I spoke over my shoulder to the mages behind me. ‘Compass.’
‘What’s up, chief?’
‘White flag please.’
A tiny portal appeared at Compass’s hand; she reached into it and pulled out a piece of folded cloth. Space mages can create a pocket dimension that works as personal storage; some use it to pile up all kinds of junk, but Compass seemed to pack with an eye to the battlefield. I opened up the flag and began tying it to the sovnya, just below the blade.
‘Do bear in mind that the men and women in that building have just taken rather heavy losses,’ Landis said. ‘They may not be in the most reasonable frame of mind.’
I shook out the flag, checking that the ties would hold. ‘Get your men in position,’ I told Rain and Landis. ‘If one or two take shots at me, ignore it. If they all do, launch the bombardment.’
‘Understood.’
A good couple of dozen mages and soldiers stood watching, waiting to see what I’d do. I took a breath, then walked up to the corner and stuck the sovnya out in plain view.
Silence. The white flag stirred in the breeze. I’d expected a shout or a bullet, but there was nothing. I waited thirty seconds; then, when there was still no reaction, I walked around the corner.
The building where Richard’s adepts had gathered for their final stand was two stories high, with the north wall of the castle overshadowing it from behind. Square windows lined the ground floor, dark and threatening. My eyes spotted shapes at a couple of those windows; my divination told me of a dozen more. I shouldered the sovnya, letting the white flag hang down over my head, and marched forward.
My footsteps echoed from the buildings as I advanced. All my instincts were telling me to run: there were a lot of weapons being readied at those windows, and I was the only target. I knew that the buildings behind me and to my left and right were filled with soldiers and mages, all poised to attack, but it would only take one adept with an itchy trigger finger to set everything off. He’d die moments later, but that wouldn’t be much consolation to me.
I came to a stop in the middle of the courtyard. I could feel hundreds of eyes on me from all around. I planted the butt of the sovnya on the stone and took a deep breath. ‘I am Mage Verus of the Junior Council, commander of the Light task force,’ I shouted. ‘Who speaks for you?’
Silence. The futures swung crazily. The fateweaver would be little use here: too many independent decisions. I waited, holding still.
Then the futures settled. Up ahead, there was the rattle of bolts being drawn, then a door opened in the kitchen wall and Richard Drakh stepped out into the sun.
Richard didn’t look like someone who’d lost. His clothes were neat and he carried no weapons or armour . . . at least none visible to normal eyes. My magesight told a different story. His clothes were a suit of reactive armour similar to mine, though less bulky and maybe a little weaker, and half a dozen kinds of magic radiated from the matte-black pouches hanging from his belt. But it was his manner that was most out of place. He walked towards me as though taking an afternoon stroll.
Richard came to a stop fifteen feet away. ‘Alex,’ he said with a nod.
‘Richard,’ I said flatly. There were spells twined around him. Space magic, force magic, some universal effect I couldn’t identify. None were standard protections.
‘Commander of the Light task force, is it? You’ve done well for yourself.’
Richard was just barely out of range for a lunge. The sovnya tugged, sensing the thing inside him. It wanted to kill him. So did I. ‘Like master, like apprentice, I suppose,’ I told him. ‘Are you willing to surrender?’
‘Should I be?’
I knew that every marksman and mage on the buildings behind me had their sights trained on Richard. Richard Drakh had been at the top of the Council’s most-wanted list for years, and the Keeper or soldier who killed him could name their own reward. If Alma and Druss were here right now, they’d give the order to fire, and to hell with the flag of truce. They wanted Richard dead more than anyone.
But Richard had to know that too. There was no fear in his brown eyes as he looked calmly towards me, and that scared me. All of a sudden, none of the men backing me up seemed to matter. It was just the two of us, like it had always been, and like always, I knew deep down in my bones that I was outmatched.
‘Over fifty per cent of your adepts are dead or wounded,’ I told Richard loudly. I kept my voice hard, not showing any fear. ‘Vihaela has been killed, and the rest of the mages of your cabal have fallen or fled. You are surrounded by a superior force that outmatches you in every way.’ I looked past Richard to where the people behind him were listening. ‘You gathered these adepts to your banner claiming that you were creating a mutual defence association. You promised them power and independence. What you’ve led them to is death. If you want to prove you really do have their best interests at heart, this is your last chance. Order them to lay down their weapons.’
‘I’m afraid that what you want will take more than speeches and threats,’ Richard said. ‘We all know how the Council treats its prisoners.’
Richard was too calm. What was he planning? ‘I can’t promise amnesty,’ I said. ‘But I can promise your forces that if they surrender, they’ll leave this shadow realm alive. If they don’t, they’ll be killed to a man.’
‘And you want to spare them?’ Richard said with a faint smile. ‘Be honest, Alex. That isn’t why you’re standing there right now. You aren’t here to save my adepts, and you’re not here to protect those Council soldiers either.’
I could feel eyes on me from all around. I kept my face expressionless. ‘Choose, Richard,’ I said. ‘Life, or death.’
Richard nodded, then pulled back the flap on one of his pouches.
I tensed, ready to strike. But instead of attacking, Richard reached slowly into the pouch and pulled out a pair of items, his movements steady and unthreatening. He held them out in one hand. ‘I believe,’ he said, ‘that what you truly want is this.’
In the palm of Richard’s hand were two items: an ancient, ornate ring, and a lattice of gold and silvery metal, curved so as to fit around the fingers like a knuckleduster. It was the first time I’d laid eyes on either, but I knew what they were. The Council’s weapon, and Suleiman’s Ring.
‘Hear me!’ Richard shouted suddenly. His voice rolled around the courtyard, strong and commanding. ‘The Council care nothing for your lives! They are here to kill me, but more than that, they are here to seize the marid and return it to their control! And these items are the means by which they plan to do it. Bear witness, and know that I shall return!’
The echoes of Richard’s voice died away. Richard looked me in the eye; his mouth quirked and he spoke again, this time so quietly that I could barely hear. ‘And you, Alex, are here only for your lover. For her, you would sacrifice every other living being in this shadow realm. How long will they follow you once they learn that?’
I stood quite still, muscles tensed. The sovnya sang to me, pure in its urge to kill. I could reach him with a step and a lunge.
But in the second it would take me to cross that distance, Richard would have time to activate those spells. I wasn’t afraid for myself, but my plans for saving Anne hinged around that ring and that weapon. If either were destroyed . . .
Slowly, Richard bent down and laid the ring and the gold lattice upon the stone. Then he straightened up again. He watched me as if waiting for something.