Warsinger by James Baldwin (most important books of all time txt) 📕

the wheelchair to the speaker’s seat. She took it as gracefully as she could, but it was clear that it was an effort. I reached down and squeezed Suri’s hand. I’d been afraid of finding her as badly hurt as this, down in Al-Asad.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Rutha began, her fluted voice scratchy, but clear. “I am Rutha of Vasteau: tenured royal servant, former court sorceress of his Highness King Rosvind Illandi the Seventh, and then advisor to the Honorable Warden Yoren Scandiva.”

There was a wave of grimaces and soft groans around the room.

“I see your expressions as I say his name, but please, I beg you all to suspend your opinion of the Ilian Revolution and its results while I speak to you of the current, greater threat,” Rutha said. Her eyes turned a little flinty: she’d been expecting the response. “Warden Scandiva may not have been popular among the royalty of Hercynia and abroad, but there are two things that can be said for him. Firstly, he was an honest man who was sincere in his ideals. Secondly, he had the broad support of our populace, who welcomed him after the collapse of King Rosvind’s mental health. But our nation, which was still fragile after a long and brutal civil war, has now most certainly been usurped by a tyrant. Baldr Hyland is no Scandiva. He is ruthless, selfish, a compulsive liar who will do anything – absolutely anything – to consolidate his power. The Alliance means nothing to him. Your laws, and indeed Ilia’s laws, mean nothing to him. As a tenured court servant, I swore an oath of neutrality and am bound to serve my realm, no matter who rules. Rather than respect this ancient tradition of many Hercynian nations, Baldr took me prisoner during the coup, and he made it clear to me that Ilia is only the first conquest he intends to make.”

I glanced at the faces around the quorum while she spoke. The anxiety was palpable.

“You all saw the message; you all know his name. But what you may not know is this: Baldr Hyland is Starborn.” Rutha lifted her chin slightly. “And before you scoff, yes - what the myths say about the Starborn is true. They are immortal, able to return to life after death. They do not age, they do not grow old or weak-”

“You expect us to believe this quatschen?” A stocky man dressed all in gray stiffened in his chair with indignation. “Starborn? Immortal tyrants? Vlachia, with all due respect-”

“Gilheim, I understand your disbelief. I did not believe it when I first heard it, but she is telling the truth,” Ignas said sharply. “The fact we all received the revelation that Baldr had conquered Ilia is proof. The myths of the Starborn were not children's stories after all: They are our history, and history is repeating itself. Two Starborn sit among us today, in fact. Count and Countess of Myszno, make yourselves known.”

Suri and I both hesitated before we raised our hands.

“You two?” The man from Gilheim narrowed his eyes. “Immortal? Only the Lord and Lady are immortal. Anything else is-”

“Heresy, we know.” Queen Eevi sighed and rolled her brilliant blue eyes. “And yet, here they stand. Not all of us are ruled by the Church, Gilheim, and some of us have more open minds than yours. Our dear Vlachia has never been known for his fancies or make-believe. If he says they are Starborn, it is true.”

“And so is Baldr,” I said, so suddenly I surprised myself as well as everyone else in the room. “I killed him once myself. Suri and I have both died and returned. Baldr and at least two of the people he's working with are the same as we are.”

“Yes, Gilheim, and short of sacrificing them on the lectern and creating a horrible mess so we can watch them rise up from the tangle of their own bowels, we're going to have to take their words at face value,” the Queen said briskly. “Carry on, Rutha.”

Rutha had shrunk back a little while the debate raged on, but quickly regained her composure. “As I was saying, Baldr is Starborn - and as the Count of Myszno just noted, so are his top two lieutenants. Even worse, all three of them are dragonriders.”

That caused a murmur of alarm to go up around the chamber.

“I will now attempt to give you a faithful recounting of how they brought Ilia to its knees,” Rutha continued, pausing to gather herself. “We know the coup began in the Eyrie. The details of what happened there are honestly unknown to anyone outside that place, the ancestral fortress of the Order of St. Grigori, Ilia's dragon-knights. What we do know is that Baldr Hyland first slew the Knight-Commander of the Eyrie, his lieutenants and sergeants, and either earned or forced the loyalty of the others there. There was a revolt at the Warden's fortress, who were charged with keeping the Order under check. The dragons razed Fort Palewing to the ground, and as far as we know, killed everyone inside.”

Oh man. Jasper, Sergeant Blackwin… Kira and Owen. I shook my head, rubbing the bridge of my nose. Suri reached for my hand again, and I gripped her fingers in mine.

“After that, Baldr violated the primary oath of the Order and led a hundred-and-fifty-strong wing of dragons to the capitol,” Rutha continued. “No one was prepared. The events at the Eyrie had transpired so quickly that no one from there was able to reach Liren in time to warn the government, not even by airship. I was at the palace, in a treasury meeting with the Warden and several other dignitaries when they teleported into the city. Dragons immediately attacked the city's naval skyport and took possession of our warships. A wing of them lay waste to the parliament. The conflagration enveloped the building and killed all those inside. The rest came for the Warden. Scandiva screamed for cannons to be mounted,