Blade of the North

by Jones, Heath

  Flushed with exhilaration, I run through the streets of Malikaran, searching for the others. Theolin and Dane are the first ones I find, glumly going about their fruitless rounds.

  “What are you so happy about?” Theolin asks.

  Making no attempt to hide my joy, I show them the permits.

  It takes a moment, but Theolin’s scowl slowly changes into something resembling a smile. She doesn’t say anything, merely nods her head slightly. It’s not much but coming from Theolin I’ll take it as a sign of respect. Dain, on the other hand, lifts me off the ground and spins me around, nearly crushing me with the strength of his embrace.

  When we find Aveline, she is pacing in a circle around Jarryd and Alek. They are watching her warily, as though she were a lion ready to pounce, and are visibly relieved when she turns her attention to us. She regards me anxiously, waiting. Without a word, I bring out our permits, my eyes locked with Aveline’s. When she sees the permits, her face brightens and the smile that lights her face, a smile mixed with pleasure and pride, means more to me than words could ever express.

  “How?” Jarryd asks, stunned. “You didn’t…” he begins, unable to finish the question. I hear the fear in his voice – fear of what I may have done to secure our permits.

  “Of course not,” I reply, blushing.

  Aveline’s smile falters at Jarryd’s concern, but not even that can dim my exuberance.

  “Come on,” Alek says firmly. “Let’s tell Rose, then we can pick up our bags and get on with this.” He sets off, a sudden determination in his stride.

  Heading back to The Den, where Rose is taking her turn cleaning, I imagine the look on Vahla’s face when he sees the permits. He has become like an uncle to me, and I want to make him proud. Hidden under his bluff, skeptical skin, lies a good man.

  Rounding the last corner before The Den, I’m surprised to see a group of Peace Bringers in the alley ahead, waiting just outside. Curiously, Rose is in their midst, talking with them. The two guards on duty at the door are studiously ignoring the Peace Bringers in front of them.

  “Stop!” Jarryd whispers harshly.

  “What?” I say. “Why?”

  “I don’t like the look of that,” Jarryd replies, nodding towards the Peace Bringers.

  Slowly, I look again at the scene in front of The Den. Rose is talking with the Peace Bringers, and... I stop dead, ice-cold fear running down my spine. Standing next to one of the Peace Bringers, pointing at Rose, is the woman in the green coat.

  The others either haven’t heard Jarryd or are ignoring him, as they continue towards The Den.

  “Stop!” Jarryd cries again, trying to keep his voice low and urgent at the same time.

  Dain still doesn’t hear him, and Jarryd has to grab his shirt to make him stop.

  “What?” Dain asks.

  “Back up,” Aveline commands. She has come to stand beside Jarryd and I, and she looks worried. “Out of sight. Now!”

  Slowly we obey her and move behind the cart and awning of a small fruit vendor’s stall. Thankfully, even in this alley, there is still a steady stream of people passing along, and our movement goes unnoticed. Fear grips me, however, and I feel as though every eye is on me.

  Up ahead, the woman in the green coat continues pointing at Rose. Rose is shaking her head, a wild terror in her eyes.

  “This feels bad,” Jarryd says.

  “Who’s the woman?” Theolin asks. “I’ve never seen her before.”

  “I have,” I say. “A few times. I didn’t think anything of it…”

  “I noticed her too,” Jarryd says, surprising me. I thought I was the only one who had seen her. But Jarryd is our Protector, he is supposed to be more aware than we are of dangers around us. “I ignored her as a threat… I’m worried I was wrong.”

  “You better not have been,” Dain says coldly. His harsh tone makes me turn to him, and I’m startled by the fear in his eyes. He is edging forwards, towards Rose. Jarryd places a restraining hand on his shoulder. “It was your job to keep us out of trouble,” Dain hisses at him. Jarryd frowns at the rebuke but doesn’t reply.

  We watch as the Peace Bringers continue listening to the green-coated woman, while Rose shakes her head more and more emphatically. Eventually, she raises her hands in front of her and backs away, but only into another Peace Bringer standing behind her.

  “They’re going to arrest her,” Theolin says.

  “We can’t let them take her,” Dain says, pained urgency in his voice.

  “It won’t do us or her any good if you get yourself arrested too,” Aveline says.

  “You don’t understand,” Dain replies, anguished. “They’ll interrogate her, and they’ll break her.” His pronouncement, and its implication, is greeted with stunned silence.

  Dain shrugs off Jarryd’s restraining hand and rushes out towards the Peace Bringers.

  “Da - ” I try to call out to him but a hand suddenly covers my mouth.

  “Don’t,” Jarryd says, “you’ll only draw attention to us.”

  He removes his hand from my mouth, and I watch, helplessly, as Dain dodges through the crowd towards the Peace Bringers.

  Rose sees him coming and her terror grows even more frantic. “No Dain! Stay away!” she screams.

  The nearest Peace Bringer turns and is hit by Dain as he leaps in the air, landing with his fist on the Peace Bringers' jaw and dropping him to the ground.

  “It’s time to go,” Aveline urges.

  But I don’t move. Instead, I watch, everything seeming to slow down in front of me.

  The Peace Bringers reach for their swords. Dain closes on the nearest one’s arm before he can draw his weapon. Dain punches the Peace Bringers in the chest, doubling him over, then brings his knee up, smashing it into the soldier’s face. Ducking to avoid a sword cut aimed at his head, Dain backs away, readying himself.

  “Sara,” Aveline says, trying to pull me back. “We have to leave. Now.”

  Still my feet won’t move.

  Tears are falling down Rose’s cheeks as she calls out again, “No Dain!” He jumps aside to avoid another sword thrust then dodges another coming down on top of his head. As the sword falls to the side he lunges in and punches the man in the throat. He turns… but then he stops. Why doesn’t he move? Why doesn’t he keep fighting?

  “Sara!” I hear Aveline screaming from somewhere. “Now!”

  Then I see the sword impaled in Dain’s chest, hear Rose’s anguished, heart-wrenching cry.

  “We go, now,” Jarryd commands, adding his strength to Aveline’s and pulling me back around the corner. With my eyes torn away from the death of one of my oldest friends, reality hits me hard. Sounds rush back into my ears, sights of people in the streets and my friends ushering me past them. The numb shock I had felt slowly dissipates and I regain control of my own body. My feet start moving of their own accord, and I run. We all do.

  After dodging and weaving for a few blocks, we slow to a walk.

  “Dain’s dead,” I say, still not able to comprehend what just happened.

  “Forget about it for now,” Theolin says, “there’s nothing we can do about it.”

  “How can I forget about him?” I reply heatedly.

  “I didn’t say forget him,” Theolin answers, not unkindly. “But we have to work out what we’re going to do.”

  “We go ahead with what we came here to do,” Alek says.

  “How do we do that?” Aveline asks. “All our possessions are back at The Den.” She lowers her voice before continuing. “If we go back there, we’ll be arrested, just like Rose.”

  “We don’t need them,” Alek insists. “We have the permits - we can get into the Royal District. Once we’re there we’ll figure out how to arm ourselves.”

  “We can’t go in there just expecting to find what we need,” I say. “We need to plan carefully - ”

  “Don’t get cold feet on us now, Fairgrey,” Theolin interrupts, back to her derisive self.

&nb
sp; “We can’t stay here feeling sorry for ourselves, or for Dain,” Alek says. “They’ve already arrested us once, so it won’t be long before they remember we’re all together. They’ll come looking for us.”

  “So we need to hide,” I insist.

  “No,” Aveline says, looking at Alek with a look of resignation on her face. “There’s nowhere in this city to hide. And they will learn we have entry permits.”

  Alek nods. “How long do you think we have until Rose breaks and tells them everything?” He looks at each of us, but silence is our only reply. “I think we have two days at best. Two days until the Peace Bringers know about our plans. Two days until it’s all over for us.”

  “It… it can’t be over!” I protest.

  “Alek’s right,” Jarryd says. “We need to get into the Royal District now. When they learn about our permits, they’ll have extra guards at the gates, and we’ll never get past. But if we go now, we have a chance.”

  “And then we keep out of sight until we have a plan to get to the emperor,” Theolin says.

  And just like that, it’s decided. I’m stunned, but meekly follow the others who have set their faces doggedly towards the Royal District of Malikaran.

  As we draw nearer, sweat begins to drip from my palms. I expect every Peace Bringer I see to recognise and arrest us, but none of them even spares us a glance. My fear is almost uncontrollable. I jump when a hand is placed on my shoulder.

  “Relax,” Jarryd says. “It’ll be okay.”

  Too scared to speak, I merely nod my head.

  Finally, the green walls surrounding the Royal District come into view. As we cross the Square of Harmony and Unity, it seems like the eyes of everyone gathered there are on us. But they’re not. The crowds are carrying on no differently than all the previous times I have been here. It just feels like they’re watching us, ready to denounce us, like the woman in the green coat.

  “Wipe away the tears or we’ll never get through the gate,” Theolin hisses.

  Hastily I rub my eyes and force myself into an outward appearance of calm. It’s not easy. One of my best friends is dead, and another is in prison. Real prison, not the one Karadik held us in. I don’t even want to think about what they will do to Rose, but they will break her.

  Crossing the keep out zone, as we’ve come to call it, we approach the gate. There is no going back now. After waiting so long, everything is suddenly happening quickly – too quickly. The guards beneath the walls have seen us and are waiting for us. Nearing the Gate of Blue Waters, I’m finally close enough to make out the picture engraved on it. It is a majestic, soaring eagle, symbolising, no doubt, the emperor.

  A Peace Bringer steps in front of the gate and motions for us to halt. Despite my grief, I can’t help being dazzled by the giant blue opal gate in front of me. It is tall enough for a soldier to ride through on horseback and wide enough for five to ride abreast. The sheer size and… value, of this massive gemstone is breathtaking.

  “Permits,” the Peace Bringer says, his hand out, impatiently gesturing for them.

  We each hand over our permits and wait while the Peace Bringer inspects them.

  “It says you’ll be here for seven days,” the guard says.

  “That’s right,” Aveline answers.

  The guard examines us all before resting his eyes on Aveline. “Why don’t you have any bags?” he asks.

  “We travel light,” Aveline replies quickly, no hint in her voice of the anxiety she must be feeling. “We always buy whatever we need. Makes travelling easier.”

  The Peace Bringer glares at her for a moment, then turns back to the permits. I’m sure there will be some problem with them, but one by one, the Peace Bringer hands them back. “As foreigners, each of you are required to check back to this gate every evening during your stay,” he intones. “If you fail to do so, we will seek you out and place you under arrest. Is that understood?”

  We all murmur our agreement. Finally, the guard nods to one of his companions, then the right-side half of the giant opal gate swings slowly outward.

  As the Gate of Blue Waters opens before us, the Peace Bringer ushers us through, into the Royal District of Malikaran.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  And now there are five.

  Nine of us set out from Farley. Tom and Bianca chose to stay in Tolos, so both are now dead. With Aveline and Jarryd joining us, we were again nine as we fled that condemned city. Bree died in the flight, leaving eight to arrive in the Daishen Forest. After completing our training and departing from Storm, Miya stayed, reducing our strength to seven. Rose is now a prisoner, and Dain – dear, dear Dain! – is dead. Our numbers are ever diminishing, and now only five of us remain.

  Five would-be assassins to tackle the might of an Empire and end a senseless war.

  The realisation of our impossible plight dawns on me as we walk along the main street of the Royal District. We have gone a few hundred paces from the Gate of Blue Waters before I emerge from my reverie and finally become conscious of my surroundings.

  Looking around, it is as though we have entered another world. Everything here is so… orderly. Perfect. Every building lining the street is like a unique work of art. From the carvings on their painted wooden walls to the sweeping tiled roofs with miniature statues at each corner, I can’t believe how much care and attention has gone into crafting every building. Even the cobbled streets, lined with beautifully sculpted plants and trees, could be the subject of an artist’s canvas as they wind over and around the hills. Red and yellow leaves mixed with pink and white petals litter the ground, but even they look as though they are exactly where they are supposed to be.

  The streets are busy, but the heaving crowds from the city beyond the walls are gone. So too is the excessive noise and bustle. Merchants still sell their wares, but without trying to gain the attention of every passer-by. The people walking the streets are unrushed, calm. Horses pulling carts loaded with goods rumble along the street, yet their drivers don’t shout abuse at anyone in their way – they merely slow down until their path is clear.

  The glimpses I gathered of the Royal District from the other side of the walls didn’t prepare me for the surreal beauty inside. I stare around in wonder, the diffuse light filtering through the trees adding an ethereal quality to all I see.

  The streets wind randomly in all directions. Whether this is by design or poor planning, I don’t know. But it would certainly make life difficult for any invaders trying to launch a coordinated attack on the palace.

  We wander aimlessly for over an hour, not having to feign the sense of wonder a rural traveller would experience on their first visit to the Royal District of Malikaran. We all feel it.

  We pass countless roadside ponds filled with water lilies, the sun glittering off the scales of the tiny fish gliding beneath the surface. At one intersection, the road forks around a large, circular fountain. Water shots high into the air, its spray carried out across the street by the breeze blowing from the north.

  Down one street we see a tall cylindrical column towering over the houses. Approaching it reveals the intricate detail of the carvings decorating its entire surface. The words at the very top of the column proclaim this to be a monument to THE RESTORATION OF THE PEOPLES OF LAGON. Below these words is engraved the image of the emperor, sword in hand, as he watches his army restore Lagon, all depicted in further scenes around the face of the column. The scenes of restoration, however, look more like scenes of butchery and murder.

  More monuments to the emperor are scattered throughout the district. They celebrate his victories in various battles and over the nations he has conquered. Each one depicts scenes of the utmost cruelty and barbarity, yet somehow still proclaim Tigranik’s benign rule and his undaunting quest for peace.

  “We need to get off the streets,” Jarryd says.

  We’ve been walking in silence ever since we passed through the gates, and his voice seems to shake us all out of the haze we were in.

/>   “Agreed,” Aveline replies. “We need a place to stay.” Leading us off the main avenue, we follow her through a tangle of side streets. Even here where the streets are narrower, trees and blossoming plants separate the street from the buildings.

  Eventually, she stops in a quiet alley, in front of an inn called The Sleeping Blossom. The sign hanging in front shows blossoms lying restfully on a bed. “This will do,” she says.

  We follow her inside to a surprisingly small room. A woman, who looks to be in her middle years, is sitting behind a desk opposite us, and there is a door behind her.

  “We would like to hire a room,” Aveline says.

  The woman behind the desk smiles. “Of course. How long will you be staying?”

  “Seven nights,” Aveline replies.

  We end up paying for two rooms before being allowed through. The woman leads us through the door behind her which opens onto a covered terrace surrounding a beautiful square garden. Just like the streets outside, the garden is in bloom with flowers and leaves of all shades from red to yellow to green. A small brook bubbles over a rocky bed, spanned by a delicately carved arched bridge. The green-painted bridge leads to the centre of the garden, where a solitary blossom tree stands, covered in a haze of brilliant orange flowers. The terrace continues around the garden with doors leading off into the rooms. We find our rooms on the far side of the garden, then cram inside the first one.

  “Do you think we have two days?” Aveline asks Alek once we are all inside and the door is closed.

  “At best,” he replies. “They’ll break her quickly. Maybe seeing Dain killed right in front of her will help her to hold on a bit longer, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

  “Two days it is then,” Aveline says. “So today, tonight, and tomorrow we need to come up with a plan. Tomorrow night we attack the palace.”

  “We can’t gather the information we need that quickly,” Jarryd says. “We need more time.”