“You are welcome to depart any time you like, you and any of your friends, but a military airship is already on its way here to collect Esprë and take her back to Korth.”
Esprë inhaled a single sob, and Kandler felt his heart begin to break. He refused to look at her, though, afraid they would both crack if he did.
“You are welcome to come with her,” Berre said. “I would encourage it. Korth is no place for such a gifted young elf to be without the benefit of her guardians.”
“Gifted, eh?” Burch said, his voice soaked with suspicion.
Berre put down her goblet and threw up her hands. “She was under our care, and she was near death. We examined her, and we found her dragonmark.”
Everyone around the table froze. Berre pretended not to notice and kept talking.
“It is strange, to be sure. None of us could identify it, which is why Korth is so intrigued. We know not if it is some sort of lost mark or a new mark never seen before. Either way, we need to learn everything we can about it. For that reason, Esprë is leaving for Korth on the morrow—with or without the rest of you.”
Kandler reached out and put a hand on Esprë’s shoulder. She reached up and held it tight. “Well,” he said to her, his eyes never leaving Berre’s, “it looks like we’re about to pay King Kaius a visit.”
28
“We can’t let this happen,” Sallah said, pacing the floor back in the room assigned to her, Monja, and Esprë. “There must be something we can do.”
“There is,” Kandler said. He turned to Burch. “How long will it take us to pack?”
“Never unpacked,” the shifter said, bouncing on his toes, ready to spring into action. “Get us all ready to travel in ten minutes, less.”
“Get started, but take your time. Don’t let them see you. We won’t try anything until after midnight.”
The shifter nodded and bounded out of the room.
“We’re going to escape?” Xalt said. He cocked his head at Kandler. “Just leave in the middle of the night?”
“You have a better idea?”
“We’re in a Karrnathi fort in the middle of nowhere,” Sallah said. “Our foes have over a hundred well-trained skeletons forged from the remains of their former warriors at their disposal.”
“Can you handle them?” Kandler asked. “Between you, Brendis, and Monja, can you get rid of them?”
Monja shook her head. “Not that many of them. Not all at once. I can’t speak for these knights, but the gods don’t favor my fate that much.”
Kandler frowned. “So much for a life of prayer.”
“You can’t let them take me,” Esprë said softly. She hadn’t said so many words in a row since they’d finished dinner.
Kandler sat next to the young elf on a fresh-made bed and put his arms around her. “Don’t you worry,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “You’re not going anywhere without us.”
Brendis stood up from where he’d sat silently on the other side of the room. “I offer you my sword, Esprë, as your personal protector. None shall harm you while I still draw breath, so I do swear.”
The young elf failed to fight back her tears and launched herself into Brendis’s arms. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Don’t you think Berre expects us to try to escape?” Sallah said. “Every skeleton in the place is sure to be on high alert. They don’t sleep. They don’t eat. They don’t get distracted. This is a fool’s errand.”
“Do you have a better idea?” Kandler said. “Once they put Esprë on that Karrnathi airship, it’s over. We’re on a one-way trip to Korth.”
“Then we go with them,” Sallah said.
“No!” Esprë cried.
“Wait,” Sallah said, holding up her hands to Kandler as Esprë buried her face in his chest, “hear me out.”
Kandler glared at the lady knight but nodded. He’d been through enough with her to give her ideas a fair hearing.
“The court of Kaius is not where I would prefer to be, but they respect the rule of law. Once we reach Korth, I will contact the local prelate of the Church of the Silver Flame and petition for Esprë’s release.”
Kandler’s face fell. If that was the best Sallah could come up with, it wouldn’t stop his plans for tonight for a second.
“I know,” Sallah said. “Working through the channels of diplomacy can be a slow and painful process, but there’s another option. If we can somehow get Esprë into one of our churches while in Korth, she can then claim sanctuary.”
“Sanctuary?” Xalt asked.
“King Kaius respects all established religions in his realm, including the Church of the Silver Flame. Any penitent who enters the doors of one of our churches and petitions for sanctuary is granted protection from the local secular government.”
“What’s the catch?” Kandler said, still holding Esprë, who’d at least stopped crying long enough to listen to what Sallah had to say.
“Getting to one of the churches may not be easy. There are a number throughout Korth, but getting to one of them would mean waiting for the right time to make our move. Until then, we’d be at the mercy of King Kaius.”
“And?” Kandler could tell there was something else Sallah was holding back.
“To be granted sanctuary, you have to be a practicing member of the church. Esprë and anyone else who wanted protection would have to convert.”
Kandler shook his head. “The skeletons are looking better all the time.”
Sallah growled. “You would rather risk your life—and that of Esprë—rather than consider converting to my faith?”
“Could I lie?” Kandler suspected he knew the answer to this question already.
Sallah grimaced. “The prelate would question you to verify the honesty of your conversion, and he would have the power of the Silver Flame on his side. It would have to be a true conversion.”
Kandler hugged Esprë closer. “I don’t think I can do that.”
“You risk your lives and your eternal souls for your defiance.”
“The gods haven’t been kind to me over the years—if there are any such things. I can’t find it in me to worship them. It would be like praying to a general who’s been torturing your family for generations. It just wouldn’t ring true.”
“The Silver Flame is not the sham of the Sovereign Host. It is the one true god, the light of which all other gods are mere reflections.”
Monja cleared her throat. “That is the most arrogant thing I’ve ever heard.”
“I meant no offense,” Sallah started.
“This is no time for a theological debate,” Kandler said. As he spoke, Esprë stood up and walked toward the room’s single window. There she gazed out into the night sky.
“Esprë, Burch, and I are leaving tonight. If the rest of you want to come, you’re welcome to. Otherwise, just keep quiet.”
“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Monja said. “I told my father I’d see you safely through this.”
“You did enough just getting us here.”
Monja smiled. “Doing just enough is never enough.”
Xalt chipped in. “I am with you as well.” He rubbed his amputated finger with his damaged hand as he spoke. “I would like to visit Flamekeep someday, but I am prepared for that to never happen.”
“Just as long as we don’t end up in Korth on the way.”
Sallah pursed her lips at Kandler for a moment. She glanced at Brendis before responding, and the young knight nodded at her once.
“Esprë is your stepdaughter,” she said. “The choice is yours alone, and we will accompany you no matter if you make the right one or not.”
Burch burst back into the room with three packs—his, Brendis’s, and Kandler’s—ready to go. Startled, Xalt jumped and then fell silent. Kandler saw the way the warforged stared at the floor for a moment, and he wondered if this was his people’s way of blushing.