didn’t sense any dishonestly, if anything he was shockingly direct. It also tells us something else.”

  “What’s that?” Tam asked.

  Saria said, “She believes we’re going to win, four to one odds or not.”

  Jaren nodded, “It’s possible, especially with James to heal our soldiers, but he can attack the walls non-stop in shifts to rest his people. Our people will eventually get tired and start making mistakes, we don’t have enough defenders to do the same.”

  I sighed. Two thousand meant I’d have to do the grass landmine thing after all. Even with our increased strength, and me healing, I didn’t think it would be enough without it…

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The warm afternoon sun felt good on my face, and the scent of the forest was relaxing. I smiled, and squeezed Regina’s hand as we walked across the wide field.

  Regina asked, “Good mood?”

  I chuckled, “And surprised about it. Back on my world I lived for air conditioning and being indoors. It feels a little freeing to be out of the city after the last few weeks. It also reminded me of our trip, it was scary but good wasn’t it? What’s a little death and destruction on the horizon next to that?”

  Regina snorted.

  “I think I know what you mean. I like it out here, but I like the bathtub in our room with hot water.”

  I smirked, “Yeah, bathing in cool streams wasn’t the best part. Still, it’s good to get away from the city and its scents even for a few minutes. When this all quiets down, I’ll enjoy getting a home built out here. We haven’t watched the stars together recently either, and we’ll still have a tub in the bedroom, sort of.”

  “Sort of?”

  I nodded, “Going to have a separate smaller room built for that, and I’m working on a way to improve things with my magic. Self-heating tubs, self-cleaning rooms, heat and light without the stink of burning wood or oil, and even a way to cool things in the summer. Then there’s all the wards and defenses. Did you want a garden?”

  She replied, “Are you trying to spoil me?”

  I smirked, “You’ll be busy enough making meals, helping me organize and deal with patients, watching our children, and taking care of me. Just eliminating the need for servants, unless we need those?”

  She tilted her head and looked over and up at me.

  “I’ll think about it, it would be nice to have one or two, even if just to pick up what we need in the city, and accompany me when you can’t. You’re right though, I can’t do everything, I’d run our household and work hard to take care of us, and the kids. How does that look by the way?”