The City of Towers

CHAPTER 31

Noise and music filled the air as Lei and Pierce rose into the heights of Sharn. Lei studied the other passengers on the lift. After her recent experience with Sergeant Lorrak, she was happy not to see any guards, but the other travelers were a colorful lot. Three drunken men howled with laughter-scions of noble families from the look of their fine clothing. A bard of House Phiarlan toyed with a set of fine pipes; his doublet and breeches were covered with darkweave ribbons, so it seemed as if the night itself clung to him. A muscular Karrn woman wearing leather armor and the scars of many battles kept her back to the railing. She had a greatsword strapped to her back and an ironshod club in one hand, and there was a fresh bruise on her right cheek. Lei guessed that the woman was returning from a fight in one of the pits. Menthis Towers was the hub of Sharn’s entertainment industry, from the brothels and battle pits of the lower ward to the theaters and museums of the highest towers. Staring down the inner tower, Lei seemed to be looking into a well filled with stars-hundreds of eternal torches glittering on the levels below as revelers traveled from one amusement to another.

Lei had used a simple cosmetic charm to prepare Pierce and herself to mingle with the elite citizens of Sharn. While she was still wearing her armor, the green leather was smooth and polished, and the golden rivets on her jerkin gleamed like jewels. Pierce was buffed to a mirror finish. For all that he was a simple soldier, he looked fit to serve in a king’s honor guard.

“We should return to High Walls, my lady,” Pierce said. “We could continue the search for Hugal … or Jode.”

“We already covered the entire district with Greykell,” Lei replied. “If there was anything to find, we’d have seen it already. Besides, it’s getting dark. After what happened last night, I can’t say I want to wander around the streets of High Walls on our own. If Daine can follow his hunches, I’m going to follow mine.”

“You have a plan, then?”

“I’m still working on that part,” Lei said. “But don’t forget I’m the one who’s been to the city before. I’ve let my concerns with my house cloud my judgment. I have other friends in Sharn. Acquaintances, at the least. It’s time to catch up with a few of them.”

“As you wish.”

“Give me your bow. No one’s going to attack us in Upper Menthis, and you already stand out like a troll in the court of Metrol.”

“My lady, it is unwise to limit our defensive options.”

“Pierce, trust me. You’re a Cyran warforged. It’s like Greykell said. Walking around with a weapon in your hand, you present a challenge to the guards. It’s one thing if you’re skulking in the shadows, but that’s not what I have in mind.”

A human might have shrugged or sighed. Seeing the futility of further argument, Pierce handed his bow to Lei, who stowed it away in the depths of her pack.

“And the flail.”

“My lady-”

“I told you, Pierce. Up here our best defense is to look harmless.” She held out her hand. “As long as you follow my lead, everything will be fine. Don’t worry. You’ll get it back before we return to the lower wards.”

“Very well.” He pulled the weapon from its harness and handed it over.

“Thank you. Now, I think the best idea is for you to play the role of a house servant. Remember that pompous ass Domo at Round Wind? I know it’s not what you were designed for, but the war’s over and servants are something the people here understand.”

“What about a bodyguard?”

Pierce’s tone seemed slightly stiff, and Lei gave him a curious glance. Had she insulted him? “Fine. You can be my bodyguard. But I’m still keeping the flail out of sight. It’s just a little too … well, blunt for this crowd.”

Eventually the lift came to a stop at an open-air district, a network of platforms and bridges bound to the massive central towers. Lei led Pierce off of the lift and onto a quiet street. It was a residential neighborhood, filled with orderly rows of wood-and-plaster houses. Most of these homes were identical, painted white and trimmed in brown. But here and there a few trellises were covered with Eldeen rainbow ivy, creating living murals of vivid color.

“They call this area Ivy Towers,” Lei said. “Many of the students and scholars of Morgrave University make their homes here. The university itself is just around the ring.”

“And who are we visiting?”

“A friend of mine, Lailin Calis. We spent a year at Arcanix together. I’ve never had much luck with augurs, but I’d feel foolish if I didn’t at least talk to him. Hopefully he’s still here. And Pierce? I hate to ask, but if there was ever a time to lay on the ‘my lady,’ this would be it.”

“As you wish, my lady.”

They continued down the quiet street. A patrol of the Watch passed by with only the slightest glance at Pierce. A turn of the corner, and they came to a house covered with myriad shades of blue ivy.

“This would be his,” Lei said. She stepped up to the door but paused even as her hand went for the bell-pull. “What is it, my lady?”

“There’s a note tucked into the door,” Lei said, pulling it from the frame. “And it’s addressed to me.” Cautiously unfolding the paper, she read:

Dearest Lei,

I’m sorry that I cannot be here to greet you in person, but I am attending a gathering on Pride of the Storm. I hope that you can join me there. I will tell Lord Dantian to expect you and your companion. Any skycoach can bring you up to the yacht at Dantian’s expense. Such arrangements are typical for his gatherings. I hope to see you soon.

Yours,

Lailin

“Apparently we’re expected,” Lei said, handing the note to Pierce. He read it somberly.

“Impressive,” he said. “But I admit to some concern. An augur would need to inquire specifically about you to gain such information, would he not?”

Lei shrugged. “The sphinx said that we could be seen from far away. I guess she’s not the only one who sensed my arrival.”

“Hence my concern. May I have my weapons back, my lady?”

“Please, Pierce,” Lei said. “We’ve been invited aboard a Lyrandar lord’s yacht. Even if I gave you the weapons, they’d be confiscated at the door.”

“So you intend to accept this invitation? What possible purpose could it serve?”

“Let’s see … first, if Lailin is such a talented diviner, who knows what else he could tell us? At the least, he might be able to track down Jode or this Rasial.”

“True,” Pierce said.

“Second, I don’t know how long we’ll be in Sharn. As I see it, we could use all the contacts we can get, and this is an excellent opportunity to mingle with a class of people we normally would never see.”

Pierce said nothing.

“And finally, you’re talking to a woman who’s been living on gruel and water for six months-and army rations before that. You may not eat, but if you think I’m going to pass up a chance to dine with one of the wealthiest men in Sharn, you’re mistaken.” She grinned. “Now let’s find a coach.”

Menthis was a center of entertainment and nightlife, so they had little trouble catching the attention of a skycoach-a slender vessel apparently designed for gnomes and halflings. Lei was comfortable enough, but Pierce could barely fit in the ship.

“Don’t worry, lady,” the coachman said. An elderly halfling with long gray hair, he spoke with a strong Talentan accent. “I’ll take things slowly. Keep the big ’un from falling.”

Lei smiled. “My thanks, sir. We are expected at the Pride of the Storm. Do you know of it?”

“Ei,” the halfling said, nodding. Lei took that as an affirmative. “Guests of the Lyrandar, yes?”

“That’s correct,” Lei said, wondering if it was true.

The Mark of Storm gave House Lyrandar power over wind and water, and the heirs of the house had dominated the shipping trade for centuries. In recent decades, an alliance between Cannith, Lyrandar, and the gnomish shipwrights of Zilargo had resulted in the creation of the first true skyship. Propelled by the power of bound elemental spirits, these airships had revolutionized trade and transportation and proved to be a powerful weapon of war, but the bound spirits were difficult to control, and only a stormchild could command their absolute loyalty. It was unlikely that the Lyrandars knew of her excoriate status, but she couldn’t lie about it, and she had no idea how the House of Storm would treat an expelled Maker.

The halfling did not ask for payment-apparently Lailin was as good as his word. The skycoach rose up to the highest spires of Menthis. They were almost a mile above the ground, and Lei’s head swam as she looked down at the world below and tried to pick out the spires of High Walls far, far below. Winds whipped at her hair and shoulders, but the coachman was as good as his world and took the ascent slowly. Lei gripped the rails and gritted her teeth, waiting for the ordeal to pass.

Moments later they completed their circuit of the towers, and Lei gasped at the sight that lay before them. The flying ships she had seen before were small transports or weapons platforms, like the stormship they had fought at Keldan Ridge. Pride of the Storm was in an entirely different class. It was a galleon, easily one of the largest ships she had seen on land or air. House Lyrandar used the kraken as its sigil, and the stern of the ship was carved in the shape of a vast kraken. The effect was astonishingly lifelike, as if the great beast was in the process of devouring the ship. The kraken was stained black, while the bow and midships were carved from pure white wood. Four silver lightning bolts adorned the bow. Most of the kraken’s tentacles were carved along the side of the ship, but four arched out around, over, and under it, and these wooden beams supported the elemental rings that kept the ship afloat. Where most skyships were supported by a single ring of bound elementals, this vessel had two-a swirling belt of roiling clouds and a smaller ring of pure fire. Lei guessed that the bound air supported the ship while the fire elementals provided motive force. Staring into the flames, she wondered just how fast the galleon could move.

The skycoach came to a halt over the foredeck of the skyship. A servant in Lyrandar livery approached.

“Your name, my lady?” he called out.

Curiously, despite the altitude, there was no wind over the deck. Whether it was an aspect of the elemental binding or the power of the ship’s captain, the howling winds spared the deck of the Pride.

“My name is Lei. I come as a guest of Lailin Calis, and I am accompanied by my servant.”

The servant studied a sheaf of parchment then brought up a small footstool to help her disembark. He extended his hand, a smile on his face. “You are expected, Lady Lei. Welcome to the Pride of the Storm.”