by LeRoy Clary
However, instead of retreating as a normal person would Cinder charged, the wooden club raised and ready to strike again.
He shuffled ahead to meet her, his knife ready to slash or stab, block or thrust. She screamed, not the scream of fear, but of anger and combat. His attention was focused solely on her. Pursuing Rake was long forgotten. That was a mistake.
Rake charged him from behind, silently on his toes, his fist raised. He put all his arm and shoulder in the downward punch, which struck the man from behind directly on his shoulder blade. Rake’s fist hit so hard, the soldier half-spun around, the knife released from his paralyzed fingers, and Rake used his other fist to short-punch the man in the sternum.
The fight was over.
Cinder placed her knee in the center of the back of the first man to fall as she lifted his head free of the pavestones by grasping a fistful of hair. She placed her lips close to his ear and talked softly. He nodded.
Rake moved to the other, who was curled on the ground, his knees pulled to his chin as he tried to catch his breath from the blow to his chest. His right arm seemed paralyzed. Rake stood over him. The man moaned, huffed, and panted for breath. Rake moved a step closer and almost casually placed his foot on his head, pinning it to the pavestones. When Rake added a little pressure, the eyes turned wide. Fear filled his face.
Rake said, “Tomas send you?”
“Yes.”
“Just you two?”
“No. Men all over the city are searching.”
Rake pressed down harder. “Will you do me a favor? A personal thing, but one you might be interested in agreeing with. And at the same time, a favor for those you work with?”
“What?” came out as a gasp. “Anything.”
Rake said, “I’m going to let you live if I get your cooperation. For now. Today. I want you to go to the Three Feathers and talk to the other soldiers Tomas has hired to find us. Talk to them quietly without Tomas nearby and tell them about this encounter. Also, tell them there are already a hundred of our closest friends here in Mercippio and we do not take prisoners. I was at the bottom of our combat classes, so tell them that, too. The others are fierce fighters and have already taken out several of you thugs working for the men at the inns. Today is an exception because we want you to tell the story about us. We want you to make it so scary, your friends desert Tomas. Run away. Desert.”
“Huh?”
“You will be doing them a favor, those who run, I mean. They will live out the day and maybe even tomorrow. The ones who remain will not. Our friends will begin capturing them and we do not have the ability to care for prisoners. They will disappear and die. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
Rake removed his foot from the man’s head and pointed to the far end of the alley. The soldier stumbled to his feet and shuffled away, more than once looking back to make sure Rake hadn’t changed his mind. He held his right arm limply at his side. Rake looked across at Cinder and the man she still knelt on. He said, “The same for you. Tell them to warn the other soldiers in the city we’ve infiltrated the city with over a hundred men, and fifty women, all experienced fighters who move as silently as ghosts. We are going to start killing any who work for Tomas and the others like him. Not by attacking in force, but from alleys, during the night, and from behind. Our archers will fire one arrow at a group of you and disappear. In five days, there will be nobody alive to serve men like Tomas.”
“Really? You’re ordering me to let him go?” Cinder wailed. “He’s mine. I need two more confirmed kills for my promotion.”
“Yes,” Rake said. “We’re letting him go. But there is no sense in slaughtering all of them as we did in Overton last year. There will be enough of them who won’t quit working for Tomas that you’ll easily get your promotion, you have my word.”
Cinder twisted her expression to glare at Rake. “Please, let me take his head and roll it down this alley and across the road into the stalls like a child’s ball. That will tell them what to expect. One head rolling down there will do more good to convince them we’re serious than all the talking there is.”
Rake almost laughed at her idea but clamped his teeth together to hold it inside. “No, I want you to let him go. I order it.”
“Then one of the others will kill him and get the credit,” she snarled. “You should let me. If you do this, you owe me a life.”
“I’ll repay you later. I promise. You can cut the head off the next one we capture and roll it wherever you want. Let this one go.”
With obvious disgust, Cinder stepped aside but threw a last kick at his backside as he scrambled onto his knees. The expression as he looked back at them while running down the alley told the whole story. He was terrified of Cinder.
She pointed to the man in the small hat who was still tied and observing it all. He’d seen and heard it all—and believed every word. When she pointed in his direction, he recoiled as if physically struck. Rake said, “No, you can’t kill him, either. And you can’t roll his head.”
He moved to the prisoner and untied him. He pointed to the other end of the alley and said in a confidential tone, “Go fast, while I block her way.”
The man sprinted.
“No, let me have him,” Cinder howled. She waited until he disappeared and asked as she flashed a wicked grin, “What now?”
“We have some shopping to do,” Rake said.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Shopping?” Cinder demanded. “Are you crazy or teasing me?”
“I have an idea. If we change our appearance, maybe they will continue to look for us as we are. They have our descriptions and what we are wearing. How do you think I’d look dressed as a woman?”
“Really?” she rolled her eyes. “I think you’d be an ugly one. And big. Did you feel the dragon approaching while we were fighting?”
“I did, but then it flew off.”
“Do you think it was coming to rescue us?” she asked. “Because it bonded with you and it knew you were in danger? Has there been a pattern of it appearing when you are in danger?”
Rake ignored her comment about bonding. “If not a woman, I saw a stall where they sell those long brown robes to those who wander the Brownlands. One robe and a hat might change me enough that I can walk the city undetected.”
She punched him on the arm. “Maybe you would look good as a woman, after all. That was fun back there. I’m glad you followed my lead.”
“My lead,” he corrected.
“No, you were not there when I took down that first one. I told the beginnings of the lies then, so I was the leader.”
Rake chuckled and said, “Each lie you told was bigger. Where do you come up with them?”
“You didn’t do so bad yourself,” she said as she punched his shoulder again.
“Rolling a man’s head down the alley and across the street!” He burst out laughing as she joined in. “That will be remembered and told at the family councils for years. You’ve just made a name for yourself among our people.”
The stall Rake wanted was just ahead of them when they finally quit laughing. The seller was a man who wore a similar robe as Rake had in mind, however, his robe held a bold geometric design that made it instantly stand out. He welcomed them with a slight bow and placed his hand over his heart as he did, in a formal manner of greeting in a land far away. He said simply, “How may I help you today?”
Rake came right to the point, not sure of how much time he had or how to approach the subject. “We are new here but have managed to upset some of the people from Breslau and their thugs. Can you sell us robes that will help disguise us?”
The vendor said softly, “The ones arriving from the west are upsetting the delicate balance of our life here in Mercippio. I have many beautiful robes but suspect you might want something less obvious than new or bold in color.” He went to the rear of the stall and dug through a pile of things, finally pulling out a robe and holding it up judging Rake’s size, then quickly
discarded it as too small. He found another, nodded in satisfaction, and handed it to Rake.
Cinder said, “Me too.”
“Would you be offended if I offered you the robe of a young boy that signifies he is without a male sponsor for his trade? It would identify you as a youth. Your smaller female size would be disguised.”
She snorted, “My friend Rake here, was willing to dress as a woman if needed. So, let me see it.”
Rake pulled the tan robe over his head and clothing. He noticed sweat stains under the arms, and the scent and stink of the previous owner permeated the cloth despite the obvious recent washing. Rake didn’t find the mixture of soap and human offensive. In a way, it gave the robe a character of its own and hinted at the previous wearer. Instead of a blank sheet of paper, it held a history, sort of like their bows. He contemplated the rip in the front that had been repaired. His active mind pictured a massive battle where the owner had been nearly killed with the slice of a sword in the hands of an evil soldier, knowing all the while that the repair looked more like a rip likely to happen in a fall.
The robe was voluminous, with large sleeves, a neutral shade between tan and brown. The repaired rip near the chest added character. The color had faded on the shoulders, indicating ages worn in the sun. The seller added a knitted skullcap hat of loose weave that pulled down over the ears and forehead, so it hid all his hair. Only his beard remained.
The robe Cinder slipped into was cut narrower and had a wide cloth of the same brown color tied around the middle like a wide belt. That identified her as a novice worker in an unidentified craft and a young man. She adjusted the belt and the shopkeeper turned her around as he tied her hair behind her head with a strip of string. Then he rummaged for a hat and came up with one similar to Rake’s, but longer on the sides and back, forming almost a cone. Only her face from her eyebrows down remained visible, and only part of that. He handed her a scarf made of thin material.
“What do I do with this?”
He didn’t answer at first, as he wrapped it around her neck, tied it loosely with one overhand twist, then pulled it up to cover her mouth and nose. “To help with the sandstorms, to allow you to breathe and see. Or to hide your face from men searching for you. It is often worn that way even when there is no storm. For privacy.”
She asked for the price. The robes cost more than Rake expected, but she didn’t bargain, and said, “Please do not tell anyone what we bought.”
He placed his hand over his heart again. “I fight the same people you do in my own way. We are friends. The seller of meat on sticks has passed the word that you are good people. Please feel free to return to me if you require any future help . . . and to find the names and locations of others who will gladly help you. My name is Jaffe.”
They slowly walked back to the woman at the stall selling strips of meat, who ignored them, so they moved closer. They stood quietly and observed her lack of reaction. She finally noticed them and offered a sample of her meat, as she had done with them the evening before, and as she did with all potential customers. They accepted the sample.
In doing so, Cinder lowered the scarf over her mouth and revealed herself by speaking. The old woman laughed and told her it was more than an effective disguise. She said desert wanderers were common in Mercippio and were usually ignored by those living in the city. Wanderers were often under oaths of solitude and didn’t speak or wish to be spoken to. She also said she had not seen Sadie but would keep a watch and would send her to the Rocking Chair Inn if she arrived.
Cinder looked worried. The meat seller was positioned at the entrance to the city and would have noticed Sadie, so she hadn’t yet arrived, but should have. She took Rake’s arm in a grip that felt like the claws of an eagle and said, “We should go back on the road and look for her.”
Rake agreed.
They walked at a sedate pace instead of the usual ground-eating strides they had taken from the mountains. Rake held his head erect, back straight, and moved gracefully. Cinder did much the same. They talked little until reaching the edge of the city. Their goals were to find Sadie and to watch the reactions of those they encountered as they experienced their new appearances. That would confirm their disguises were what they hoped—or not.
While moving through the outskirts to the road beyond, not a single person had hailed them, waved, or even met their gaze. It was as if they were as invisible as air. Twice, Rake looked directly at people walking towards him on the road. One glanced away. The other scowled slightly. Desert wanderers were not well-liked in Mercippio, so their disguises were perfect.
The more they moved slowly and without challenging people by looking at them, the easier it was to be dismissed. Rake said, “We can go anywhere in the city dressed like this until they catch on.”
“Where I want to go,” Cinder said, “is to the Three Feathers Inn and meet with Tomas.”
“I didn’t ask what he looks like.”
“Reddish hair. Average height. Likes to sit in a corner and have a few of his men at the tables in front of him. Nobody gets close. And he is a Crab.”
Rake walked a few steps before answering. “Then we should talk to him elsewhere. He sounds a lot like Hadrian at the Two Fish. Three Feathers. Two Fish. Want to bet the other inn is named ‘four’ of an animal? Four Pigs. Four Dogs, or whatever.”
Cinder made a harrumph sort of sound and said, “You’re right and wrong. Think about this. I wonder if they have other men man similar to Tomas or Hadrian at each of the other inns? That is one effective way of how to keep track of travelers who might cause trouble.”
Rake swung his arms with more motion as he watched a man dressed like him ahead. As they walked nearer, the man lifted a single finger on his left hand and pointed upward. Rake copied the gesture, and both continued. “If that’s true, it means they are also workers and report to someone more important, someone who can afford to hire them into their positions. Someone we would like to meet and speak with.”
“You sound exactly like a teacher I once had—one I didn’t like.” Cinder didn’t sound like she was teasing.
He laughed softly. She had a way with words, but his attitude remained the same. If the man known as Tomas protected himself at the inn with guards, they would talk to him at another location. The same went for the short, fat man with the long beard called Hadrian. Comparing the information they provided would reveal the truth—or lies. The trick would be to get them away from the inns and to the other location.
Cinder abruptly said, “There Sadie is.”
“Ignore her. Walk on past. Keep up the same pace. Just to show that even someone that knows us won’t recognize us in these outfits.”
“It’s not as if we're wearing something to hide our faces, you know. She will recognize us right off.”
Rake watched the lone figure approaching and whispered, “Don’t look directly at her.”
“She will recognize us.”
“It’s a good test. I don’t think she will.”
They continued walking slowly until they were about to pass her by. Cinder lowered the tone of her voice and asked, “Excuse me. Is Tranter the next village on this road?”
Sadie paused. “I’m sorry, I’ve never heard of that name.”
Rake said with an accent that sounded as phony as Cinder’s voice, “Tranter. It is a good place.”
“I’m sure it is, but I can’t help you.” Sadie turned and started away.
“Then you will have bad luck for three whole years,” Cinder called.
“Or five years, because you are so ugly,” Rake added because he couldn’t think of anything better to say. Then he started to laugh.
Sadie turned, confused. Cinder had also started laughing and Sadie strode aggressively in their direction, her fingers curled into fists, obviously still not recognizing them.
“It’s us,” Rake said when he realized why she didn’t join in the laughter.
“We came to meet you,” Cinder added as she took
two steps back and holding her hands up in mock surrender.
“Why?” Sadie asked as she recognized them, not laughing.
“We’ll tell you as we walk. But it’s looking like the Breslau invasion has already started—or the first phase of it. We may be able to stall it a little.” Cinder looked at Rake who nodded for her to continue. “There is a plan to control the inns, the food, and who travels in or out of the city. We think it is to take control so when the invasion does come, it will be easier. We’ve even heard there is an army posted at the far side of the Brownlands to ‘protect’ from Oakhaven invading Breslau.”
“That’s silly,” Sadie said. “Do they really think the Dragon Clan is going to attack them?”
“Not the Dragon Clan, but everyone on this side of the Brownlands,” Rake said.
Sadie shook her head. “That is even more than silly, it’s just stupid. We are a free state, no government, no king. Everyone is independent. How could we organize to attack them?”
Cinder said, “Maybe that’s our problem. As a land of individuals, we’re subject to them conquering us fairly easy. To protect ourselves, we might have to band together. Not just Dragon Clan but all of us.”
Rake said, “We didn’t want you walking into Mercippio and getting into trouble as we did. There is an inn called the ‘Rocking Chair’ and the woman that runs it needs our help. There are others resisting Breslau in Mercippio, too. But the ones we fear most are searching the entire city for us. It seems they have issued a reward for our capture.”
“You’ve already managed to get a reward posted for you? In half a day? That’s why the robes?” Sadie asked in a tone that was more a confirmation than questioning.
As they walked, Cinder filled her in on all that happened, especially the attempted fire-bombing. She also said, “Beware of an inn named the Three Feathers or Two Fish, and any mention of men called Tomas or Hadrian.”
They entered Mercippio and its gray buildings almost quietly. Sadie was as much of a village girl as Cinder, and both were more sophisticated than Rake. He watched for any signs of recognition from those they passed.