Hail To The King Read online

  “Remember, we shouldn’t be like the Drow, hasty and foolish.” The king looked to the side and sighed.

  “What do you mean? This deserves an answer.” He gestured around him. “If we do nothing they will think they can get away with anything, and more incidents will follow, Your Highness. More people will die, and the human authorities will begin to blame others, maybe even us. The situation is tenuous enough as it is.” His fingers threatened to curl into fists again, but he resisted.

  The king shook his head. “We must think long-term, not short-term. Yes, you’re right. The situation between Earth and Oriceran is precarious enough as it is, and that’s before any of the more disturbing aspects of what the Seer’s Quatrains imply about our world are considered. Still, we can’t risk starting a war with the Drow.”

  The consul let out another weary sigh. “I’d say they are the ones starting a war.”

  The king shook his head. “No, they are launching foolish attacks, and these foolish attacks have cost them their lives, for the most part. I’m content to give Laena a small amount of time to consider the implications of her failures. She might be ruthless and arrogant, but she’s far from foolish.” He stood.

  “Are you sure, Your Highness?” The consul placed his arms behind his back, to give them something to do that wouldn’t betray his nervousness to the king.

  The king nodded gravely. “If we war against the Drow it’ll come to Earth, and if the war lands on Earth, we might as well blow up our planet ourselves.”

  “I can see your wisdom in this, but I still feel we should do something.”

  “And what would you suggest?” The king arched a brow.

  The consul dipped his head for a moment in thought. “At the minimum, Laena should be made aware that we’re watching her. That might constrain the Drow’s future actions.” He looked back up. “Since she’s no longer here, perhaps someone on the Oriceran side could leave an official strongly-worded message kindly suggesting that it’d be best if the queen does not show up on Earth again anytime soon.”

  The king nodded. “I’ll see that it’s taken care of. If the Drow return to Earth, inform me immediately.”

  The consul bowed his head. “As you wish, Your Highness.”

  2

  Shay leaned forward on the couch and eyed James’ chest as he sat in a chair across from her. “You should have brought the Whispering Amulet of Doom.”

  I’ve got too many doom artifacts in my life lately.

  James grunted. “You’ve already seen it. Not like we need it here to talk about it.” He looked away, discomfort etched on his face. He was starting to regret having told Shay about the recent change.

  “But you just told me you can talk to it now.” Shay rolled her eyes. “You can’t drop something like that on me and then try to act like it’s no big deal.”

  James shook his head. “I didn’t say I could talk to it, just that I’m starting to understand it some. Most of that was more about knowing what it was feeling than what it was saying.”

  Shay laughed. “So you’re saying you do a better job of understanding your amulet than me?”

  “Something like that, yeah.” James shrugged.

  Shay leaned back and looked James up and down. “The more you can communicate with it, the greater the potential to unlock more of its power.”

  “That’s if it has more.”

  “Oh, I bet it does, but the armor is nice enough.”

  “Yeah.” James nodded. “Be dead ten times over without it.”

  “You said you figured out how it worked?” Shay tilted her head slightly, a pained expression on her face. “Or did the amulet tell you?”

  James shook his head. “No, I figured it out. It’s obvious now that the thing adapts after attacks.” He gestured toward his chest. “It’s not perfect, but after the first hit, it’ll make me more resistant to that type of attack. It’s like it knows what to watch for.”

  It was good to have some small advance in understanding. He’d gone so many years having no clue what the amulet represented, and even worried that it was infernal. Now he not only knew it was alien in origin but was closer to understanding its true nature.

  Shay tapped her bottom lip. “Kind of like a vaccine, then?”

  “Yeah.”

  Shay blew out a breath and stood. “But it’s really specific in some ways. You’ve been hit with magic before, and it didn’t protect you at first against the Drow.” She started pacing.

  “I don’t think it’s as general as magic or non-magic.” James shrugged. “I’ve been stabbed with swords before, and it didn’t help me when that Harriken fuck used the Masamune on me.” He ran his hand over his chest and down his stomach, remembering the pain of the wound. “I don’t know if it’s the material or the spell, but I’m guessing it’s like the specific type of energy, magical or not. Maybe I’m resistant to shadow magic now. Don’t know.”

  “That would make sense.” Shay stopped pacing and closed on James, her eyes narrowed.

  He looked up at her uncertainly.

  Shit. What’s going on in her head? Whatever the next sentence is, I’m guessing it won’t be good.

  She tapped his chest. “I’m going to need to shoot you.”

  Yeah, not good.

  “Huh?” James rose slowly, his hands in front of his chest. He didn’t understand women all that well, and the relationship podcast hadn’t covered what to say if your girlfriend said she wanted to shoot you.

  “So it can learn.” Shay shrugged. “The Whispering Amulet of Doom.”

  “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.” James dropped his hands and shook his head. “Bullets are fine. I’ve been using it so long that it’s already adapted to a lot of things.”

  Shay nodded. “I guess that’s true. I’ve seen you take tons of bullets, knives, and shotgun pellets. You’ve been burned by fire that would have sent other people to the hospital.” She winced.

  “Yeah, I figure bullets and pellets are kind of the same thing.” He settled back into his chair. “Bullets, in the end, are just about applying kinetic energy.”

  Shay shook her head. “We still don’t know if it’s that general.”

  James frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s alien shit that may or may not be magical.” Shay pulled open her jacket to reveal a sheath for one of the magical gnomish knives. “And being magical can make a big difference, even if it’s functionally the same on the surface. For all we know, it could be as specific as ‘protect James from metal bullets made from lead.’ Someone might roll up and shoot you with a silver bullet or something, and you go down.”

  The bounty hunter shrugged. “Yeah. Maybe. I’m not gonna say I never get surprised like with the Harriken sword.”

  She snapped her fingers. “I just thought of something. I’m so fucking brilliant.”

  “What?”

  “You should ask it.” Shay pointed to his chest.

  “The amulet?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. If you understand more of it now, maybe it’ll answer.”

  “I don’t know.” James frowned and looked down. “It wasn’t responding to my thoughts from what I could tell, but to the situation, and I’m still not sure if me understanding more of what it’s saying is good or bad.” He looked back up. “This thing fuses with my body. For all I know, it might be able to take control of me.”

  A strange look passed over Shay’s face for a moment.

  James frowned. “What?”

  Shay waved a hand. “Nothing, just…thinking, was all. It’d be helpful if we knew more about where you came from, but I can look into that.”

  “Yeah.” James grunted. “I’m not good at the research shit.”

  Shay smiled, though it seemed forced.

  She’s probably freaked out by having all this alien shit up in her face. Can’t blame her.

  “What do we do in the meantime?” James asked.

  Shay shrugged. “We train it.”

  “T
rain it?”

  “Yeah. If we don’t know how far it goes with bullets, we shoot you with different guns.”

  James grunted. “And we’re back to shooting me.”

  Shay laughed. “Yeah, just go to that witch of yours and stock up on healing potions if you’re worried.”

  “Those things aren’t cheap.”

  “The more you’re immune to, the less you’ll have to use them in the future.” Shay settled back on the couch and crossed her legs. “Think of it as an investment.”

  James nodded. “Okay, fine.” He sighed. “Part one of the plan is shooting me a lot.”

  “Yeah.” Shay grinned. “I’m only suggesting this for your own good.”

  The bounty hunter grunted. “Yeah, yeah. And what else?”

  “Beat you with different weapons. Stab you.” Shay whipped out her knife and sliced the air a few times. “Try and fry you different ways. Sonic attacks. There’s a lot of shit we could do.” She grinned.

  James eyed her for a few seconds before speaking. “You look like you’re enjoying the idea of trying to hurt me way too much.”

  Shay winked. “Oh, no. It’s all for your own good, James.” Her eyes widened, and her mouth formed an O. “Maybe a harpoon?”

  “A harpoon?”

  “Yeah, you ever been harpooned?” She mimicked throwing a harpoon. “I’ve used one a few times.”

  “No. I’m not a fucking shark or a whale.” James snorted.

  Shay laughed. “Just saying, you never know what you’ll need to deal with bounty-wise. We need to be systematic about this, including testing shit we think you might already be immune to, like most rifles, pistols, and shotguns.” Her smile widened. “Might want to work on small-dose toxins and shit, too.” She rubbed her hands together.

  James shook his head. “I’m not letting you fucking poison me.”

  Shay put her thumb and forefinger together. “Just a little. How will we know if it works otherwise?”

  “I’ll live with the mystery.”

  Shay rolled her eyes. “Until some poison mage kills you.”

  James gave her a broad grin and shook his head. “I’d just kill him before he could do that.”

  Laena frowned down at the kneeling Drow from her throne. “Rise and report.”

  “Yes, My Queen.” The Drow stood. “We’ve verified what happened to the three you sent to Earth. They’re dead.”

  She snorted. “I know that already. What I need to know are the circumstances of their demise. That will influence everything going forward.”

  “The same humans who slew Widowmaker aided Brownstone against the three.” His hands hung loosely at this side, trembling slightly.

  “I see,” she hissed. “They are proving more resourceful than I imagined.” She rubbed her chin. “A failure of imagination perhaps.”

  “We’ve been able to verify that Brownstone himself is quite powerful.” The Drow messenger swallowed. “Although we don’t know the source of his power. Some of the magical signatures in the area are strange. They are like nothing we’ve ever encountered.” His face tensed as if he expected the queen to strike him down.

  Laena did no such thing. Instead, she merely nodded and leaned against the back of her throne. “The human found himself a special trinket, I suspect. We’ve underestimated him, to our loss.”

  “My Queen?” The Drow glanced behind him as if he expected someone else to be there.

  The queen didn’t care if he understood. She would make him understand, and even if he didn’t, he only needed to deliver her words to others.

  “Widowmaker was arrogant and depraved.” Laena flicked her wrist. “It didn’t surprise me that she was defeated, but Zavan and his subordinates lacked her flaws. For them to be defeated proves that Brownstone and his allies are worthy of respect. Continuing to throw more Drow at him on Earth will result in unnecessary sacrifices.” She threw out her arm in a grand gesture.

  The man blinked a few times, confusion written all over his face. “What are we to do, then?”

  Laena shrugged a single shoulder. “Nothing.” She settled back onto her throne.

  “Nothing?”

  “We shall pause.” The queen gave a pained sigh. “This will also resolve our problems with the Light Elves. They keep whining about our efforts on Earth. They are too cowardly to do anything about it at the moment, but if we push them, they may rediscover they have a backbone.” She frowned and shook her head. “We’ve been fortunate that the Fixer hasn’t involved himself in our efforts yet. The more we push, the greater the chance we play to their advantages on Earth.”

  “So we give up?” Something like a defiant frown appeared on the Drow’s face, but he withered under the queen’s glare, and his trembling became more pronounced

  “No,” she barked, her hand still raised and thoughts of magical punishment lingering. “As I said, we pause. This Brownstone might have a powerful trinket and friends, but he’s still human. We’ve let rumors and prophecies push us into hasty action.” She lowered her hand and rested it on her lap. “We’re panicking like short-lived humans when we should be conducting ourselves as proud Drow. We live longer, so we should think long-term.”

  The man swallowed before speaking. “Are you sure this is…a wise course of action? What about the wish?”

  “I doubt they even know about the wish.” Laena nodded. “The more I think about this, the more convinced I become of that. There is no way a human could resist using the wish if they knew about it. Our legacy and future are secure. No matter what strange mutterings have left the mouths of the Seers Oriceran might never suffer a dismal fate, and even if it does, it won’t happen in mere weeks or months.”

  “And what of the Princess?”

  Laena glanced toward several dark-shadow scrying orbs floating in the corner of the room. “James Brownstone has her hidden somewhere that we can’t easily track, which means she’s safe from others who might track her. It’s not like it matters if we wait a few months or a few years. We shall allow the others to go back to their petty day-to-day lives and forget that we even had an interest in them.” She squeezed her hand into a fist. “And then, when they’ve let their guard down, we can track and find the princess. She will leave the protection of Brownstone’s allies, and we shall seize what it ours.”

  James grunted and rose from his chair. “I’m not gonna try and get struck by lightning on purpose.”

  “Are you running away?” Shay snorted.

  “No, I just wanted a sandwich. But that doesn’t change what I just said.”

  Shay rolled her eyes. “I was saying you should build up to that with lower amounts of electricity, not start out with the lightning, you big baby. You’re acting like you don’t even have a Whispering Amulet of Doom.”

  Someone knocked on the door and she tensed, her hand reaching for the gun she didn’t have on her. It was hanging in the holster in the bedroom. Her fingers drifted to her knife’s hilt.

  James stepped over to the couch to pat her on the shoulder. “My house is safe.”

  “Really?” Shay scoffed, shrugged off his hand and stood, her hand still inside her jacket. “Your last house got blown up by a rocket launcher. Kind of hard to forget, even if you don’t have a photographic memory.”

  “Yeah, but they didn’t knock first.” James shrugged, grinning, and went to the door.

  No gangsters or terrorists stood on James’ porch. It was Sergeant Mack. Shay dropped her hand.

  The men shook hands before the cop spoke. “Sorry to bother you.” He glanced at Shay. “Had some stuff I wanted to talk to you about, but I didn’t realize you had company.”

  Shay walked over and kissed James on the cheek. “I need to get going anyway. I still have to do my daily workout.”

  Sergeant Mack frowned. “Don’t leave on my account.”

  “Nah, you’re just a convenient excuse.” She winked and turned to James. “Keep what we were talking about in mind.”

  James grunted
and shook his head. “No means no.”

  Shay smirked as she headed into the bedroom to grab her coat and holster and left. Mack remained quiet until the woman had gone out the front and closed the door behind her.

  Mack clucked his tongue. “Don’t let her boss you around, Brownstone. My woman’s always trying to force me into boring-ass things that she likes, and I don’t. A good relationship’s about knowing when to just let the other person be and when you have to push back.” He mimed a pushing motion to emphasize his statement.

  “You don’t know Shay.” James stared at the door, half-convinced she’d kick it down and suggest some new extreme amulet test.

  Mack laughed. “Maybe not, but I know strong-willed women. Men like us need strong women. Normal women can’t keep up with us.”

  James stepped toward the kitchen. “I was about to make a sandwich. Want one?”

  Mack frowned. “Nah. I’m fine.”

  “You don’t like sandwiches?” James stopped.

  The cop shook his head. “Not hungry. It’s got nothing to do with that.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Just one of those weird coincidences.” The cop shrugged.

  “Weird coincidences?” James turned around to face Mack.

  “Yeah.” The sergeant glanced toward the closed front door. “There’s a woman who kind of looks like Shay, or maybe younger. She’s been running around doing parkour in the evenings.”

  James nodded slowly. “Nothing wrong with parkour though, right?”

  “Well, not in and of itself, no. But this woman’s been bouncing through a lot of private property and restricted areas. It’s the trespassing, not the parkour, that’s gonna get her in trouble.” He shrugged. “Of course someone has to catch her first, and the way she’s moving, it’s not like any of us cops are going to pull it off. Even AET can’t move like that.”

  Shit. Shay needs to be more careful, especially since she just got Hall off her back. Wonder if I need to do something about this?

  James grunted, consumed by worry, his appetite gone. “That’s LA for you. All sorts of freaks.”