“True.” I bit my lip as I studied Iannis’s smooth, unlined face and handsome features. It would be a shame if it turned out he was actually a wizened old man using magic to hide his features. But that seemed unlikely, considering how fit he was. An old mage might be able to hide his wrinkles, but that didn’t mean he could make his body run like a young man’s.
Once Iannis was done healing the others, he gathered us around for a meeting. “We need to take off for Dara immediately,” he said. “As much as I’d like to stay and interrogate the soldiers here, the Convention is paramount, and we’ve already lost too much time.”
“I agree, but the situation in Solantha also requires urgent intervention,” Fenris said. “The Council did not take your disappearance well. All hell had broken loose by the time we left, only two days after your disappearance.”
“We can’t leave these Resistance members out here by themselves,” one of the delegates’ assistants protested. “If they have another mage in their employ, they could easily be freed. They must be taken back to Solantha and brought to justice.” From the coldness in his voice, it was clear what kind of justice he had in mind.
“We are not going to leave them here by themselves,” Iannis said. “I agree that it would be unwise to do so, and we cannot all fit on that small, rickety airship. Miss Melcott here is the only one who can pilot it, so she will be coming along, as well as Miss Baine. That means I can only take two more along.”
“I’ll be staying here,” Fenris said. “I’m happy to work with whoever you choose to stay behind, interrogating the prisoners and keeping the camp secure until reinforcements arrive.” It didn’t surprise me that he was volunteering to stay behind – given his history, I figured he’d want to stay well away from the Convention. “We might also try to signal to Director Chen’s airship for transport back home.”
“Very well. I will take you, Bosal, and Asward as well.” Iannis nodded to a dark-haired mage with olive skin, who bowed. “The others are too exhausted to travel yet, and the Convention is nearly over in any case.”
“Just so you know, I can’t actually fly the ship by myself,” Annia spoke up. “Whoever comes along is going to have to be willing to take orders from me and help out. Even a small airship requires a crew.”
“Very well, Captain Melcott.” Iannis inclined his head to her, and I caught the ghost of a smile on his lips. “We will defer to you on all matters concerning the airship. Perhaps you can figure out a way to hail other ships we run across, so we might convince them to stop by the camp and help round up the prisoners. I will send a ship from Dara as well.”
Iannis and Fenris went off to raid the camp’s kitchens for supplies while I worked with Annia and the delegates to get the ship ready for takeoff. We scrambled around on the main deck, securing ropes and checking valves and doing whatever else Annia shouted at us to do. Since none of us were experienced with such engines, she had to do a lot of handholding, but eventually we were ready to go.
“Hey.” I hopped over the side of the ship and landed in front of Fenris, who was talking with Iannis. “We’re ready for takeoff.”
“Very well,” Iannis said. “I’m leaving you in charge, Fenris. Is there anything else you need?”
Fenris shook his head, smiling. “We’ve got everything in hand. You get on that ship, and wipe the smiles off the faces of whoever is resting on their laurels right now. I’m sure they’ll be shocked to see you arrive not only in perfect health, but wearing aboriginal clothing.” He grinned and clapped Iannis on the shoulder.
Iannis grinned back, a rare sight that caused my stomach to flip-flop again. “Strangely, I look forward to turning the attendees on their heads with my arrival. I may even miss these clothes,” he added, running a hand down his buckskin tunic, and I snickered. I’d sort of gotten used to seeing Iannis dressed like a Coazi, but now that I thought about it, he was going to shock the shit out of the mages at the Convention, something I was really looking forward to.
“You take care, okay?” I told Fenris, wrapping my arms around him. He grunted a little as I squeezed tight, but his arms came around me and he hugged me back nonetheless. “I’m going to miss you.”
“We’ll see each other soon enough,” Fenris assured me. “In the meantime, though, it will be a nice change of pace to be in charge here instead of being ordered around. Perhaps I’ll have a little fun with Captain Milios.”
I laughed as Iannis gave Fenris a stern look. “Not too much fun, please. The last thing I need is to receive news that the soldiers have escaped, after I’ve informed the Convention that we apprehended them.”
“Don’t worry,” Fenris said dryly. “I’ll be sure not to make you look bad.”
I gave Fenris one last hug, then boarded the airship along with Iannis. A high-pitched whistle shrilled across the plains as Annia put the engine into gear, and as we lifted off, I looked toward the horizon and wondered exactly what was in store for us next.
20
“So we’re finally here, huh?”
“Just about,” Annia told me, drumming the fingers of her right hand against the helm. Her left hand firmly grasped one of the wooden handles jutting out from the wheel as she banked left, heading straight for the capital city. Dara glittered brightly in the reddish-gold sunset, gilding the roofs of the houses and buildings packed close together in the small coastal city. We could see the Capitol Dome from here, a great white marble dome with a golden statue of Jeremidah, one of the founding mages of the Federation, jutting out of the top. My heart began to drum a little faster – this was where the Convention was taking place. “Just need the Chief Mage to tell me where exactly to put the ship down.”