Migo raced up the stairs, legs pounding. He wanted to hold Katsi’s hand, but she flew up the stairs effortlessly, only pausing to wait for him once she reached the top. The soldier who’d relayed the message huffed just behind Migo. Even as a human, Migo benefited from increased stamina and strength. It made him wonder how human he really was, and it also made him wonder how much of him was drakotah, like Scales, and how much of him was some other kind of mixture. He had no idea what other ingredients had been in that potion.
Once Migo reached the top, she flew beside him at a more reasonable pace, even tilting sideways as if to make a point of how easy it was for her. He had to remember that she could fly through the sky faster than anything in the world. Even Scales happily flapped through the wide hallways behind them.
Whatever the case, it felt good to be running, despite the urgency. His body enjoyed testing its limits in this form. He’d flown for several cycles without ceasing as Ashjagar, but his human body was comparably untested since drinking the potion. He couldn’t help but wonder what he’d be able to do with Ranaz’s old sword.
Thankfully, the halls were barren. A meal was being readied for after the wedding, and most of the servants were busy with preparations.
Migo had never imagined getting married in such a way. In fact, he hadn’t imagined getting married at all. He always figured he’d die before such a cycle—or day—would ever come. They reached the emperor’s room—Migo’s room. Sands. Things were changing so fast.
A guard now stood outside the room, equipped with a long halberd and dressed in plated silver armor. He saluted as Migo and Katsi passed him to enter the room. He’d allowed somebody to come in and clean things up, as long as they were supervised by one of the two guards Suresh had entrusted to watch the room and monitor for messages from the orbs.
Migo closed the door behind, even waiting for Scales to dart in after them before locking it. He could still see the fractured remnants of something fuzzy around the frame of the door. He’d started to recognize those as the tell-tale signs of magical enchantments.
Katsi went straight to the orbs, locating the one labeled with Alishara’s name. “You know Alishara is the one who issued the order from the emperor to have my father assassinated by your mother. She has no doubt embedded spies in the palace. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one behind my father’s stolen journal as well.”
“Ah, sands. I forgot about all that,” Katsi shook her head. “To think that she’d recruited me as the emperor’s assassin just like she did my mother.” She swiped her finger across the orb, activating the message.
Migo’s jaw dropped. To his astonishment, the image of Hatan came into view at an odd angle, looking mostly up his nose.
“Like this?” Hatan’s voice said.
“Not so close,” another voice snapped.
Hatan’s face backed away from the orb.
“Migo, Alishara says this will get a message to you somehow. Magic truly is more remarkable than we’ve given it credit for.” Hatan ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what you’re up to, but I suppose you may be the emperor now. You are not an ambitious person, so I’m sure there’s a deeper meaning to all this, but if possible, now may be a good time to return to Jehubal. We suppressed an insurrection after nearly losing the kingdom to the Kesten family, and Alishara here is convinced that some army of those waheshi monsters will destroy the entire world. I’m working on forming some kind of alliance here with the neighboring tribes, and I’m arming everyone with as many silver weapons as we can. If you have any more insight on this, we’d appreciate it.”
Hatan’s face came close to the orb once again, now creating a bubbled image of one of his eyes. “I hope you are well, cousin. We miss you.” He turned his face away. “Is that all? How does it end?”
“Just remove—” the message ended.
Migo let out a breath.
“Hatan is a good cousin,” Katsi said, smirking at Migo.
“Yes, but he’ll kill me once he learns that he just missed my marriage.” Migo smiled fondly, missing Jehubal now more than ever. It seemed his fears regarding a potential insurrection proved true, but he knew his cousin would be able to navigate anything.
“I’m sure he’ll forgive you,” Katsi said. “He probably got married too and didn’t tell you.”
Migo rolled his eyes. “Yes, I’m also not so sure how much I like the idea that Alishara is with Hatan, but at least it means I can get a message back to him. I assume Alishara showed him my initial message.”
“Right. Alishara is certainly one to be questioned. I feel she’s very untrustworthy, but it’s good that she got to him. If only the seer shamans in the other cities did the same thing.”
“Yes,” Migo said, hesitant to give Alishara any level of praise. “I’ll relay a message, then we need to figure out a way to get enough help to protect any city that might be attacked.”
“I hopefully made some headway,” Katsi said, placing her hands on her hips.
“In what way?”
“With the shamans here. We’ll see what today brings.”
Migo nodded. “I’ll trust your judgment.” They’d married out of love, yes, but he hoped it meant giving them an opportunity to save the world from enslavement as well. “In the meantime, I need to figure out a way to rally forces across the planet, if such a thing is possible. I don’t see any other way of being able to reinforce a city in time.”
Katsi smiled. “Exactly the kind of thing I imagined doing immediately after my wedding.”
Migo shrugged and shook his head. “What else would we be doing?”
“Well.” Katsi glanced to the side. “Maybe I should go find Adrina.” She moved as if to leave, and Migo quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. He wrapped his arms around her as she nuzzled into his chest.
“No,” he said. “Stay with me. At least for a moment.” An eternity wouldn’t be long enough.
She stared up at him, her eyes softening before she nodded. “Alright, you send your message. I’ll catch up with Scales.” She bounded over to her lizard friend, much to the creature’s elation.
Migo smiled and shook his head before activating the orb. “Hatan, I’m glad you are well. Alishara is right to warn you about potential invasion. I wish I had more information to offer, but you should know I have means of getting to Jehubal almost instantaneously. I’m trying to prepare other logistics so that we can aid any city on a moment’s notice. You’ll want to be prepared to fight waheshi and shamans with considerable power. Emil and Rivar can provide some insight there, but keep javelins ready. Stud anything you can with silver. The waheshi are resistant to both normal weapons and magical ones. Silver is the only thing that’s particularly effective.” He paused, glancing over at Katsi, who was scratching Scales under his neck as he nudged his head into her knees.
“There are some other things I should tell you. I’ve been transformed somehow. The shamans call me Ashjagar. It’s some kind of hybrid with a lizard. It’s how I was able to kill Emperor Malrabia. It’s… very hard to explain, but I’m sure you’ll see what I mean eventually. Also, I got married.” He flashed a nervous smile at the orb. “To Katsi Danan. Hopefully this creates some sense of unity with the other shamanfolk tribes. I intend not only to be emperor of Marems, but of shamanfolk as well.”
He tried to think of something more to say, but without being sure where the bleeder armies were located, he’d have to leave all the small details to Hatan. His cousin was a warrior. He knew how to prepare for war.
So instead, he nodded and said, “Good luck,” before pulling his finger off the orb, ending the message.
“What’s next?” Katsi said, standing up from playing with Scales.
“The next item on my agenda,” Migo said as he walked toward her, “is perhaps the most important of all.” He stopped right in front of her, reaching his hand out to hers. Both his human heart and the burning organ in his chest flared to life. A chill ran across his skin as he touched the back of her hand, leaning toward her as she tilted her head back to look up at him.
Sands. This was his wife. Katsi was his wife.
“And what is this important item you must get to?” she said, voice whispering out.
