Of Kings and Killers (Elder Empire Sea #3) - WIll Wight Page 0,84

too rapidly, sending her hair flying everywhere. “They carried him in bleeding, and they said he was dead, but Miss Petal said he wasn’t.”

This time, Andel stopped breathing.

He reached into the holster beneath his white coat, checking his pistol, then turned across the counter as Metz returned. He carried a brown sack in his arms.

“Not only is this rice, but it’s an ancient strain of alchemically enhanced, Kameira-blessed—”

“Change of plans,” Andel interrupted. He put a thumb behind his White Sun medallion and lifted it. “I need one of these, I don’t intend to ask any questions about where it came from, and I need it now.”

Metz’s grin split his face, and he tossed down the bag of rice as though it contained garbage. “It would be my pleasure, sir.”

When a knock thundered on the door, Petal screamed to stop the Champions from blasting it to splinters.

Rosephus and Tyria had leveled their weapons instnatly. Tyria’s silver needle was ignited with bright light and a ghostly red dagger rushed from behind Rosephus toward the door.

“WAIT!” Petal shouted. The dagger froze before hitting the door.

Both the Champions turned toward her.

“We don’t…we don’t know who it is.”

“I wasn’t going to stab anyone sight unseen,” Rosephus said. “But if this is an enemy who followed the Steward, they will blow this door off its hinges.”

Another knock followed, and Petal had to wipe her hands clean of Calder’s blood before she rushed from the back to open the door herself.

As she’d expected, Foster stood at the other end, glasses hanging on his beard and an irritated expression on his face. When he saw her, he pushed inside.

“Good, I’m in the right place. Thought I was going to knock until I—”

Petal threw her arms around him, sobbing.

He stiffened beneath her, but she didn’t care if he was uncomfortable. Too much had happened too quickly, and the relief of seeing someone familiar tore her apart.

Gradually, he melted, hugging her back.

“Let go, girl,” he said, but his voice was soft. “We have a life to save.”

She nodded, pulling away and swiping her sleeve at her eyes and nose.

Tyria still had her silver needle leveled at his chest. “How did you find us here?”

Foster glanced at her, but Petal had thought of this already. The Champions wouldn’t approve of her sending Lotta out, but it was already done. She would have taken responsibility…once she was in good enough shape to speak.

“Captain had an emergency signal for the crew,” Foster announced. “Bell only we could hear. He wouldn’t ring it unless he was in trouble, so lead me to him.”

Tyria and Rosephus exchanged glances but lowered their weapons.

When Petal led Foster into the back room, he shuddered at the sight of Calder with a sucking wound to the back, but he didn’t hesitate before laying a hand on the white metal and closing his eyes.

After a painful half-minute during which Petal left him to his Reading, Foster finally sighed and pulled his hand away.

“Just like I thought. The armor was invested by the Emperor himself to protect and preserve the life of the one wearing it. As long as he’s wearing it, he’ll stay alive, but the armor can’t tell the difference between surgery and a stabbing. Can’t fix him until we take him out, and the minute we take him out, he’s gone He’s just too weak.”

Petal got her breath under control and spoke. “Stronger. We can make…him stronger.” She hurriedly rushed over and grabbed some of her notes and held them out; he’d read them before. “They have Champion samples.”

One of the Champion’s Guild alchemists sighed from nearby. “Petal, I keep telling you it won’t work. The Champion treatment requires months. And that’s after years of conditioning.”

Petal had been trying to get them to read her research notes ever since Calder arrived, but they had all been busy. Now she flipped through her notes and found the relevant section, forcing it into the other alchemist’s face.

“I know you think you’ve found…hm. But making that an elixir, it wouldn’t…”

Petal forced another page onto her.

“…huh.”

Her partner shook his head. “I looked through them, Petal. It works in theory, but you’ve cut too many corners. Maybe with a few more years of development we could do something with this, but we’ll never make him a Champion with your formula.”

Foster looked at them like he was staring at a bunch of idiots. “Who said anything about a Champion? We want him sturdy enough that he won’t fall apart like a roast the second