Of Kings and Killers (Elder Empire Sea #3) - WIll Wight Page 0,73

of Rojric’s death also pained him more than he’d expected. They had both known there was a chance the double might be killed, and Rojric had taken that risk willingly. He had actually given his life for Calder’s.

That was his job, but it still fueled Calder’s anger.

The Guards took him down to a dark room where the Emperor’s armor and Calder’s sword waited. The room was packed with even more Guards, and Calder had to order one out of the room so that he could change.

As he slipped out of the loose clothes and strapped on the armor one piece at a time, the Guards filled him in on the situation.

Only moments ago, a servant had discovered a maid and two Guards unconscious outside of the secure room.

It seemed the assassins had caught the maid leaving the room after delivering food, put her and the Guards to sleep with poisoned darts, and entered the door that had not yet shut after the maid’s exit. From this evidence, the Guards suggested they were dealing with a team of at least four Consultants.

Rojric was found with a knife in the eye and a slit throat, which Calder found strange. If they’d thrown a knife from the doorway that landed in the eye, why had they walked all the way across the room to slit his throat?

From the blood and the body, it was estimated that the body had been found only a minute or two after death. They were hot on the heels of the assassins.

The second Calder pulled on his helmet, seeing only through the hardened glass of the Emperor’s visor, the Guards began carrying him away. “We’re taking you out, sir.”

“You can’t.” He pulled himself free and stood his ground. “I’ve already sealed the building.”

Some of the Guards looked at him in astonishment, others in anger. “You’ve locked yourself in a building with a team of Gardeners?”

“No, I’ve locked them in here with us.”

Somewhere along the side of the building, there came a gunshot and the sound of shattering glass.

Three Guards dashed off, but Calder stayed put with the rest. They were in a wide open room, a preparation area for the Emperor before he went onstage, and Calder ordered quicklamps lit.

“We’ll need the light to fight,” he told the Guards. “When they realize they can’t escape, they’ll come for me.”

The building would only stay shut for about half an hour, less if its Intent was opposed, but the Consultants shouldn’t know that. They would have to assume that the building was sealed for good and act accordingly, which meant either breaking out or trying to finish the job.

If they escaped, they would be caught.

So he had to make the other option just as dangerous for them.

Before the Guards could even reach for the lamps, a silver-blue mist billowed down the hall. It filled the room in seconds, the Guards drawing swords and shouting to each other as visibility shrank to almost nothing.

Calder pulled his own ember-spotted blade, which stained the nearby mist with an orange glow. He filled the inside of his helmet with a reckless grin that no one else could see.

Shera was here.

He had only recently discovered that her promotion to Guild Head included control over Bastion’s Veil, the mist that had—until recently—protected the Consultant’s island. If this fog was here, so was Shera.

This time, he was ready for her.

He stood with his sword drawn, waiting for Shera and her team to come through the door. He waited. And waited.

As the mist thinned, Calder began to feel like he had gotten excited for nothing. He sheathed his sword because there was no point in keeping it drawn.

Eventually, he sat down against the far wall.

A nearby Guard with arms that were twice as long as normal shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Calder. “Is this the Gardeners coming after us?”

Many people had never seen the Bastion’s Veil that surrounded the Gray Island, but practically every one of the Imperialists had seen the silver fog that had hidden the Independent retreat during the battle of the Imperial Palace.

They knew where this mist came from.

“Coming after me, I think,” Calder said. “But there are Champions defending us.”

If Calder was honest with himself, he was a little worried that Shera would be killed or captured without him there to see it.

It shouldn’t matter, but this was the woman who had kidnapped Jerri, killed Urzaia, and repeatedly tried to kill him. She had even pretended to be willing to work with him, only to