But if she did accept a bribe to bow out, that was one defender of the Blackflame Empire gone.
“All prior rules and restrictions stand, and the competition will continue. If it turns out that your greatest enemy defeats you and obtains Penance…well, you can stay and face the headsman, or you can join us.”
He turned a sneer on them all, but another piece had just clicked into place for Lindon.
The Abidan hadn’t come to recruit promising young Underlords, despite what Kiuran himself had implied only minutes before. They were recruiting Monarchs.
By pressuring them to ascend.
The rainbow-shrouded Monarch of the Ninecloud Court stepped forward and bowed at the waist. “Son of Heaven, would you stay and share your wisdom with us? We have many questions for you.”
Kiuran sighed and passed a gauntlet over his face. “I don’t see how anything I said requires further explanation. Very well, Luminous Queen, I will make an exception and explain myself to you. As for the rest of you…you have work to do.”
None of the Monarchs looked satisfied with that, but one by one they all took the dismissal for what it was and left the room.
The Eight-Man Empire walked out a door, Malice melted into shadows, Reigan Shen and his entire pedestal sank into the floor, and Emriss disappeared in a rustle of spectral leaves. Lindon didn’t see the Dragon King leave.
Northstrider waved a hand, opening a portal again, but instead of leading back into the hallway, it led onto a steeply sloped roof tiled in rose-tinted crystal. Cold wind howled across the tiles, sweeping through the portal, and Lindon could see the glistening collection of jewels that was Ninecloud City spread out beneath him.
When the Monarch stepped onto the roof, Lindon had no choice but to follow.
Only when Lindon had passed through did Northstrider allow the portal to close. A rainbow halo encircling the tower shone down on them, bright as daylight. The wind was so strong and the tiles so steep and slick that Lindon would have feared for his balance if he hadn’t been an Underlord.
As it was, the footing was only a mild inconvenience.
Dross popped up onto Lindon again. [Ah, thank you for bringing Lindon along. I am rather attached to him, you know? And I didn’t mean those things I said about you. Please don’t unmake me.]
“Now you have glimpsed a Monarch’s responsibilities,” Northstrider said to Lindon. “Remember it. This experience can be of great value to you later.” His arms were crossed, but he wasn’t focused on Dross this time.
Lindon wasn’t sure if that was an improvement or not.
“I cannot express my gratitude enough, but I admit that I’m terrified. I fear what the other Monarchs will do to those who remain in the competition.”
He didn’t want to voice his full concern aloud, in case Kiuran or one of the Monarchs was listening, but he was even more afraid for his friends’ lives now than he had been before. The Hound was pushing the Monarchs, and whatever protection he promised, Lindon was afraid Seshethkunaaz or Reigan Shen would find a way around it.
Northstrider nodded once. “It is wise not to rely on the intervention of the Abidan. Whatever they say, they act only for their own benefit. Not ours.”
Lindon tried his best not to reach for Suriel’s marble. Had she left him with his memories intact for his sake, or her own?
“But you may put your fears to rest,” the Monarch continued. “The competitors are under my protection. At least for the duration of the tournament, they will be safe.”
He spoke with such absolute certainty that Lindon’s concerns eased, though he did wonder what would happen after the tournament ended.
“Thank you for the instruction, honored Monarch,” Lindon said. “If you’ll pardon one more question…why did you bring me along?”
Northstrider examined him for a long moment.
“I will study Dross again.” He seemed to have ignored Lindon’s question. “For now, I will leave him within you. I would have returned him before either of you were permanently harmed by the separation, but I will allow you to stay together from now on. Clearly you have formed a…symbiosis.”
Relief was more likely to take Lindon off his feet than the wind was. Since he had first seen Northstrider, Lindon had always been haunted by the fear that the Monarch would punish him or dissect him to reclaim Dross.
Lindon bowed. “Gratitude.”
“Now, until I call for you, do not neglect your training. Sopharanatoth is one of the two most favored to win this competition, and she will use Penance on Akura Malice or myself without hesitation. If you wish to influence the situation, you must be stronger.”
Lindon hesitated. “If you will enlighten me, how could I possibly stop Sophara if she wins?”
Northstrider’s eyes gleamed gold. “Training will never let you down.”
“Then…pardon, but…can we win?”
He was afraid to ask too many questions of a Monarch, but he had to know.
And Northstrider didn’t seem annoyed. “The most certain path to victory is to have a fighter representing myself or Malice win the tournament. If we cannot accomplish that, victory becomes more costly or difficult. But not impossible. The only true defeat is death.”
Those words resonated with Lindon, as though Northstrider had given voice to something inside him.
He strode over to the edge of the roof and turned to look back over his shoulder. “I will see you soon, Dross. And Lindon.”
Then he stepped out over the edge and fell.
Leaving Lindon wondering: why had the Monarch changed his mind about Lindon? He had gone from treating Lindon like a patch of mud to answering his questions and addressing him directly. Was he so impressed by Lindon’s determination?
[I told you, didn’t I? He’s a very generous man. And he has a good eye for talent. My talent, anyway.]
He didn’t care about me at all, Lindon thought. Then he came back for me. Was it something you said?
Dross straightened himself up proudly. [That’s what it was. He does value my opinion, you know.]
It was a simple explanation, and maybe it was the correct one. There was no point in making wild guesses.
Lindon looked around at the sloped diamond rooftop. “Now…where are we?”
2
It took Lindon over two hours to climb down from the tower, then find his way back to the Akura building amidst the glistening structures of Ninecloud City.
Dross remembered the city’s layout, but every route they tried was blocked. The streets were in chaos. People poured out of doorways from interrupted parties, cloudships reversed course in midair against the flow of air traffic, and every inn was choked by lines that stretched around the block.
Over it all, the Ninecloud Soul repeated announcements at a deafening volume: the tournament schedule had changed. The second fight in the fourth round of the Uncrowned King tournament was scheduled to take place three hours past dawn in the morning.
That change had shifted the lives of more people than Lindon could comprehend, and the city bustled like an anthill.
He had to consult a shining map projected by light madra on the air, repeatedly use his Thousand-Mile Cloud to get a peek over the crowds, and eventually talk to city security.
The Ninecloud peacekeepers, Underlords all, recognized him immediately.