The Hunter's Gambit

by Nicholas McIntire

  “And now he’s capitalizing on the fear Parliament holds for us, of the Archanium, to get his revenge. When the chance presented itself, he pounced.”

  Andariana sighed as she considered his words, doing her best to ignore his eyes on her. She knew she looked worn, tired. Vulnerable.

  “You can’t let fear rule your realm for you.” he growled softly. “Marra tried that, if you’ll recall, and it led to civil war. A war that is now the very reason these laws exist. If she hadn’t allowed that zealot into her court, the nobility would never have had cause to fear us. She caused this mess with that religious maniac and left you to mop it up.”

  “Jonas, it’s out of my hands.” Andariana said, half-pleading with her nephew. He understood how politics worked, damn it! She shouldn’t have to defend herself to him like this.

  “It’s not, Andariana. And if you allow this to go unchecked, what next? I can’t imagine Sammul keeping quiet about my talents, not if he ever gets public proof. Will they accuse me of something equally ‘threatening’? If you’re going to be a puppet like your sister, you might as well declare it publicly!”

  Andariana shot to her feet, “You forget yourself!”

  In the next moment she was in her chair once more, her head spinning. She had felt the air solidify around her, had felt the firm pressure push her back into the satin seat of her chair. He hadn’t hurt her, but the point was made. Her heart fluttered in her chest as she looked up into his eyes.

  “I think it’s you who’s forgetting.” Jonas snapped.

  When she acknowledged her understanding, Jonas released his hold over her. She allowed herself a tiny trickle of fear. She’d agreed to raise her sister’s son as heir apparent to her own daughter, but she had never bargained for this. Not that she’d had much choice in the matter, but how Jonas had discovered such secrets and shadows was beyond her understanding.

  Andariana put up the mask of a queen, one she had used in the decades since her coronation to move the conversation along without divulging how unsuited she felt for her station in life.

  Jonas continued, calmer now. “If Sammul makes a move against me, then Andariana, I promise you it will become your problem. But then it will be too late for Ilyana. Possibly for all of us.”

  “It is already too late for Ilyana.” a new voice intoned from the door.

  Jonas turned and regarded Sammul. The man commanded more than three hundred Archanium Magi in the Voralla, but he most certainly did not command Jonas.

  The Prince lifted a chestnut eyebrow, “We’ll see, Sammul. Nothing has been decided. And while you are in command of an…investigation, you are not in control of the final verdict.”

  Andariana marveled at her nephew. She had asked Sammul to investigate, but at the time she had assumed that he would also pass judgment on the matter. Matters of the Voralla usually fell under the jurisdiction of the High Magus. But Sammul had taken the matter out of the Voralla, and in that moment he had made it a concern for the entire realm. Her realm.

  Jonas had just effectively handed the decision back to her.

  Her face remained impassive, but she couldn’t help but feel a mild surge of irritation. For someone who claimed to have no desire to rule, her nephew could certainly be commanding when he saw fit.

  Jonas glared at Sammul and then turned to his aunt, his face shifting into a smile. She felt like a mouse being stared down by a serpent. “I will leave you with the High Magus, Majesty. No doubt the two of you have many things of great import to discuss.”

  She returned his smile with equal sincerity and warmth, “Thank you, Nephew.”

  He turned on his heel, nodded impassively at Sammul, and walked briskly from the room.

  CHAPTER 5

  Discoveries

  BY MIDDAY ALEKSEI started to notice the trees. At first there were thin shrubs that blended in with what he supposed must be the lower Sulaq Hills, but as midday became late afternoon, oaks and poplars began to dominate the landscape.

  Aleksei frowned.

  He thought he was in the Sulaq Hills, which wasn’t unreasonable. The Sulaq Hills ran for almost two hundred leagues north to south. But the only forested area in the Hills was just outside the city of Keiv-Alon, and that was a six-day ride. A long six-day ride. With a shrug, Aleksei patted Dash’s thick golden neck.

  “Guess you’re faster than I gave you credit for, old boy.” he chuckled. It was an uneasy sound.

  As he crested a hill, Aleksei gasped. Below him stretched a verdant river valley full of massive trees that reminded him painfully of the Seil Wood. And nestled amongst the trees, almost as though it was a patch of new growth, stood Keiv-Alon.

  It was impossible.

  Aleksei closed his eyes and wondered if this wasn’t another dream. Would he wake to find himself still working his way through the southern Hills, only dreaming of the city? Yet his eyes opened onto the same scene as before, and he shook his head in wonder.

  You’re getting closer.

  Aleksei jumped.

  Can you feel it, Aleksei? Don’t you realize what’s happening?

  Aleksei was suddenly very afraid.

  There was something else going on, and he didn’t understand what. The farther north he went the stranger things became, but until this moment he had just thought it was an illusion. He’d written it off as simple paranoia and explained away the oddities as a series of unrelated events.

  And there was the voice, putting the lie to all his hopes, all his prayers.

  The Legionnaires were but a stepping stone.

  “What do you mean?” Aleksei demanded, growing angry.

  A stepping stone? He’d nearly killed two men, yet the voice acted as though they were trivial and unimportant.

  They are trivial and unimportant, Aleksei. You are the only one who’s important right now. You are the only one who matters. If you had killed those Legionnaires, it would have made no difference. They are inconsequential.

  “You’re talking about people’s lives!” Aleksei shouted.

  Some lives are worth less than others.

  Aleksei shook his head, refusing to listen anymore. Wanting the voice to go away. Would he not be there soon enough?

  If you arrived in the next heartbeat, you would not be here soon enough.

  Aleksei’s shoulders slumped forward in defeat. He couldn’t win. Was it not enough that he’d left his home, his father, to follow the whisperings of some disembodied voice in his head? Gods, there were madmen who had better reasons for action than this.

  “I’ll get there,” Aleksei growled, knowing he still had no idea where ‘there’ was, “soon enough. But until then, can you not leave me in peace?”

  Silence.

  Aleksei breathed a sigh, glad that he had at least bought some respite. He urged Dash forward, descending into the valley and hoping against hope that he’d heard the last of the voice for a time. On his way down the rocky terrain, he prayed to every god he could think of that all of this…abnormality could be left behind as easily.

  He reached the walls of the city just before nightfall. The guards gave him little more than a cursory glance as he passed through the gates. A simple peasant, not a threat. They returned to watching the approaching darkness.

  Aleksei rode through the broad cobblestone streets of the city, trying not to gawk. He’d never seen a building with three stories before. The lights and smells and noises were all new to him. He did his best to keep his wits about him. Cutpurses and thieves lived in cities too, and he had to be watchful. He had little money as it was; he could hardly afford to lose it.

  Aleksei finally found an inn that looked to be within his means and a feeling of apprehension stole over him.

  The sign that hung above the doorway was faded, but it appeared there had once been a horse or a stag painted in white. Underneath were faded lines and curves in red, which Aleksei assumed had once been letters.

  It would have to do.
<
br />   He walked Dash around the side of the inn, searching for the stable. Instead he found a post where two mangy ponies were tied.

  Aleksei winced.

  “Sorry, boy. I guess this’ll have to do for tonight.”

  Dash twitched his ears in what Aleksei supposed could only be irritation, but he allowed Aleksei to lead him to the post and secure his reins. Aleksei used the complex hunting knots his father had taught him, praying to the gods no one would come in the night and simply cut Dash loose. He did not relish losing his one source of transportation and companionship.

  Once he was satisfied that Dash was secure, Aleksei made his way to the front of the inn and stepped into the common room.

  The moment the door closed behind him he wondered if it would not be safer to risk brigands on the road.

  The room was hot and stuffy, filled with the stink of sour mead and unwashed flesh packed too tightly together in such a small space.

  At the far end of the room stood a makeshift bar tended by an enormous man in a greasy apron, his one remaining hand scratching irritably at the coarse black beard that hung halfway down his thick chest.

  Aleksei took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. He half-choked as he made his way past a sea of boisterous, drunken men. Several times he was nearly bowled over by a bustling servant girl, rushing between tables, enduring the pinches and leers of the patrons with careless smiles and murderous eyes.

  When he finally reached the desk, the innkeeper looked at him as though he’d stepped in from another world. “Long way from home, aren’t you, son?”

  Aleksei affected an expression that he hoped would pass for nonchalance, “How much for a room?”

  The innkeeper considered, turning his head to spit a glob of black saliva into a pot on the desk, “Piece of silver.”

  Aleksei fought to keep his face passive, “That’s robbery! This place isn’t worth more than five coppers at the best.”

  The man loomed over him, “The price ain’t negotiable. It’s a piece of silver or get out.”

  Aleksei was about to resign himself to it and pay the man when he felt that same disconcerting shift shudder through him.

  “I’ll give you ten coppers. More than anyone in their right mind would ever pay, and that includes dinner. Unless, of course, you’d like the Guard in here asking questions.”

  What did that mean? Aleksei wished he knew where those words, that confidence, came from.

  Whatever it meant, understanding flared in the man’s eyes. “Aye, ten coppers then.”

  Aleksei slapped the coin on the bar, deciding not to come any closer to the other man than he had to.

  “Top of the stair, third door on your left.”

  Aleksei nodded and tried not to bolt up the stairs as fast as he could. He found the room and stepped quickly inside, turning to lock it tight.

  There was no lock. Not only was there no lock, there was no suggestion that there had ever been a lock.

  He sat down on the straw mattress, fighting back tears of frustration.

  Gods, why had he ever left his farm? If he’d simply ignored the voices he could be at home right now, sitting in front of the fire and enjoying a hot meal with his father.

  Instead he was in a strange city, all alone in a tiny room that stank of sweat and vomit, wondering whether some thief would slip in during the night and slit his throat.

  There was a knock at the door and Aleksei leapt to his feet, his hand instantly going to his side. To what? His heart sank with realization. To where his sword should be. Where his sword belonged.

  He took a deep breath and opened the door, wondering just who would be waiting on the other side.

  It was a servant girl.

  “Dinner, sir.” she said flatly.

  Aleksei looked down and saw the earthen bowl of thick yellow stew she held in her hands. He took it gently from her and reached into his purse, pulling out a copper and handing it to her.

  Her face lit up, “Thank you, sir.”

  He smiled, then looked down at the stew, “So what is this?”

  She rolled her eyes and leaned forward conspiratorially, “Whatever the cook found in the gutter. This ain’t the cleanest establishment around these parts.”

  He chuckled dryly, “I’m beginning to see that.”

  She cocked her head to one side, “You ain’t from ‘round ‘ere?”

  Aleksei shook his head, “I’m from down in the Southern Plain.”

  She nodded, “My mum’s from down there. Pretty place, she says.”

  He smiled, “Yes, it is.”

  “So why come up here?”

  “I’ve been asking myself that same question. I guess I just got the feeling I wasn’t headed in the right direction.”

  She studied him slowly. “I like you.” she said after a long pause, “I’d like to help you out.”

  He frowned, “What do you mean?”

  Aleksei had to fight to keep from grimacing at her gap-toothed smile. “Bert, he’s the one that runs the place, I think he’s planning some mischief for you down there. Says he don’t like your attitude.”

  Aleksei’s eyes widened. The news wasn’t all that surprising, but the logistics were a different matter. He still had Gus' sword in his pack, and he might be able to wave it around and scare off one man, maybe even two. But if the innkeeper was able to convince his patrons that there might be some profit in jumping a country boy on his own….

  “Don’t you fret, dear.” the girl said with a harsh laugh. “Go down to the room at the end of the hall. Door’s got a lock on it alright. No one’s staying in this shithole anyhow. I’ll tell ‘em I saw you slipping out the back. They won’t know the difference.”

  Aleksei thought a moment, then nodded. “Alright. I guess that’ll have to work then. Thank you very much.”

  Her smile brightened, “Not often I get paid extra by a gentleman, sir.”

  And with that she was gone, vanishing down the stairs into the din below.

  Aleksei looked at the now-cold bowl of stew in his hands. He walked inside and set it on the floor in disgust. The rats could have their fill of that, but after hearing what the girl had to say he wasn’t about to touch it.

  He quickly gathered up his pack and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him tightly. Aleksei hurried down the hall, half-fearing they were already on their way up the stairs.

  The room at the end of the hall had a lock on it, though Aleksei couldn’t tell how well it would hold. He had the feeling that if someone really wanted to get in, it wouldn’t provide much warning. But at the very least it might wake him before they were on him, and that could be the difference between life and death.

  Aleksei grimaced as he felt despair wash over him. How had things changed so quickly? Two days ago his only concern had been pitching hay into the barn, and now he was hoping to survive the night?

  He shook his head, trying to shed the overwhelming doubt and fear that gripped him. It would do him little good.

  Instead he reached into his pack and drew out the Legionnaire blade. Again the same sense of comfort and peace stole over him…and this time Aleksei didn’t fight it. That feeling had saved his life once already. It seemed silly to push it away at a moment like this.

  Rather, he reveled in the solace, allowing his muscles to relax. He walked past the bed and crouched in the corner of the far wall, holding the sword at the ready before him. It was easily the most defensible position in the room. If they were to come at him, they would only be able to attack him from the front.

  As soon as the thought entered his mind, he recoiled. How did he know that? Was it common sense? Patterns and forms began to take shape in his mind, and he tried to make sense of them. What did they mean? Were they important, or merely his exhaustion playing tricks on him?

  Sometime during the night Aleksei fell asleep, his muscles locked into position, the sword still held ready in his hands. But
no mob came to his door.

  He dreamed again.

  Again he stood in the vast expanse of golden mist, but this time a figure stood before him. A man. He bowed slightly to Aleksei, and Aleksei realized that he could see through the man.

  “It’s easier for me to reach you now. You’re closer.” the man said pleasantly.

  Aleksei shuddered. Would he ever get used to having someone else read his thoughts?

  “Is this going to be another speech about what you need? If it is, I really should be getting some rest. I’m on my way. Isn’t that enough?”

  The man suddenly looked concerned, “Do you hate me, Aleksei?”

  Aleksei frowned. Hate him? The man wanted to know if Aleksei hated him? Why should he care?

  “Because if you do,” the man said softly, “it will have serious consequences.”

  Consequences? Aleksei ran a hand through his short blond hair, wishing he could ask the man questions.

  “Actually, that’s why I called you here tonight. I realize that you have been told painfully little. The fact of the matter is, some of what I’ve kept from you has simply been because I don’t know myself.”

  “What do you mean?” Aleksei paused a moment as the words came out, surprised to hear his own voice reverberate across the dreamscape.

  “There are certain things,” the man said finally, “that have become clear to me. Things that I know are important. Like you. I know that you are important, but I don’t know why. What is clear is that I will know the answer by the time you reach me.”

  “And where are you?” Aleksei asked.

  The man sighed.

  Aleksei thought he actually looked upset by the question. “I still can’t tell you. I only hope that the reason will become clear as you make your way here. But you will find your way here. However, there are some things that must happen first, things you haven’t faced yet that must come to pass before you reach me.”