War of the Princes 02: Dragoon (30 page)

“
I know,” Professor Block said, heavy with remorse. “I know. I have people that I love there too. It's my home. I know it sounds like a decision made from lunacy or evil, but it is rooted in neither. Don't discount my Ability. I thought about it, early on during my capture. I had little else to worry my mind with while they broke my ribs one by one. And Paul...”

I'd seen Paul. He was the man strapped to the Monarch
, the dead man with brown shoes and no eyes.

“
With all of the knowledge available to me, I could see no other way to protect our loved ones than to save them from a cruel and hideous death. While you judge me, answer me this? Isn't it kinder to let a people freeze alongside their families, or even starve when the crops fail? Or would you let the Prince take them,” his voice flooded with emotion. “And see the life force torn from them, the consciousness stolen from their eyes, like Mister Mason down there? Would you rather see that? There was only one answer then, and one answer still...”

I swayed where I stood. My reverie consumed me. Haven really was a machine. We were supposed to be pieces of it. Where had I gone wrong? It was then that I realized, really comprehended, that all of this would have happened whether or not I'd found the Outside World a year ago. My experience might actually be a tiny measure of help to a doomed world. It wasn't for nothing.

Margrave Hest and my father had one thing in common. They'd both told me something similar.

“
We are all parts of a living machine.
”

“
All it takes is one person to change everything to right or ruin
.”

Rune was a key piece. By affecting him, showing him a glimpse of happiness, he spiraled off on his own
course to destroy the function of Cape Hill. If he could make such a vast difference, so could I.

Professor Block looked between us like a man drowning, and whispered.

“We cannot let them take us.”

C
hapter 51: Just Punishment

Common-Lord Brendon Axton stood in his study, with his white sleeves rolled to the elbows, and a gold chain looped over the breast pocket of his plain brown waistcoat. A black band was tied around his right bicep, a symbol of mourning. There was a stout glass filled with yellowish liquid in his hand, and a bottle of whisky sitting on the dark brown desktop at his side.

When he turned to face us, I noticed irritation first. We hadn't been announced. In fact, whenever the Keep guards had moved in to intercept us, they wound up stopping short and trailing behind us like lost puppies. By the time we reached the top floor, half of the Keep was following us, and barely a quarter of our entourage could fit in Brendon's antechamber.

His eyes caught onto me
with surprise, then Rune with confusion, and finally Dylan with relief. But when the children flooded in behind us, his face went slack and his jaw fell open.

The glass fell from his hand and shattered on the hardwood floor.

*   *   *

“
Katelyn Kestrel,” Lord Brendon addressed me, pacing. “I've questioned your sanity before, and you've left me no room for wondering. You truly are mad!”

I frowned with indignation.

Some heroic reception.

The Common-Lord had sent the children, under heavy guard, to the dining hall to be fed, and he'd demanded that the rest of us remain in the study. Four rough militia soldiers remained with us, barring the door, as if they'd be able to stop a
Dragoon, a Commander, and three Lodestones from leaving the room. Carmine was with us too, and not pleased about it. Brendon had insisted on having his men board her ship.

“
I thank you for returning my brother to me,” he said, pausing only to rub his forehead with his hands.

Dylan was loafing in Brendon's desk chair as though he owned the place.
“Right here, Brendon. I'd like to think I had something to do with my own return, thank you very much.”

Brendon spun on him, his muscular shoulders tensing.
“Yes, and I have a few choice words for you on this matter. Don't think you'll be free of it.”

He turned back to the rest of us. We were sitting in a crescent formation of chairs at Brendon's insistence. Rune
was unaccustomed to sitting in the presence of a lord, and stood behind me instead.

“
You found the person you sought. You've provided me with a reason to believe that my brother might be halfway competent,” Brendon said.

“
Pardon?” Dylan snapped irritably.

Brendon plowed ahead.
“Those efforts are to be commended, without a doubt. Would that I could, I'd send you on your way. But things are not so simple as they should be. In my fair judgment and sympathy, I've already pulled my collar down to expose my neck, and you've lowered it over the executioner's block! You've brought with you a Dragoon defector and the children of Penalty!”

I was shaken. It hadn't occurred to me that Breakwater wouldn't want their children back.
“We couldn't leave them there.”

“
No? And why is that? You've grown tired of living and you'd like a swift end to it all?”

“
Sir,” Professor Block said politely. “Prince Raserion has found the way to our home. If he reaches it...”

“
You forget yourself, stranger. He is
my
Prince! Your problems are not mine.”

Kyle rose to his feet with urgency.
“They'll be all of our problems if we don't-”

“
Enough!” Brendon snapped and took long strides back and forth beside his extensive bookshelf. “Sit down, boy. I latched onto a foolish hope, but I should have learned to expect this kind of naiveté if Miss Kestrel is any example of your culture. A pilot who only thinks in terms of coin is commonplace. My dear brother here has already proven himself to make the worst possible choices in life. What I did not anticipate is you, Cormorant Thayer.”

“
Sir,” Rune said respectfully at attention. “No one here is to blame for this action but myself.”

“
Did you pilot that ship, Thayer?”

“
No, sir.”

“
Then there are others to blame.”

“
Wait just one minute,” Carmine said, sitting bolt upright.

“
So you're saying you would have left the children there?” Kyle asked with an edge in his tone. He remained in his chair, this time, but looked like he could barely tolerate it.

“
They were being
killed
. Drained, tortured. I saw it myself. Rune put his life on the line to get them out of there,” I burst in.

“
You have no right to call him by that name. He is a Dragoon, he isn't-”

Fury rose up in me
, and this time it was my turn to shoot to my feet. “Rune Thayer isn't a Dragoon, he's a human being, and worthy of equal respect.”

Brendon Axton's gaze was made of something stronger than steel.
“Swallow your self righteousness, girl. And. Sit. Down.” This was the same man who, without any Abilities, commanded enough respect to argue face-to-face with Commanders. He was the living example that power didn't need to be tangible to function.

My stubborn rebellion toward authority warred within me and lost beneath that gaze. I sat down, took a breath and attempted to smother my anger.
“If you can stand here and tell me that you would have turned them away, then you're just as inhuman as the Margrave.”

The Common-Lord's voice came out a low rumble, like thunder in the distance. He stepped behind his desk, beside Dylan, and leaned over the table, resting his weight on his splayed fingertips. The look behind his brown eyes boiled.
“Allow me to explain something to you. An hour before your arrival, I received some startling news by speed courier. Cape Hill's military force had fallen to an internal insurrection. The casualties to the Prince's army reached well into the hundreds, and the children of the installment had all been killed in a structural collapse. At this very moment, these Dragoon rebels have overrun Cape Hill, a supportive militia has formed among the civilians, and the entire city has been fortified against the Prince. Margrave Hest has been killed. The Dragoons loyal to Raserion who escaped are regrouping.

“
Now, I find the dead children here, in my city. Their families will rejoice, the black flags will be removed from the streets, there will be celebrations, and the Prince, one way or another, will learn about them. When he does, he will pool his armies from the other regions, he will initiate a new Margrave, and he will launch a campaign to wipe Cape Hill and Breakwater off the map.

“
Yes, I care about the children. But their fates were decided the day they were taken from me. I have no control over that, as much as it angers me, lances me through the heart to see them taken, abused, killed, or cursed to live the empty life of sacrifice that every Dragoon must endure. I do have power over the fate of some. My station lends me the control to be able to protect a few. I have a responsibility to my people, childless or not. Their lives rest in my hands, and you, in your foolish spasms of idealism, have taken that away from me!

“
What should I tell those families when we see the black ships approaching to destroy us? What can I say to the children, who, with false hope, believed that they were saved? When Breakwater's streets run red with their blood, what will you do? Who are any of you to make such a decision?”

His words came like a slap in the face. I'd thought that rescuing the children of Breakwater was the one correct thing we'd accomplished.

“Brendon is right, what we've done was beyond foolish, it was treason,” Dylan said, leaning his arms against the desk.

“
Why don't you lick his boot while you're at it?” Kyle said, crossing his arms.

Dylan gave Kyle a haughty glare.
“
But
, after spending a year of my life in a cell, I've decided that any action is better than none.”

“
How
noble
of you,” Carmine added, sarcastically.

“
Forgive me, Lord Axton,” Rune said, bowing his head. “I couldn't let them die. It was my weakness.”

Brendon sighed, pushed off of the desk and looked at Rune with some familiarity.
“None of us are without fault,” he admitted. “But it's not often that those imperfections decide the deaths of thousands.”

“
If this Prince of yours reaches Haven,” Professor Block persisted. “I'm fairly certain that the fates of two cities will be of small consequence compared to the greater impact.”

Brendon clenched his square jaw.
“Only the North would have had cause to worry. Until today, we were not the enemies of Prince Raserion.”

“
And what about us?” Block said. “What earned us a target? We have nothing to do with any of this, but your Prince plans to enslave and murder everyone in our country.”

“
Again, it is of no consequence to me. Do I look like a king to you? I'm the lord of a small city, a common-lord as they always remind me, only fit to watch over those citizens without Abilities.”

“
I may not know much about this place,” Block said, exhaustion plain in his bearing. “But the disease of corruption you've grown accustomed to is spreading. Times are changing everywhere. No one is safe from it.”

“
You don't seem a wholly ignorant man,” Brendon acknowledged.

“
If I knew more about this war, I may be able to help advise you,” Block said. “But only you can choose how to proceed here.”

“
I won't apologize for saving the lives of those children. If you arrest me, I'll understand, but I've made the decision to fight for my life,” Rune warned. “I'd rather you not be present for it.”

“
No,” I said. “Let him come with me. We'll leave and you'll never see us again.”

“
I'm afraid you're not free of this situation either, Miss Kestrel,” Brendon said, looking us over. “Your actions, all of you,” he glanced backward for Dylan's benefit, “have damned me. For that, I'm owed a debt.”

The
common lord straightened up to pace in front of his window. His fury seemed to be subsiding, giving way to deeper thought, if his body language was any indication.

“Damn you,” he hissed, in one last display of outrage. “Damn all of you.”

I refused to regret my actions. I would not be a victim.

We did the right thing.

When the common-lord met my eyes, I could tell something had changed in him.

Lord Brendon crossed his arms and settled into a wide stance to face us.
“I have a city filled with trained militia, and children who do not yet know how to properly control their Abilities. If Breakwater is to survive this, we need help. Yours. The Prince regards Lodestones as having incalculable value, so you're even more priceless to me, Miss Kestrel. If you have any measure of honor in you, you'll agree to serve as Breakwater's protectors and perhaps, our alliance can be of mutual benefit.”

“
If we had a hand in the cause of your ostracizing,” Professor Block said from his seat. “Why would you gamble on relying on us now?”

“
You continue to impress me,” Brendon said, fishing for a name.

“
Barry Block. Professor,” my former teacher responded.

“
Professor, none of you, not even Cormorant Thayer in his misguided quest for freedom, have done anything to make me your enemy. I would be a poor leader and protector if I did not feel some rage for the death sentence of my people when I had no hand in the crime.” Brendon exhaled and rubbed at his face with his hands. “But the act was made with noble intentions. I see that. I love my city's children as much as any parent. And even regardless of that fact, there is no point in arguing that we are not both enemies of Prince Raserion, now and forever. Those who do not adapt to the changes of the seasons starve in the winter as easily as they'd wither beneath the droughts of summer heat. I'm in need of allies as much as you. Now, would you aid Breakwater?”

I wondered how he would react if we said no.

Kyle surprised me by being the first to respond. “Of course we will.”

“
We can't speak for all of Haven,” Professor Block said, and I could see by his expression, that he was submerged in his thoughts.

“
I suggest you figure out a way to do just that,” Brendon said to him. “Thayer?”

Rune nodded deeply.
“I didn't give up the yoke of one master for another. But I'll help an old friend.”

The impact of his statement wasn't lost on me. They were bold words for a
Dragoon. Brendon looked at him anew.