Blood Runner: Book Three of the Empress Saga

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

    Jin made a thoughtful sound as she leaned in for a better look. "It's amazing how swiftly it comes together. How long until it is finished?"

    "Another five or six sessions, normally," Kolbat said. "At this rate, I may finish tomorrow. Investing the ink makes it much quicker. The pigment changes with a thought."

    Jin nodded in agreement. "The colors are indeed striking."

    Enfri shifted position while Kolbat paused to get more ink. "Who're you working on now?"

    "Elloo the Constable," Kolbat replied. "He has a distinguished face in his truest form, and I'm taking the time to get him just right."

    "And the Architect is after him?"

    Kolbat hummed an affirmative. "I suppose you will call on me whenever you forge a new bond?"

    "If it isn't a bother."

    "Of course not. It's good to feel useful. I'm no fighter, and I'm barely an arcanist. My last job was at a cannery on Zume Island before Courtesans burned it down. Not where you'd expect to find a Pearl Knight. I'll earn my spot here any way I can."

    Kolbat was currently doing some intricate work along the inside of Enfri's left shoulder blade. She used delicate silver needles she'd transmuted out of coins. There were a range of other tools also. Enfri didn't care for the rake-like thing Kolbat used for thicker lines. That one wasn't a good pain.

    Deebee had been the first dragon to be depicted in ink. She was on the front of Enfri's left shoulder in a pose like that of the House Yora sigil. Kimpo faced Deebee, and Adar curled around Enfri's arm beneath them. More dragons spiraled down in a sleeve of tattoos, and now Kolbat had begun to place the last few on her back.

    Enfri wanted every dragon she forged a bond for to have a place on her body. To date, that meant sixteen dragons.

    I suppose Grimdar could be next if he likes Valuris for his Ruby. Winds, I might have to keep Kolbat nearby for a long time, the rate I'm going.

    Perhaps the most satisfying part of this process was the reaction the spooks had towards it. They absolutely abhorred the way she "disfigured" herself, calling it a sacrilege for whatever reason. The spooks insisted that the body of an emperor or empress was meant to be a testament to Aleesh superiority and put on display in its unspoiled perfection. Enfri didn't hold with such tripe. Her body was her own, thank you, and she'd do as she pleased. No one but herself— and Jin, of course— had any business looking at it.

    Just outside the closed tent flap, Hugin announced himself. "Your Majesty, a sending from the knight-marshal."

    Enfri felt her stomach do a cartwheel. She'd been waiting for word from the others since the moment they left her behind. She tucked her arms up to better keep herself covered as she gave permission for Hugin to enter. Half-naked or not, Enfri wanted to know immediately how everything had gone.

    The Lord of Emeralds entered the tent backwards, determinedly facing away from Enfri's partial nudity. She appreciated the gesture. Jin rose to her feet, and Kolbat's needles fell still.

    Hugin's deep baritone voice seemed heavier than it normally did. "The marshal's report comes through my husband's sending, Your Majesty. The mission to Sholis failed. They were unable to secure Kimpo the Huntress."

    Enfri felt her heart sink. "Winds and storms," she whispered. "Are they alright?"

    Hugin shook his head. "There are casualties, Your Majesty. Sheeku the Architect and Isya the Delver are dead, as are Knight-Captain Gerard and Paladin Shorin. Paladin Galen succumbed to his wounds soon after. Zanda the Executioner lost an arm but is recovering. In addition, Mistress Reyn sustained life-threatening injuries. It's uncertain if she'll survive the return to camp."