by Glen Cook
Renfrow had done something. Bits of darkness were on patrol.
Asgrimmur said, “Find work for the Old Ones. They’re getting into mischief because they don’t have anything to do.”
“Tell them to stop. Bad behavior isn’t productive. And it attracts attention.”
“Just like that?” the ascendant asked. “When they haven’t seen the middle world in ages?”
“They need to understand that this isn’t the middle world they knew. In this middle world people know how to kill gods. In this middle world some people have dedicated their lives to that.”
“You want to threaten them when they’ve already agreed to help you?”
“No. I want them informed. They can call Heris or me Godslayer. We earned it. But we weren’t doing it for sport. They need to understand that some people want them exterminated because their existence threatens them. The Special Office, for example. Those people saw what happened in the Connec. They were there.”
Renfrow said, “With the wells of power so weak no new gods will arise. If the Old Ones feed on other Instrumentalities they won’t get stronger, they’ll just buy time.”
Hecht said, “If the wells don’t come back the Special Office will get what it wants without lifting a finger.”
“In the sense that the Night will keep getting weaker. The Instrumentalities will never go away completely. Unless they get on the wrong side of your sister.”
Asgrimmur said, “Some are clever. They may find ways to beat the drought.”
Hecht had a thought so disconnected he shook his head as though to dislodge it, or, at least, to shake loose an explanation of why it had gone off ninety degrees to nothing.
Titus stood. “Boss? You all right?”
“I don’t know. Strange ideas just bubbled up out of nowhere. I’m not used to that.”
“Huh?”
“See, I had this sudden notion that we have to do everything we can to get hold of Grinling.”
His companions all made puzzled noises. Consent went a step further. “Evidently another mystery where I’m no initiate.”
“Grinling is a magic ring. Built by the Aelen Kofer. It got lost in our world ages ago. Dumped into the Shallow Sea, or maybe the Mother Sea. I don’t know much about it so I don’t know why I’d think about it now.”
The ascendant said, “If you knew how to work it you could use it to control the Shining Ones and make yourself Master of the Nine Worlds.”
Again Titus expressed confusion.
“The Shining Ones, or Old Ones, were always collective names for the old northern gods,” Renfrow explained. “To confuse things, these days country people call elves and other minor Instrumentalities the Shining Ones, too.”
Consent said, “I was angry about being left out. Now I’m not sure ignorant wasn’t best.” He looked desperate. “Boss, how do you get your head around all this?”
“Sometimes I can’t. Mostly, I just remember that it’s the Night. You shouldn’t have trouble adapting. You handled the revenant hunt in the Connec.”
“Oh,” Renfrow said. “The Connec. Bad news out there. Count Raymone caught a gang of Arnhanders trying to sneak Serenity through to Arnhand. He got hold of the dirty end.”
Hecht demanded details. Raymone was neither a friend nor an ally but he had thought well of the man. And the Count’s determined enemy, Bronte Doneto, seemed equally determined to be an enemy to Piper Hecht.
Renfrow had few details. He had seen nothing himself. He had visited the scene days after the event.
“No Anselin?” Hecht asked.
“No Anselin. That rumor may have begun as a lure for Raymone, but I doubt it. The Arnhander force wasn’t that strong. It was one of those shit happens things. Serenity was lucky to get out with his ass still attached. He was badly hurt. You really want, send the old man to cut his throat. He’s nowhere near Salpeno yet. He’ll move slowly because of his wounds.”
Hecht had traveled with a recuperating Bronte Doneto, escaping the Connec early on. “He’ll be making somebody miserable. He doesn’t handle pain well.” He ignored the suggestion about loosing the Ninth Unknown. “You’re on the inside, now, Titus. Forget what you believed before you sat down. Open your mind to what is.” Then, “I know that isn’t much help. I have trouble and I’ve lived with it for several years.”
Renfrow said, “I have for seven hundred. And Asgrimmur has for three hundred.”
The ascendant disagreed. “It must have been longer than that. I was asleep in the Realm of the Gods for ages. The dreams weren’t pleasant.”
“Easy,” Hecht said. The old insanity had begun to surface, there. “Here’s a thought. If the Shining Ones need to stay busy have them find Grinling for me. Have them find Anselin. He’s got to be somewhere.”
Asgrimmur said, “I’m sure they’re looking for Grinling already. Whoever finds it would have a leg up. You might’ve noticed that they’re not team players.”
Hecht said, “I’ll see the Empress soon. Till I get different orders, Titus, assume that we’re still headed for the Holy Lands. No big thing for you, Renfrow, but our livelihood for the rest of us.”
Grimmsson stirred uneasily. “I said I’d help once my other business was done. It is. What should I be doing?”
“Running my special operations force.” It came smoothly, without forethought. “You’ll manage our rescued friends, plus Zyr and Red Hammer if Heris can get them back.”
“I understand you lost the Zyr egg.”
“No, I didn’t. But while we were transitioning it changed somehow. Heris is trying to work out what happened.” But he feared that whatever had, it could not be undone. Zyr might be gone forever.
The ascendant said, “I transitioned with Heris before. It was so awful I won’t ever do it again.”
“It was never easy for me, either. Renfrow. Your part is done. What’re you going to do now?”
“What Ferris Renfrow always does. Stay out of sight. Be a phantom threat that protects the Throne and spies on its enemies.”
“Who do not include the Righteous.”
“At the moment. Times keep changing.”
Hecht betrayed his irritation.
“Easy, Commander. A jest, no more. I foresee no problems.”
Hecht caught a glimmer of motion in the corner of his left eye. He turned. So did Renfrow and Grimmsson. There was nothing to see. Renfrow’s black beads did not become active. Hecht asked, “Titus, how much do the men know about Asgrimmur?”
“Enough to be nervous.”
“How about we don’t tell anybody who he used to be? We could come up with a hook or a claw, couldn’t we?”
“Well … call him Sweetling, keep him from going all hairy and rustic again, make him dress like he’s from this century, he can get by. People who have to depend on him will want some sense of who he is, though.”
“We’re mercenaries. We lie about who we used to be. We lie about where we came from. Trust we earn now.”
Asgrimmur might not have been listening. “The Old Ones will have their hands full dealing with Vrislakis and Djordjevice. We didn’t get the cream of the Shining Ones.”
Piper Hecht steepled his fingers in front of his chin. “I’m going to let you explain that.”
“What?”
“Back when, the implication was that you put the whole gang out of business. Permanently. Plus, the top god and the Exile are gone. Right? So. Some were trapped, but not the whole bunch. Right?”
Asgrimmur nodded. “Twelve, about half of them not first rank.”
Hecht grunted. “And the others? I could probably think of seven or eight more names.”
“They were away when the Aelen Kofer closed the gates between the worlds. They’re in Eucereme, now, where they’ll stay till the end of time unless the dwarves reopen the ways. You met Iron Eyes. Will he suffer a change of heart when there’s nothing but servitude in it for the dwarves?”
Renfrow said, “Commander, you’re fussing about things in need of no
fuss. We have plenty to occupy us.” He spun in his chair, stared into a corner, snarled something inarticulate. His black beads rolled around but accomplished nothing obvious.
Grimmsson watched the same corner, staring slightly to the side.
Hecht thought he knew what was happening. “I don’t know which one of you that is, but come on out. Now.”
A shimmer. A sharp vertical line. A two-dimensional form that turned to become Lila, red-faced. “Are you sure, Father?”
Hecht glanced at the bug-eyed guards, who fumbled with their weapons. He had miscalculated. He should have let the girl be. Now he had to come up with a believable explanation. “Always thinking, our Piper,” he muttered. “But too late, now. Why are you here?”
“Just keeping in touch. Making sure you’re all right.”
“Checking up for your mother?”
“No. For Heris.”
“Heris?” That was startling. And that was Lila, talking straight up.
She said, “Strange things have been happening in Brothe. All over Firaldia, actually. Heris says it’s the Old Ones playing pranks. She would very much like to see you.” Lila pointed at Grimmsson.
Titus Consent’s eyes kept getting bigger as he worked out the truth behind all those mystery midnight visits. “This isn’t possible! None of this is possible!”
“Stop thinking that way,” Hecht told him. “Possible or not, this is part of our business, now. And it will get worse.”
Renfrow nodded. Asgrimmur was involved in a side conversation with Lila. The Commander of the Righteous glanced at his lifeguards. They were confused. They recalled something happening but no longer knew what it was.
Renfrow murmured, “The alliance is holding.” Whatever that meant.
Asgrimmur said, “I’ll flap down and see what Heris wants. Where is she, Lila?”
“She was at Anna’s house when I left.”
Hecht demanded, “What? Anna was supposed to stay safe in the Castella!”
“Calm down, Dad. Those troubles have died down. It’s safe. Except if a giant bird lands on the front stoop and turns into a naked man.”
“You said strange things…”
“I did. I didn’t mean riots. Wait. That’s not right. There are disorders. But not where our house is. Heris says those Instrumentalities are looking out for Anna, anyway.”
“Why?” Hecht addressed the question not just to Lila but to everyone.
The ascendant reminded him, “The Old Ones are totally selfish. So Anna’s fortunes must be important to them.” While Hecht puzzled that, he added, “I’ll be back in a few days. I hope with my commandos rounded up.”
“Put them to work. Aren’t they supposed to be focusing on the Windwalker’s cousins?”
“They are. Count on it. Just don’t expect fire in the sky over the northern horizon.”
Renfrow and Grimmsson slipped past the two lifeguards. Those men seemed to have concluded that the Commander of the Righteous no longer needed guarding. They followed.
Hecht caught Lila wearing a smug smirk. “What did you do, girl?” Getting nervous. She was too deft at all this stuff.
“It’s simple, really. And handy when your parents are getting on your nerves … Whoa! Just joking. We’re careful not to get caught. Except for Pella, who doesn’t think ahead.”
Hecht did realize that she was teasing before he exploded. He kept the darkness out of sight and silent. Lila was less hard than she pretended.
Hecht said, “I understand that young people feel obligated to irritate their elders. And I’m not used to young people. So try to clamp it down.”
Lila eyed him hard, maybe cataloging his thoughts and impulses. “All right. Sorry. I need to remember that you and Anna don’t know much about kids because neither of you ever got to be one.”
“Thank you. I think.” Recalling that Lila had never been one, either.
“Great. Stiff old stuff all done. Who do you want me to spy on, Dad? What do you want me to steal?”
“You didn’t keep yourself very low-profile when you got here.”
“Sorry. I was trying to get onto the third floor of someplace I’ve never been before. The up and down stuff is hard! That’s where I messed up. I was two feet too high. I had to keep from falling. That’s why everybody noticed.”
“And now even Titus knows what you can do.”
“Good for him. He’ll keep looking over his shoulder.”
Inasmuch as Consent was still in the room, still in his seat, Hecht expected an excited response. But the man’s eyes had glazed over. His breathing was shallow and slow.
“Lila. What did you do to him?”
“Nothing. I didn’t have any reason … It’s the old man. It has to be.”
Cloven Februaren rotated into existence. “She’s a fast learner, Piper. But she needs to keep a sharper eye out. Check your back trail once in a while, girl. Something might be gaining on you.”
Februaren made several small, odd, complicated hand gestures. Black beads rolled out of shadows and out from under things. They mustered in front of Februaren, who told Lila, “Scoop those up for me, darling. I have trouble bending.”
“No.”
Startled, Hecht blurted, “Lila!”
“He’s being a jerk, Dad. They’ll sting me if I touch them with my bare hands.”
Hecht eyed the old man. Februaren grinned. His right eyebrow went up. “She’s right. So she has been paying attention.” He bent and scooped. The black beads hopped into his hand. “They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You got to wonder which is which, sometimes.”
“I do every day,” Hecht said. “Is there a reason you turned up?”
“Keeping an eye on Lila. This was an extreme-range solo. I wanted to be handy if she got into trouble.”
Lila looked pleased and put out at the same time.
Hecht said, “Can you unspell Titus?”
“Not yet. I wanted to let you know that our divine friends are up to something. I don’t know what, yet.”
“I’ve had that feeling all along. But I can’t grasp the motivation. All they need to do is wait. We won’t demand much of them.”
“I think they can’t help it. I think they all have a little Trickster in them. In any case, they’ll have convinced themselves that they aren’t violating the letter of their contract.”
“So what are they doing?”
“I don’t know. It isn’t obvious. Mischief, mostly around churches.”
“Vandalism?” The West had a standing tradition of majorities desecrating minority houses of worship.
“Sort of. I’m not sure how. They aren’t busting stained glass windows or stealing candles. It’s more like they’re sucking the holiness out. Though holiness isn’t the word I want. It’s whatever brings on that feeling that you’re in a consecrated place,” said Februaren.
“And you a Prince of the Church.”
“Yeah. I should pay more attention to the business end of religion.”
“Have you ever celebrated a mass?”
“No. But I’m not unique. The Collegium is all political. God, and God’s work, doesn’t have much relevance.”
“Call me weird. I don’t think God would agree.”
“God gets along. How often do you see Him disagree with the Collegium? Or any Patriarch?”
“I don’t much care, honestly. Religion has abandoned me so I’m no longer inclined to respect my end of the bargain.”
“Just a heads-up,” Februaren said. “Watch out for weird stuff happening. Now, besides keeping a lookout on the wonder girl, here, I wanted you to know that Heris and I won’t be around for a week or two. The Shining Ones have come up with a lead on Vrislakis, or one of those.”
“Then the Shining Ones shouldn’t be getting into much trouble. They’ll be helping you.”
“That’s my plan. We’ll see. But the Old Ones strive hard to be difficult. They don’t want to communicate directly, but don’t want to go through
the ascendant or the Bastard, either.”
“Don’t put up with it. Just tell them what they’re going to do.”
Februaren shrugged. “Lila, girl. I don’t see any reason why you can’t operate on your own, now. Just be careful. From now till Heris and I get back you’ll be your father’s guardian angel.”
Februaren turned sideways. The air whooshed into the space he had vacated. But then he popped right back, four feet from where he had been before. “Piper, the communication pendant. You haven’t used it for a while. Do you remember how? In case…” He stopped. Consent showed signs of shaking his torpor.
“I must have lost it. I have no idea when. Last time I…”
He did remember. During his sordid encounter with Empress Katrin in the Krulik and Sneigon falcon manufactory she had insisted that he get rid of the pendant. It kept hitting her in the back of the neck.
“I’d forgotten all about it.”
“And yet you’ve made it through everything. Maybe you are beloved of the gods. What about your amulet? Have you lost that, too?”
“No. Right here.” Hecht raised his left hand, squeezed his left wrist. He forgot the amulet most of the time, too. But not lately. “It’s been driving me crazy. It itches all the time.”
The old man’s gaze was, suddenly, so intense that Hecht took a surprised step back. “What?” Hecht said.
“The god hunt might get off to a slow start. If it does, your sister might turn up here. Don’t expect her to be in a good mood if she does.”
The Ninth Unknown rotated again.
Consent had recovered enough to understand what he was seeing. “Boss, I don’t know if I can handle this.”
“You get used to it. The hard part is remembering not to talk about it around people who don’t need to know.”
“Nobody would believe me, anyway.”
Hecht thought Titus might be surprised.
* * *
Algres Drear and a dozen Braunsknechts turned up to take the Commander of the Righteous to see the Empress. Hecht’s staff were nervous but he was confident of his safety.
Lila had been hard at work eavesdropping. She had had a good time, with no trouble. Only Ferris Renfrow was a problem. Hecht had told her to stay away from him.
She had not done so, of course. Her ration of youthful over-confidence had been well fertilized by her Construct-supported skills.