"Agreed," said Chapelion. "This adds urgency to my desire to select a new king. A strong army can…"
"Respectfully, sir," interrupted Vulpine, "you make a grave mistake if you wait for a new king to deal with this problem."
Chapelion shook his head. "You overestimate the threat these rebels pose. They only command one city; it is far from the abode of any sun-dragons. They can't spread their power far."
"It's not power I fear they will spread, but chaos," said Vulpine. "As I journeyed here, I saw many human towns abandoned. I see that the Free City is occupied, I assume by human refugees. If this unrest lasts into the spring, it will threaten the food supplies of the dragons. If no planting is done by humans, famine will spread through the land."
"What would you have me do? The rebels at Dragon Forge are said to possess a new type of bow that repelled an army of sun-dragons and earth-dragons."
"Give me command of half the aerial guard and a contingent of valkyries. Allow me to access the king's treasuries and buy back the loyalties of the earth-dragon soldiers that currently roam the kingdom as bandits. We need to establish a complete blockade of Dragon Forge."
Chapelion nodded thoughtfully. "You've always possessed a better strategic mind than I have, Vulpine. I've been so occupied with politics I've paid little attention to the human uprising."
"Right now humans around the kingdom are learning of the humans' little victory. Instead of allowing this news to spread hope of rebellion among the humans, it's important that humans shiver with horror when they hear the words Dragon Forge. Humans are creatures of habit; they fear change. As long as they are kept relatively content, we control them because they have a difficult time imagining life any other way. Let Dragon Forge remain in human hands for long, however, and soon every last man in this kingdom will be embracing the romantic notion that he's a heroic rebel. It's a vision that infected Shay, after all, and you were certain he'd never betray you."
Chapelion sighed as he stared down at the map. He nudged his glasses further up his long face. His brow wrinkled as his eyes focused on the iron rod in Vulpine's fore-talon.
"What is this device you carry?"
"That's an excellent question," said Vulpine, lifting the instrument. "I took this from Shay. Jandra killed Balikan with an identical weapon. The device produced a loud, focused explosion that propelled lead pellets at an unimaginable speed. Balikan's head simply vanished. You are more the historian than I am, but I suspect this may be something that hasn't existed in this world for centuries: a gun."
"By the bones," Chapelion said reverently, reaching out to take the weapon. "The secret of manufacturing gunpowder vanished ages ago."
Vulpine held up the belt he'd taken. "This contains cotton pouches filled with black powder. I can identify some of the components by smell; I imagine Bazanel at the College of Spires can make short work of the recipe."
Chapelion turned the gun over and over in his claws, studying the firing mechanism, sniffing at the barrel. "The scale pattern in the steel is curious. Could it be evidence that it was manufactured by a dragon?"
Vulpine shook his head. "Since the steel is of recent origin, and since Shay's trail took him to Dragon Forge, I can only deduce the rebels at the foundry produced these."
"This is horrible," said Chapelion. "It was reported that they possessed a new type of bow. I didn't expect that they'd manufactured something like this."
"And they didn't expect us to capture one so quickly," said Vulpine. "If Bazanel can reproduce the chemistry of the powder, I'm certain that valkyrie engineers can duplicate the mechanics, or even improve them. We can negate their advantage in short order. If there's anyone left to kill at Dragon Forge when we've armed ourselves, I suspect we'll have the advantage."
Chapelion looked up from the gun. "What do you mean, 'if there's anyone left to kill?'"
"As Slavecatcher General, I receive reports on the conditions of slaves throughout the kingdom. There's always some new outbreak of disease: malaria, leprosy, yellow-mouth, or cholera. I have the authority to impose quarantines on slave trading with infected abodes until these outbreaks run their course. I propose that we harness one of these diseases as a weapon. We need something with a high mortality rate, something easily spread, and something that doesn't immediately produce symptoms. Our carrier will need to be healthy enough to get inside Dragon Forge, after all. There is currently an outbreak of yellow-mouth in the abode of Rorg. It doesn't have quite the mortality rate I'd like… more than half its victims survive. But it's active now, and spreads easily. A single infected human within the walls of Dragon Forge will cripple the place."
"You've given this some thought," said Chapelion.
"It's the nature of my job," said Vulpine. "I've spent years imagining responses to mass uprisings such as the one we face."
"Such imagination! Turning plague into a weapon of war," Chapelion said, shaking his head. "Not even Blasphet ever latched upon such a plan."
"Do you object to it?"
"No. I'll dispatch a messenger to the valkyries at once. Sagen, here can serve as head of a squadron you select from among the aerial guard. The full treasury is at your disposal as well. Your plan is sound. Make it happen."
Vulpine lowered his head respectfully. "I'm honored by your trust."
"I recognize a great mind when I see one," said Chapelion.
CHAPTER EIGHT:
CONSORT OF DEMONS
Jandra held the silver bracelet in her fist as she knelt on the cobblestone road. She gave the metal ring a powerful whack against a stone. Anza raised an eyebrow as a shower of sparks erupted from the metal. She swiveled her head, as if trying to pinpoint some distant sound.
Shay couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary. They were well beyond the bustling activity of Richmond now, no more than a mile from the palace. They'd left the fresh horses from Burke's Tavern in a stable in town to make a stealthier approach.
It was still a few hours before dawn; Shay's breath was coming out in great clouds. The world was perfectly still, quiet enough that the rustle of Shay's coat as moved sounded loud.
The sparks from Jandra's magic bracelet swirled around them. The air began to smell as if a storm had recently passed through the area.
"We're invisible now," said Jandra.
"No we're not," said Shay, staring down at his hands.
"The mirrors have a radius of about fifteen feet. Anyone inside can see clearly. If you're outside the circle, the mirrors edit the scene and show only a background image."
Shay looked around. "I don't see any mirrors."
"These aren't the sort of mirrors you shave with. Magnetically Integrated Rapidly Rotating Optical Reversers are no bigger than a fleck of dust, all kept dancing on magnetic waves generated by the bracelet." She slid the bracelet back on to her arm.
Shay nodded, understanding at least part of her sentence. "You've made us invisible with magic dust?"
Jandra rolled her eyes. "Shay, you're going to have to trust me. I don't have time to explain everything I…" Her face paled as she gazed off into the distance. Anza drew her sword and turned to follow Jandra's gaze.
"What?" whispered Shay, clicking the safety off his shotgun.
"Put down your weapons," Jandra said. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Why did you fall silent? Did you see something?" Shay asked, looking toward Anza. He wasn't going to put the safety back on until she relaxed. Anza stared into the dark, crouched as if ready to strike. Finally, she stood, the tension flowing from her body, and she silently slipped the sword back into its sheath.