Spear of Destiny by James Baldwin (little bear else holmelund minarik .TXT) 📕

which was due south of Racsa and only about a day’s ride by land out of Karhad. Like Racsa, Bas was very mountainous, with most settlements and villages located in steep alpine valleys. The capital, Solonovka, was a city on the edge of the Vlachian frontier that was, as my DI would have said, ‘locked down tighter than a nun’s cooter’.

The city had not one, not two, but THREE concentric rings of tall stone walls: one around the town itself, one around the base of the switchback ridge where Hussar Manor sat, and one encircling the castle itself. From the ground, it was extremely defendable. Approaching it by air was almost as risky. For one thing, any airship or dragon coming toward the city could be spotted for miles in any direction. According to notes submitted by Kitti via Suri, there were five towers in Solonovka, and each of them was armed with anti-aircraft weaponry. In Archemi, those fell into three categories: magical defenses, blackpowder artillery, and giant ballista or other large shooty-downy devices capable of plugging a lot of metal into an airship’s engine at high speed. In any case, it was bad news—assuming Zoltan Gallo actually had the manpower to field them.

My study was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. My ears pricked.

“Suri?” I called out.

“Sure is,” she drawled. “How’d you know?”

“Call it an educated-and-or-magically-augmented guess,” I said. “Come in. Door’s unlocked.”

She cracked it open and peered inside, scowling. “Why is your door unlocked?”

“Because I’m right here.” I gestured to the living room. The Ducal Suite had a central living area, with a Victorian-style sofa and chairs, fireplace, and paintings of the old Voivode and his family. There were four doors in here: one to the bathroom where I slept, one that led to the Lady’s Chambers, one that went to my bedroom and office, and one that went to Rudolph’s butler lair.

“What? One assassin wasn’t enough for you?” Suri huffed, letting herself in.

“If someone comes in the door, I’ll throw fruit at them.” I picked up an apple from the bowl  and grinned at her.

“You throw that at me, you better be ready for the consequences.” Suri was still in the armor she’d been wearing when she met Karalti and I in the courtyard: a set of [Bolza Guard Armor] in the silver and green livery of the old duke. “How did the meetings go? I saw we’re back down to about five thousand olbia.”

“There was, in fact, a great Voivoding,” I replied, moving to get a glass for her. “Want anything to drink? There’s wine, wine, water and... let’s see what this jar is... I think some wine?”

“Vlachia sure does like its wine.” She chuckled, pointedly locking the door behind her. “Give me something red. The sweet kind, if Rudolph put that out for you.”

“He did.” I poured two glasses, one for each of us. “You look sweaty.”

“I am. Had training with Kitti.” Suri unequipped her full-plate, then the padding underneath, stripping down to a pair of leggings and a form-fitting vest that kept her chest under control while in armor. She unlaced it halfway as she moved to the sofa, sighing with relief as some of the compression lifted and her cleavage was allowed to breathe. She had quite a lot of it. Against all odds, I managed to keep my eyes forward and not spill the wine.

“How’s she doing? Kitti, that is.” I asked.

“Good. Girl’s a natural Berserker,” Suri said, dropping down. “Her father coddled her and tried to keep her away from swords and rough men, but he couldn’t beat the wildness out of her. That’s what you need for this Path: wildness, will, and spirit. She’s got the right kind of fire, but she’s still just a kid. She doesn’t like drills, because those are boring. She can get a bit sooky when she’s tired.”

“Sooky?” I took her glass over to her and pulled up an ottoman, straddling it to sit in front of her.

“Yeah. You know. Whiny, bitchy. Whatever you wanna call it.” Suri took her glass with a smile. “Normal boot stuff. She’s just gotta power on through it.”

I snorted. “Hand her over to Istvan. Have you seen that man drill recruits?”

“Oh my god.” She let out a short laugh. “I heard him ranting in the barracks the other morning. Funniest shit I’ve heard in my whole fuckin’ life.”

“Dooo tellll.” I leaned in.

“He was yellin’ at the top of his lungs at some of the new guys I hired on the first day back here. And I swear, this is a direct quote.” Suri waved her hand for a moment, gaining her composure, and then put on her best Barking Sergeant Istvan voice, complete with accent. “‘I take great offense at waking up a room full of men, and find that somebody has the audacity to stand at the end of his bed with an erection! And I want you all to pay very close attention, because if I see that erection again, I will kick it until such a time as it becomes un-erect!’”

I started laughing about halfway through, and then kept laughing until I was rolling on the ottoman.

“I swear to god, Hector, I lost about half the coffee up my nose,” Suri was laughing too, by now. “I don’t think I’d hand Kitti over to him, though. She’d come out the end of his training with half a dozen tattoos and a drinking problem.”

“Hey, come on now. He’s gotten better with the booze,” I said. “Vash has been good for him.”

“He sure has.” Suri shook her head. “Anyway... Had a look at Bas, yet?”

“Yeah. Operation Girlpower looks like it’s going to be a doozy,” I said.

 She stared at me in disbelief. “Operation Girlpower?”

“Kitti’s still a girl. We’re restoring her family to power. The name