by Chloe Cullen
“It’s okay,” Cori said, sending him a half grin. Trey had always felt like an older brother to her, and she knew he was one of her father’s favourites from his training days. “One of these days, you’re going to recognize me for the bad-ass that I am.”
He laughed as she grinned wickedly at him.
“Excuse me!” A short woman with frizzy red hair called out as she ran up to Cori and Trey, stopping in front of them and panted to catch her breath.
“How can we help, ma’am?” Trey asked immediately.
“Please,” the woman said in between breaths, “my little boy is missing. He was right behind me, and then when I turned around again, he was gone.”
Cori immediately started to scan the crowd. In this part of High street, the shops and outdoor stalls were teeming with people, young and old.
“What does the boy look like?” Trey asked.
“He’s… he’s seven years old, only this tall,” the women sobbed as she spoke, her eyes darting around the square, “he has hair the colour of mine, and blue eyes… and a lot of freckles… he was wearing a white shirt.”
“All right ma’am, we’ll help you find him – was anyone else with you, or did you see anyone else around who knew your son?”
The woman shook her head, tears falling down her face. “No… I don’t think so.”
“I’ll start asking around,” Cori said, and Trey nodded to her before continuing to ask the woman his questions.
Cori walked from stall to stall, asking each vendor if they had seen a small boy of the woman’s description. Each of them said no, until she came to one of the last stalls on the street, who was manned by a taller woman wearing all black. Cori thought that was quite the fashion statement, and when she asked her questions of the tall woman, she had nodded vigorously.
“Yes! That little boy definitely stood out with that hair of his.”
“Where did you last see him?” Cori asked her.
“There was a man with him – he was holding his hand I think and had helped him onto a carriage over there.” The woman pointed to a row of horse-drawn carriages, where they sold tickets for carriage rides.
Cori nodded once to the woman. “Thank you for your help.”
Cori jogged over to where the carriages sat and stopped in front of a man who was wrapping some leather bindings around a horse.
“Excuse me, sir. But not too long ago a man with a young boy who has red hair took one of your carriages, do you recall?”
The man looked up to Cori, his hands stilling in his work and brow creasing in thought. “Yeah, I reckon so.”
“Can you tell me where that carriage was headed? Was it one of your workers who was leading the carriage?”
The man shook his head. “They paid to rent the carriage, I reckon. Said they was heading down Lullin-ways.”
Cori’s gut churned with anxiety. She thanked the man, before running back to Trey, who had his hand on the woman’s shoulder in a comforting gesture.
Trey looked up as she approached. “I have Legionnaires scouting from the rooftops to try to locate him, did you find out anything?”
Cori nodded grimly, and hurriedly explained that it seemed a boy matching his description was seen being taken with a man by carriage, heading for Lullin.
The woman began crying harder, and muttered under her breath, shaking her head.
Trey leaped into action immediately, telling Cori to stay with the woman, before he took off at a sprint towards the rows of carriages. Cori watched as he handed a few coins to the man she had spoken to earlier and took the reins of an untethered horse.
Trey flung himself onto the back of the horse and snapped at the reins. The horse took off in a sprint, and Cori watched as he disappeared down the cobbled street, and she knew that Trey would ride hard and fast until he found that carriage with the little boy inside.
22
Thoren could tell there something different about Cori as they walked through the Quarter together on a bright, sunny morning. It had only been a day since his father had told them about the dead Legionnaires and the unrest with the Shadow Soldiers and the Assassin.
Yet, he sensed a change that had come over her. He had watched her smile and joke with all those around her during their morning workout, and she had even joked with Thoren. It was starting to feel like the old Cori had come back to the Legion once again, the girl he had used to know, which warmed his heart.
He assumed that it had a lot to do with the Princess, even though Cori had only spent one day back in the employ of the Palace. Whatever it was, Thoren found himself feeling grateful that Cori just seemed… happier.
They walked side by side into the darker, less reputable parts of the Quarter. He sensed both of their moods darken with each step, leaving the sunny High Street to wend through the side streets. Here, the buildings became more and more dilapidated the further they walked, some windows missing and walls falling apart. There were puddles on the street that Thoren guessed would be human waste. They stepped carefully around those puddles, needless to say.
Cori’s mood may have been happy this morning, as had his, but they were heading for the buildings that the Legion knew made up the establishments belonging to Tiberius Teller, and Thoren could feel the unease settling between them.
“This… is disgusting,” Cori muttered, as they watched their footfalls with extra care.
Thoren grunted his agreement and looked up at the windows of the houses they passed by. He caught a shadow in the window, which darted away as soon as he had looked.
“I don’t envy the Legionnaires that have to patrol here on a regular basis,” Thoren said, his eyes narrowing at the window, before looking back down to where he put his feet.
“You know, I once met this guy – Tiberius,” Cori said, and Thoren looked over at her, brows raised, “yeah, I was with Trey and the Princess in this store close to the Palace, and he came in. I didn’t know who he was then, but I remember thinking what an odd… creepy man he was.”
Thoren chuckled a little. “That is quite an apt description of Tiberius. He’s always been that way, as far as my father tells me.”
“I will never forget how the owners of the store all went rigid at the same time when they saw him enter, like he had cast a spell over them, it would have been funny if it weren’t so weird. Then he insisted on being fitted for a suit and glared at each of them until he was helped,” Cori said, her mouth a thin line.
“He’s a dishonourable man, and people disappear around him, especially in those places he calls his establishments,” Thoren said, frowning, “we all know that he employs courtesans, and Gods know whatever else he gets up to, but we’ve never been able to find proof. I have no doubt that he’s the kind of man who would be responsible for the deaths at the hand of this Assassin.”
“I have no doubt, either,” Cori agreed, “I mean, I wouldn’t have been surprised if those store-owners ended up missing after that day I saw him.”
They walked up to a house, larger than any on the street, which looked as though it were kept in better repair than all the others around it. There was a neat little garden out front, teeming with roses, and Thoren was surprised to see all the doors and windows intact in the two-storied home.
“This is it,” Thoren said, nodding to the two large letters carved into the white-painted double doors in front of them. TT. Tiberius Teller.
They had already discussed and agreed upon how they were going to approach this meeting with him. The man didn’t know they were going to be coming today, so they each hoped the surprise would be enough to catch him off guard, and perhaps have more honesty in his answers than lies, considering he would have less time to come up with them.
They looked at each other for a moment, and without another word, they walked up the stone steps to the front doors, knocked twice, and waited.
***
After knocking, Cori waited, anticipation coiling in her belly. The silence in the empty streets around them
created a strange and uninviting atmosphere.
Just as she thought that perhaps he was not home, both of the white doors were flung wide open dramatically, and there stood the man Maveron Swarbrick requested they question.
Tiberius Teller looked at who was on his doorstep, his eyes flicking between Cori and Thoren, taking in their grey Legion uniforms, before resting his eyes back on Thoren. Then he grinned, widely.
“Well, what a pleasure it is,” Tiberius’ eyes swung from Thoren to Cori, “to have two Legionnaires come to visit.” He took his hands away from the door handles and opened his arms wide. “What a pleasure, indeed.”
Cori took in the man’s appearance. He was an oddly tall man, who wore a duster jacket that swept the floor as he moved. Tiberius’ face was what gave her the creeps, though it was hard to put a finger on what exactly it was about him. Perhaps it was the greasy-looking smile, the tidy, slicked back hair, or it could have been the way his eyes seemed to twinkle with a knowledge that was unnerving.
“Mr Teller,” Thoren started, extending his hand to the man, ever the well-mannered Legionnaire, “I am Thoren, and this is Corisande. May we have a moment of your time?”
Tiberius kept his polite grin in place as he took Thoren’s hand and gave it an emphatic shake. Then, to Cori’s dismay, he held his hand out to her as well. She hesitated only for a moment before reaching out and letting him take her hand, which he tugged on hard enough to force her to step forward towards him. She stumbled slightly but kept her footing enough to not fall into him entirely.
She saw Thoren flinch, like he was readying to fling the man away from her, and Cori herself felt that she was seconds away from reaching for her weapons, when Tiberius spoke.
“Ahh, young Corisande. The Lone Oakheart… we haven’t seen you in these parts for some time.”
Cori narrowed her eyes at him, and yanked her hand out of his grasp, which he relented with a chuckle. Tiberius’ hands went back to clasping a cane which he held in front of him. Cori spied the white adornment atop the cane, which shone in the sunlight. It was a wolf’s head, with such detail that she could even see the teeth on it, its maw pulled back as though it were growling.
‘No matter, please do come in. I happen to have a fresh brew of tea if you were interested. Almost as if I knew to expect company, how fortuitous.” Tiberius’ eyes sparkled knowingly before he turned away from them.
Cori and Thoren exchanged a glance and she saw the thought pass across his face. That someone had tipped him off that the Legion were going to be questioning him this morning.
“Come in, come in!” He called from the shadowed interior of the home, his voice echoing back out to them.
“I don’t really want to,” Cori murmured, but sent Thoren a lopsided smile in an attempt to ease some of the tension she felt between her shoulders before she stepped into the home.
A staircase sat directly in front of her, leading up into more shadows, and she looked around at the lavish decorations scattered over the wooden walls and adorning tabletops. It was clear that he wanted any visitors to know that he was a wealthy man.
Cori, with Thoren close behind her, followed the sound of Tiberius’ voice, until she turned into a room at the end of a hallway and walked into what was clearly an office. He sat behind a large wooden desk and was pouring a steaming liquid into three cups that lay upon a silver tray in front of him.
“Do you like your tea sweet?” He looked up from his pouring to ask them both as they entered the room.
“We aren’t here to drink tea,” Thoren said, his tone becoming business-like, “we want to ask you some questions, and the Legion requires you to answer honestly and to the best of your knowledge.”
“Ah,” Tiberius said, frowning as he set down a silver teapot, “straight to business then? How unfortunate.”
He gestured for them to sit, before he began spooning sweetener into a cup of tea. He stirred it, before setting the spoon down and bringing the cup to his lips for a sip. He met Cori’s eyes over the brim of his cup, and again she felt her eyes narrow involuntarily. This man irked her, more than she could describe.
Thoren took a seat first, and begrudgingly, Cori followed suit, taking a seat in a chair next to him.
Tiberius set down the cup and folded his arms across his broad chest. “So, what do you need to know from me?”
Thoren leaned forward in his seat. “The Legion have it on good authority that an individual known as the Everton Assassin, was seen exiting this very building a few days ago.”
Tiberius sucked on his teeth, looking between the two Legionnaires in front of him. He waited another moment before saying, “that wasn’t a question.”
Cori looked to Thoren out of the corner of her eye and watched his jaw work before he said, “do you know who the Assassin is?”
“No.”
Thoren sat back in his chair, though they had both expected this answer. “Do you know why they were seen leaving this house?”
Tiberius gave them a simpering look. “Perhaps the Assassin was trying to kill me. Perhaps I’m just a victim here.”
Cori snorted; she couldn’t help it.
Tiberius looked to her, cocked his head to the side. “Is that so unbelievable?”
“Yes. Yes, it is,” Cori said unwaveringly, holding his gaze.
He tutted at her, before he lifted his cup again to his mouth, and taking a deep drink from it. He swallowed the tea loudly, causing Cori to cringe at the sound.
Thoren was watching him too, an impassive look on his face. “You knew we were going to be here today. How?”
Tiberius grinned at them again, his cup clinking as it was placed back down on the silver tray. “A message was delivered to me. It told me to expect visitors this morning. So naturally… I made tea.”
“A message from who?” Cori asked him.
His eyes slid back to her. “It wasn’t signed by anyone.”
“Convenient,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Indeed,” he said, still grinning.
“You haven’t answered one of my questions,” Thoren said, “why was the Assassin seen exiting this house?”
Tiberius huffed out a laugh through his nose. “I don’t know anything about this person, I haven’t seen her in this house. Perhaps whoever says they spotted her was mistaken.”
Now it was Thoren’s turn to smile at the man, who stiffened slightly, understanding that he had made a mistake.
“Then how do you know they are a female?” Thoren asked.
Tiberius seethed. “I am just assuming.”
Thoren leaned back in his seat, satisfied that he had caught him in a lie. “I’m sure that’s all it is.”
Tiberius took another sip of his tea, but his posture was not as relaxed as it had been before.
“Do you know a man by the name of Gregor Benny?” Cori asked him.
Carefully, he set his cup back down. “No.”
“Really?” Cori said, “word has it that Gregor was a regular at your gambling establishment near here. It would appear that he made someone angry because he was murdered a few weeks ago.”
Tiberius just sat back into his chair, appearing to look thoughtful before he shook his head. “A lot of people frequent my establishments. People are weak, that’s why they like to gamble with their coins. You can’t expect me to know every one of them by name.”
“Perhaps I can describe him for you,” Thoren cut in, “people say he was an artist, he sketched likenesses of people in the Quarter. He was a balding man, older, a little round at the waist. Oh, and this is the part you might remember – his throat was sliced open and he was left to choke on his own blood.”
Tiberius didn’t even flinch. Again, he looked between them, no expression on his face, his grinning persona having disappeared.
“How tragic,” he said with no affect in his voice.
Thoren looked at Cori then, a silent agreement passing between them. They both stood in unison, preparin
g to leave.
“Thank you for your time, Mr Teller,” Thoren said, heading for the door to the hallway, “rest assured we have many eyes out there looking for this assassin. We will keep extra Legionnaires around this area, to ensure you are kept… safe.”
Cori grinned at the man, who was now seething behind his desk, and then they exited the house.
When they had walked a fair distance away, Cori let out a breath and shuddered as she shook out her arms. “That man is deplorable.”
“Agreed,” Thoren said, looking over his shoulder behind them to see the house again before they turned the next corner, “and it’s clear that he is involved somehow. His slip-up about the Assassin won’t be enough, we need to find definitive proof.”
Cori sighed. “How are we supposed to do that?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Thoren said honestly.
They kept on walking, until they were far enough away that Cori stopped shuddering at the feel of Tiberius’ hand in hers, and the way his eyes had slid over her.
By the time they reached High street again, Cori had brushed off the encounter and was able to add some bounce back into her step. Yesterday had been wonderful. She truly felt like a Legionnaire again after taking up her mandate with Millisa. By the time Cori had ridden Molly back to the Compound after spending the day with the Princess, she had felt lighter than she had in years.
“You seem like you’re in a good mood,” Thoren remarked.
Cori considered for a moment whether to be honest. She decided that he deserved the truth from her, after all that he had put up with so far when it came to her. “I suppose I am in a good mood – I really like being back at the Palace, so I feel happy. Even with everything happening at the moment, I have to believe it will be okay. “
Thoren was quiet, thoughtful after she had finished speaking. Then he smiled over at her. “I believe it too… things will be okay.”
Cori met his gaze, and felt a warmth settle inside her at the way he was looking at her with his silver eyes, and his expression that was more relaxed than she had seen in her time back.