The Severed City

by Christopher Mitchell

  ‘Aye,’ Keira said, her eyes narrowing. ‘What’s it to you?’

  He held out his empty hands. ‘Just trying to be friendly. I can show you round the camp.’

  ‘Don’t listen to that bawbag, girls,’ another man said. ‘Come with me, I’ll buy you both a drink.’

  A few other men walked over, trying to get their attention.

  Leah nudged Keira, and motioned with her eyes to the top of the steps, where the postern gate was opening again.

  ‘Got to go, boys,’ Keira said. ‘Our man’s here.’

  The Kellach turned and watched as Kylon came down the steps.

  He glared at the other men as he approached, and they backed off.

  ‘What were they wanting?’ he asked.

  ‘What the fuck do you think?’ Keira said. ‘Did ye not realise that ye were going out with a fucking sex goddess?’

  Kylon frowned. ‘The Holdings are detaining Baoryn.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Let’s walk,’ Leah said. ‘Too busy round here.’

  Each woman took one of Kylon’s arms, and they turned from the wagons, and began walking between the rows of huts and tents.

  ‘The Holdings found it hard to believe that we’d be friendly with a Rahain,’ Kylon said. ‘They think Baoryn might be up to no good. They also asked me a ton of questions about the money.’

  ‘What did you tell them?’ Keira asked.

  ‘That I robbed a Rahain merchant.’

  ‘And was that the truth?’

  ‘No,’ he said, as they approached a large muddy crossroads, ringed with wooden buildings.

  ‘Well?’ Keira asked.

  ‘Well what?’

  ‘Where did you get the fucking money?’

  ‘Holdings embassy in Rahain gave it to me for handing the Rakanese flow mage over to them.’

  ‘What?’ Keira said. ‘The Holdings gave you the money? Then why the fuck did you not just tell them that?’

  ‘Because then they would know who I am,’ Kylon said, ‘and through me, they might get to you. A lot of Kellach know I was your man, back when we were leading the resistance.’

  ‘So because of me,’ Keira said, ‘Baoryn’s locked up.’

  ‘He won’t talk,’ Kylon said.

  ‘I never said he would.’

  ‘Come on, let’s see if we can get a drink.’

  ‘What happened to the brandy?’

  ‘I gave it to the Holdings officers.’

  ‘Fuck.’

  They walked to a noisy building, long and low, and entered, passing a pair of mean-looking guards on the door. Inside, the place was littered with tables and chairs, with a bar at one end. Serving staff carried plates of food and jugs of ale to the patrons, while large open windows let in the evening light.

  They sat at an empty table, and an old woman approached.

  ‘What can I get for you, my dears?’

  ‘Ale, and whatever food’s hot,’ Kylon said.

  ‘No bother,’ she replied. ‘What unit are you with?’

  ‘What?’ he said.

  ‘We’re new,’ Keira said. ‘Just arrived.’

  ‘Oh,’ the old woman said, smiling. ‘Well, I suppose you can pay in coin, if you have any.’

  ‘I have Rahain gold,’ Kylon said.

  ‘That’ll do,’ she said. ‘Though if any Holdings troopers ask, don’t tell them. Food and drink are only meant for those belonging to a unit.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  The old woman sighed. ‘You have to work for supplies in the camp, unless you’re ill or crippled. Either that or you join the militia defending the rampart.’

  Keira glanced at Kylon as the old woman walked away.

  He shrugged. ‘We knew we wouldn’t be getting anything for free.’

  Their ale arrived, followed by food, three steaming bowls of thick vegetable soup, with chunks of oily fish floating on the surface.

  As they were eating, Keira noticed smoke coming from another table.

  ‘Look,’ she said, ‘they’re smoking. Thought it was banned.’

  Leah sniffed the air.

  ‘Just tobacco,’ she said. ‘Doesn’t do fuck all to you, compared to Sanang weed.’

  ‘And how would you fucking know?’

  Leah shrugged. ‘I needed something at night to blot out the noise you two were making.’

  Keira frowned. ‘What’s it like?’

  ‘Dreamweed gets you high and giggly,’ Leah said, ‘dullweed numbs you, and keenweed heightens all your senses. There are others apparently, but they’re the ones you can get in Rainsby.’

  ‘You thinking of trying some?’ Kylon said.

  ‘I wouldn’t do that,’ a voice said. ‘Not in here, at any rate.’

  They turned, and saw a pair of older men sat at a table, watching them.

  ‘And why’s that?’ Keira said.

  ‘Holdings troopers raid this bar regularly,’ one said, ‘and all the others. Anyone caught with weed gets their rations cut. Caught twice, and you get a week in the cells.’

  ‘This is fucked up,’ Keira said. ‘We’re outside the walls, but Holdings soldiers come into the camp? And they just hand out food and weapons? Why don’t they just let us behind the walls, if we’re all friends?’

  ‘No room, apparently,’ the old man said, ‘though they took in five thousand of our fittest and best, enrolled them into the proper Holdings army. As for the rest of us? Well, the camp is right next to the weakest part of the city walls, so basically we’re a big buffer, protecting the crappy section of wall from the Sanang. The Holdings give us food, medicine, weapons, tools, building supplies…’

  ‘They’re feart,’ the other said, ‘that we’ll switch sides, help the Sanang.’

  ‘Is that likely?’ Kylon asked.

  ‘Not a fucking chance,’ he said, ‘not after what those bastards did to the peasants across the river. The Holdings are far from perfect, but I’d rather them than that mob of monkey-arsed savages.’

  The doors to the tavern opened, and a group of armed Kellach walked in. An officer looked around. She caught the eye of the old serving woman, who pointed at their table.

  ‘Old cow,’ Keira said. ‘She’s fucking grassed us up.’

  ‘Was going to happen at some point,’ Kylon muttered as the group approached.

  The officer stopped at their table, and gazed down at them.

  ‘Can we help you?’ Kylon asked.

  ‘You lot new?’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘Why haven’t you reported to headquarters?’

  ‘No one told us to,’ Keira said.

  ‘Don’t give me your bullshit,’ the officer said. ‘How long you been here? And you’re telling me you never knew?’

  ‘We only arrived today.’

  The woman blinked, and frowned. ‘How did you get past the Sanang?’

  ‘We came by boat,’ Kylon said, ‘from Rainsby.’

  ‘Well fuck me,’ she said. ‘Fair enough.’ She gestured to the others. ‘You heard them. Stand down.’

  The warriors relaxed.

  ‘I guess I won’t be arresting you then,’ she said. ‘You’ve got until nightfall to report.’ She squinted out of the window. ‘Another hour or so. Unless you want to come with me now.’

  Keira looked around the table, and the others nodded.

  They got up, and followed the woman out of the bar.

  ‘What are our choices?’ Kylon asked her as they walked outside.

  ‘You three look fit,’ she said. ‘You any experience of fighting in the war?’

  ‘A bit,’ he replied.

  ‘Then it’ll be the militia for you,’ the woman said. ‘Defending the rampart.’

  Keira looked up to her right, where she could see the line of the great earthen bank above the roofs of the buildings.

  ‘Has there been any fighting?’ she said.

  ‘None so far,’ the woman said. ‘Our chiefs went and spoke to their leader, and got a deal that we woul
dn’t assault their lines, unless they attack us first.’

  ‘How many Sanang are out there?’ Leah asked.

  ‘We reckon about twenty thousand,’ she said. ‘The warriors clad in black seem the best. They were the only ones that didn’t take part in the massacre. Did you see that?’

  ‘Aye,’ Keira said, ‘our ship was anchored off-shore at the time.’

  The woman stopped.

  ‘Wait a fucking minute,’ she said, looking at them again, her eyes widening when she saw Leah’s longbow.

  ‘Aye,’ Leah said, ‘that was me.’

  The officer laughed. ‘Nice shot. You’ll fit right in.’

  Chapter 15

  Trade Winds

  Plateau City, The Plateau – 10th Day, First Third Autumn 505

  Daphne stood upon the high city walls, Bedig at her side, and gazed down at the harbour. A chill wind was blowing off the sea, and grey clouds huddled in the sky.

  ‘The weather’s turning,’ Bedig said. ‘Ten days into autumn, and I can feel it.’

  Daphne nodded, but her attention was on the river, where ships and vessels were docked. The port was busy, though not as busy as it had been in summer. Her eyes scanned the far bank, where the earth was still stained from the massacre twenty days previously. The Sanang occupying the bank were disorganised and lazy, and had made a poor job of clearing away the bloody remains of their handiwork. There were still bodies tangled in the weeds by the far shore, where the river reached the sea.

  She felt a kick in her abdomen, and smiled, putting a hand to her belly.

  ‘Wee lad awake is he?’ said Bedig, glancing at her bump.

  ‘With his big Kellach feet,’ she said. ‘Or hers. You have to stop assuming it’s a boy, Bedig, I’m starting to copy you.’

  ‘Whichever it is,’ he said, ‘I hope the apes have cleared off by then. They ruin the view.’

  ‘If they’re still here by the time the baby comes,’ Daphne said, ‘we’re in real trouble.’

  ‘I don’t see how, miss,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘If they attack the walls the crossbows will slaughter them. If they attack the Kellach they’re fucked. The five thousand of my folk under arms in the city have been told they can go out and help, if the Sanang assault the camp. And,’ he said, ‘the city granaries are full to bursting. I mean, I’m sorry for you that we’ve run out of sugar, and coffee and suchlike, but there’s enough food for thirds, and more ships come in all the time.’

  Daphne frowned. ‘The city eats its way through a granary every few days, and it’s only the ships that are masking that fact. Once the autumn winds begin, then the shipping will start to dry up. I reckon we’ve got until the end of this third before that happens. And no boats can sail the sea in winter, we’ll be cut off until spring.’

  ‘But miss,’ he said, ‘you’re forgetting about the army from the Holdings Realm that was summoned. They’ll be here by the end of the second third. We’ve only got to last out until then.’

  ‘Hopefully,’ she said. ‘It’s the timing that worries me. The Rahain tunnel will be open soon, and our frontiers will be unguarded. The Sanang might only be the start of it. The Rahain may decide to take advantage of our difficulties.’

  ‘Let them,’ Bedig said. ‘I’d rather fight the lizards than the apes anyway.’

  They walked along the top of the wall, by the river, until it turned left at Bridge Tower, where thousands of fleeing peasants had found sanctuary during the massacre, adding to the chronic overcrowding within the city. The Old Town was seething with people and, with huge areas of the New Town a vast construction site, hundreds of tents and makeshift shelters had sprung up in the spaces between the half-built buildings.

  They followed the parapet as it turned, and looked down on the sprawling Kellach camp.

  Daphne stopped at the battlements and gazed at the untidy streets of mud, tents and shacks, enclosed on the far side by the enormous earthen rampart that they had built with their own hands. Forty thousand refugees at the last count, not reckoning the five that were garrisoned within the walls.

  There were probably only a few thousand left in the camp that Daphne would class as warriors. Many were old, and a high number carried crippling injuries. Even so, she had no doubt that they would put up a fight if the Sanang were rash enough to attack.

  ‘Do you think he’s down there?’ she said.

  ‘No, miss,’ Bedig said. ‘If he were, he would have sent a message.’

  ‘Maybe he arrived,’ Daphne said, ‘and found out I was pregnant.’

  Bedig shook his head and sighed.

  ‘If Killop got here,’ he said, ‘and discovered you were carrying his child, nothing would stop him from coming to you.’

  ‘You don’t know that,’ she frowned. ‘You’ve never met him.’

  ‘No, but I heard Kylon talk about him often enough. And I was in Keira’s squad during the resistance in Kell. She went on about Killop all the time. Of course back then we thought he was dead. So, I think I know him pretty well.’

  ‘You probably know him better than me,’ she said, casting her face down, ‘and you’ve never even laid eyes on him.’

  ‘No matter what happens,’ he said, putting his big hand on her shoulder, ‘you have friends and family around you.’

  ‘You don’t think he’s coming.’

  ‘We’ve only been here a little over two thirds, miss,’ he said. ‘There’s still time.’ He smiled. ‘You always get gloomy when we get to this part of the wall. Come on, let’s see what’s in the market before going to Shella’s.’

  They began walking again, the Old Town down to their left, the Kellach camp to their right. They came to where the new emergency wall joined the Old Town. It was high, but had been hastily constructed, and had no parapet or walkway at its top.

  ‘The king knew what he was doing when he built this,’ Bedig said. ‘My folk are the real wall.’

  They passed it and descended a flight of wooden stairs that had been secured to the outer wall of the Old Town. At the bottom guards checked their passes, and allowed them through into a large square, directly in the shadow of the emergency wall. The area was covered in tents and shacks, inhabited by Holdings peasants. Daphne smiled. The Kellach probably imagined that everyone in the city lived in a house, when the reality was that only a flimsy wall separated two nearly identical squatter camps.

  In the midst of the tents was a large market, where everything that could be had in the city was bought and sold. Luxuries were exorbitant, but the basics were still cheap, and would remain so while the weather held out, and the ships kept arriving.

  Holdings troopers patrolled the makeshift streets, and were present in numbers in the market. Daphne found them a reassuring sight, and they kept the population from boiling over. They passed the busy stalls as lamps were being lit for evening. At the edge of the market square, they turned left, towards the main route through the city, which joined the New Town to the palace. Work had halted on most of the building plots, and many were covered in tents. A few buildings had their ground floors completed, and each of these was crammed with displaced peasants.

  They reached the wide main road, and crossed it, avoiding the lines of horses out on exercise, and entered the new university district. The building that was to be the university was an unroofed empty shell, being only half completed when the Sanang had arrived. A few townhouses around it were finished, and the students and tutors were living there, trying to carry on as normal as if the siege wasn’t happening.

  ‘Evening, miss,’ a trooper said, as they passed a squad on patrol. ‘We’ll need to see your, ah, companion’s pass before he can enter this district.’

  Bedig pulled out a rolled-up paper from his tunic, and showed it to him.

  ‘My apologies, sir,’ the trooper said, waving them on. ‘Have a good evening.’

  ‘Sir?’ Bedig muttered under his breath as they walked away. ‘You Holdings folk, with your please this, sorry that, please, please, sor
ry, sorry. “Apologies”, ha! For what, doing his job?’

  ‘The cavalry prides itself on its manners,’ Daphne said. ‘The Kellach could learn from them.’

  ‘Don’t give me that,’ he smirked. ‘You like us rough.’

  ‘I’m not altogether sure what you mean by that remark,’ she said, ‘so I’m going to choose to ignore it. Anyway, here we are.’

  She pointed up to a large palatial townhouse, set amid a half-finished street, bordering the more completed aristocratic district where her family lived. Outside was a carriage, with two beautiful mares, chestnut brown like those from Hold Fast. She went up to one, and stroked its head and flank.

  She came away, shaking her head. ‘They still make me feel sick,’ she said. ‘This had better wear off soon. If I can’t get back on a horse because of this baby, then, well… I don’t know. I’ll be greatly annoyed.’

  ‘Must be serious,’ she heard Shella say from inside the carriage. ‘Come in and join me, I’ve been waiting for you.’

  Daphne and Bedig went round to the side of the carriage, and climbed in. They sat opposite Shella, who was sitting with her brother Sami.

  ‘Hi Daphne,’ he said.

  ‘Your Highness,’ Daphne said.

  Sami pulled a face. ‘Can I not be free of that, for one night?’

  ‘I thought we were going inside,’ Daphne said.

  ‘No,’ Shella said. ‘Too many embassy officials around tonight, snooping everywhere, can’t get any peace. Thought we’d go round to your place. Do you mind?’

  Daphne nodded. ‘I guess this means you want to get drunk?’

  ‘Perceptive as always, Daphne Holdfast,’ Shella replied. ‘Once again you’ll have to watch sober while I drink myself to oblivion. But think of the alternative. If I didn’t get out of that mansion, and cut loose once in a while, then I’d go demented, and who knows, with a wave of my hand, half of the ambassadorial staff would be vomiting up their lungs.’

  She peered at Daphne as the carriage moved off. ‘Really,’ she said, ‘you’re providing a service to the city by letting me get drunk in your room. A noble duty. I’m a princess, you know.’

  ‘Fine,’ Daphne said. ‘Just as long as you know that my sister and sister-in-law will be in the townhouse tonight.’