Under Fallen Stars by Mel Odom

together now for me to worry about you and your indiscretions. I am king of your people, and I suffer your presence only as long as it is in my favor.”
    “I understand.”
    “You will address me as Exalted One,” Iakhovas commanded. “I am your king, and you will recognize that as well.”
    “Exalted One,” Laaqueel said.
    Arrows ripped through the rigging as archers at the Seatower of Balduran got the range. Sahuagin crossbowmen knelt and returned fire.
    “Subservience in a menial is a good trait,” Iakhovas said. “Don’t forget it. As to helping you, remember that in helping you I am also helping myself. I’ve been giving aid in ways that will be known presently, and I’ve been inconvenienced over the last few tendays.”
    She knew he was talking about the injuries he’d suffered at Huaanton’s hands when he’d become king of the sahuagin. Though he hadn’t shown it at the time, Laaqueel learned it had taken more out of him than he would admit.
    “I’m going,” Iakhovas said.
    “You’re leaving the battle?” Laaqueel couldn’t believe it. He’d done the same thing in Waterdeep, though, so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise.
    In the distance, a flaming warehouse collapsed in a rush of fire and smoke. People who’d taken shelter inside it from the invaders were crushed or burned to death. The high-pitched keening coming from the few survivors barely penetrated the agonized screams of fear that rolled over the docks.
    “They don’t need me here,” Iakhovas said. “Man, dwarf, elf, sahuagin, and sea creature, they all know how to kill each other without any guidance on my part.”
    “But, Exalted One, you’re their king. They’ll notice your absence.”
    Iakhovas smiled. “I don’t think so. Even should they look for me, little malenti, I am here for them.”
    He gestured, releasing something from his hand that suddenly swirled around on its own axis. In the blink of an eye, a huge, fierce looking sahuagin appeared beside Iakhovas.
    Laaqueel understood immediately that the replica was how he looked in his sahuagin form to the rest of her community. Gazing at the harsh features, she realized Iakhovas had deliberately made himself handsome by sahuagin standards. He hadn’t done that at Waterdeep, and Laaqueel thought it was mute testimony that his powers had dramatically increased since then.
    “Now,” Iakhovas said, “we can go.”
    “Where?”
    “To pursue my own interests.”
    Iakhovas released a sea gull feather into the wind, then he leaped into the air and hung there for a moment. Fear ran like ice through Laaqueel’s veins. If the sahuagin saw Iakhovas openly doing magic, he would lose their trust immediately. Even most warriors regarded a priestess’s powers with suspicion.
    “Don’t panic,” Iakhovas said. “I’ve taken precautions. None of those around you can see either of us anymore. Come.”
    He gestured again, pointing at a place near the malenti as he glided above the deck. He flicked his finger, and a silver blob was flung off. Laaqueel watched as the tiny silver blob sailed through the air, then splashed against an invisible surface three feet above the ground. It glimmered and disappeared, consumed by the spell.
    “Get on, little malenti,” Iakhovas ordered.
    Hesitantly, Laaqueel moved in the direction of where the silvery blob had disappeared. Even though she guessed that it was there, she was surprised when she bumped into an invisible object. Running her hands around it, she discovered that it was circular in shape but only had two dimensions, curved slightly concave like a clamshell.
    “Hurry,” Iakhovas urged.
    Only the fear of his disapproval made Laaqueel climb onto the magic platform. Her weight shifted it only a little as it floated, but it quickly righted itself.
    Without another word, Iakhovas flew forward, staying low over the water as he aimed them northwest toward the city proper. Glancing below, she spotted another Flaming Fist ship as it