Knight of Stars

by Tom Lloyd

  ‘Right then. Ylor and Burnel, you’re on guard duty. Watch our injured and put a burner in the barracks if they give you trouble, right?’ Lynx said this in a loud voice in case there was anyone awake in the upper floor to listen. ‘The rest of you, follow me.’

  ‘Who put you in charge?’ Braqe demanded, bristling as usual. ‘You ain’t senior here.’

  She pointed at Llaith as she spoke, but the ageing fighter wearing the Diviner of Tempest shook his head. ‘All o’ you, follow Lynx’s lead.’

  ‘Ah right,’ Braqe spat. ‘That’s how it is, eh?’

  Lynx frowned at her for a moment but it didn’t take him long to remember what the problem was. Braqe had fought the Hanese herself and lost her brother to them. Seeing Lynx at the head of a swift and bloody night strike would bring up some nasty memories for her.

  ‘That’s how it is,’ Lynx confirmed with all the calmness left to him. ‘Walk away if you don’t like it. I’m going to back up our friends.’

  ‘Fuck you.’

  He turned away. ‘Glad we got that sorted out. Come on, at the double.’

  Chapter 17

  Teshen ghosted along the rooftop. Old habits reawakened inside him as his feet chose a path all on their own. On the ground below he glimpsed the flash and crack of Suth leading the way. The compact Jarraziran was perfect for this work, light-stepping and lithe with a remarkable aim. If she’d had any major personality flaws, she might have found herself as a Card years earlier, rather than a Jarraziran soldier. Instead it was the light-tattoo that bound her to Anatin’s Mercenary Deck and simultaneously made her even more lethal in the process.

  Keep your mind on the job, dammit, Teshen reminded himself. Still his eyes drifted towards Suth. She looked nothing like Sanshir, but there was that cold razor’s edge to her all the same. Here and now, the similarity caught something deep inside of him.

  They closed on the palace quickly, two guards on the shoreline dispatched and one Card tasked with guarding the shore. The palace was the biggest structure in the Holding by some way. The south wing rose to six storeys and looked out over the lagoon. This was the biggest risk, Teshen knew. There were simply too many people in there to contain easily. How many guards was anyone’s guess, but probably only a handful. The bigger question was whether he’d be cutting a path through civilians, armed or not, or wandering the halls trying to track down the kabat.

  Fortunately the Whitesea folk are good for more than just finance.

  Their contact had provided some information on the target – coupled with Teshen’s own memory it might prove enough. He would lead his team inside and roll the dice once they were there. Four had light-tattoos and they’d make short work of the guards, but still they would have to get lucky. He didn’t have the numbers to cover every possibility.

  A few lamps shone in the palace’s upper windows, one voice echoing out from the central courtyard. The spires of the south wing overlooked much of this district and the kabat’s private quarters was a raised section on the shore side. A large terrace projected from the front. It was the easiest way to reach the kabat and everyone knew it, so likely she wouldn’t be there now.

  The mage-carved rock was done with greater precision here than the rest of the Holding. Bands of colourful tiles ran around the building and outlined each door and window, bright and gaudy by the standards of the mage-carved city. Water-spirits formed the gutter-outlets and every terrace, bridge and walkway was flanked by sweeping arches – while every section of wall included alcoves for iron lanterns or statues.

  Stretching from the private quarters to the shore were the kabat’s gardens, where the only cover was a single building and low stone walls. Tiers of gravel and shrubs led down to the water, ornamental fruit trees and a long vine-draped pergola breaking up the open ground. There was just one guard in there, an older woman who was trying to see what was going on in other parts of the Holding. Teshen crept up behind her and broke her neck before she even heard him coming. Once all his remaining troops were gathered around him in the garden, Teshen surveyed the path ahead.

  ‘Now where?’ Suth whispered.

  ‘Now we’ve got a choice,’ Teshen replied, glancing back at his remaining six. ‘I don’t see any guards outside, do you?’

  ‘No. Either they’re waiting at high windows or they’re all with the kabat.’

  ‘Likely both. Kabat’s not going to last long if she looks scared by an attack. They’ve heard mage-guns and know this isn’t another kabat making a move, so what do they do?’

  ‘You asking or thinking in a loud way?’

  Teshen grinned. ‘Thinking, so shut it.’

  ‘Screaming hells, that’s the first time I’ve seen you really smile,’ Suth said, ignoring his instruction. ‘Born to this shit, eh?’

  ‘Damn right.’ He nodded forwards. ‘They’re expecting a straight assault, how the Cards would normally do it – hot an’ heavy right up the front.’

  ‘Tease. I suppose that means you want to slip quietly in from the back?’

  Kas muttered something to the Card beside her. He gave a filthy chuckle as Teshen continued. ‘The kabat can’t hide in her quarters. Likely she’s got every gun in the palace ready to meet Toil’s assault. We go in the north wing and cut across. Follow my lead.’

  He set off, moving quick and low across the gardens, trusting the others to do the same. As they reached the north wing he could hear voices drift out through the shuttered windows. The keening of children and parents trying to sooth them. The wing formed a gentle curve overlooking a low rocky cliff, below which a pair of seagoing ships were berthed.

  The ground rose up beyond it. There a steep and treacherous slope came to an abrupt and windswept point half the height of the north wing. It was bare and unused, a recognised border line between the Siym Holding and another kabat’s domain that was left unclaimed by either.

  Teshen began to climb up to a small balcony in an unlit section, halfway down the wing. Listening at the tall shutter doors for a moment, he heard nothing and put his shoulder to it as Suth and Kas climbed up behind him. The wood broke open easily and he half-fell into the room beyond. A thick rug muted the sound of his boots as he checked around, hands on his knives, then went to pull the others up. Suth slipped past him like a ghost, mage-pistols extended left and right.

  The room was square and doors led off either side, presumably to bedrooms, while the one ahead would be to the main corridor. Dark imported wooden furniture gave it an elegant air, but even in the dark Teshen could see the slight shabbiness and chaotic sprawl. Sketches covered one whole table, an easel with a half-finished seascape stood beside the balcony door.

  Suth checked one bedroom only to quickly emerge and head to the other. That one, Teshen saw, was still dark but Suth paused for longer as she looked. Eventually she closed the door quietly again.

  ‘Old lady,’ she whispered. ‘Still sleeping. Smells of rum.’

  Teshen nodded. He’d chosen this wing partly because it was where the lower-ranked Siym lived. He doubted anyone here would own a mage-pistol and any fool who came after them with a knife would be easy to deal with. Opening the door to the main corridor, he peered out. There were voices out there, sounding scared and worried rather than guards trying to maintain order.

  He glanced back. All of his Cards were ready.

  ‘No killing unless we have to,’ he said softly.

  Kas moved up alongside him, bow at the ready and four arrows in the fingers of her draw hand. She gave him a nod and Teshen jerked the door open.

  No one noticed them at first, walking fast and soft. The corridor was clear and just a few doors were open, the inhabitants scared to emerge. They knew what was going on, or at least could guess something close to the truth. They weren’t in danger unless they got in the way. Loyalty to the family was one thing, facing down armed killers was another.

  Teshen was at the end of the corridor before the first cut-off scream came from a room he was passing. His head fl
icked around in time to see the door bang shut so he kept on going, breaking into a trot in case any guard investigated the shriek. Long slanted shafts running down between apartments brought a little moonlight in but that was all. The occasional oil lamps he passed were dark and cold, the extravagance of keeping them burning at night too great to maintain.

  At the end there was a wide double-stairway, leading down on the left and up on the right. Teshen slowed to let Kas overtake. At the bottom of the stair, illuminated by a dancing yellow light, was a guard at a window. Kas paused a moment then shot him. The guard staggered, his cry as much of surprise as pain, then a second arrow took him in the heart and he crumpled backwards.

  There was a shout of alarm from the hall. Teshen bounded down the steps to meet two Mastrunners coming the other way. He kicked the first square in the chest, throwing her back against the wall. The other tried to bring his crossbow to bear but Kas fired again and made him flinch. In the next moment Teshen was on him. His knives carved a bloody path through his defence before punching into his chest. He dodged to the side in case the woman was on him then went on the attack again. Catching a hasty swipe of her crossbow Teshen drove a knife into her side. The second went into her chest and then he cut her throat.

  Suth ran past him, pistols level as she peered into the hall beyond, but soon lowered them.

  ‘Empty,’ she reported, glancing down as Teshen’s handiwork before crossing the hall.

  She ignored the tall peaked door to outside and checked the open doorways on the far side. One was a short antechamber, the other a grand stairway with a wooden rail down the centre. Teshen led the way once more. In moments they were through a door and into the opulent private apartments of the kabat and her family. It was then that the shooting started.

  Lynx skidded to a halt and scrambled back around the corner. Icers burst over the stone workshop walls. Sitain thumped down beside him a moment later as the others scattered.

  ‘Veraimin’s breath! Is this how you commandos used to do it?’ she called over the sound of chunks of stone burst. ‘There’s more hiding than I was expecting!’

  Lynx winced as shards of stone pattered around him. ‘Not really how it went, no.’

  ‘Ah, well you’re old now,’ she said. ‘Probably a bit rusty.’

  ‘Is this your version of helping?’

  Sitain shook her head, eyes wide in the dark. ‘Nope, just too scared for much else.’

  Lynx snorted. ‘Learn to shoot straight and you might be less frightened!’

  She cringed as an earther boomed out and caved in a wall just yards away. Lynx turned away to protect his eyes.

  ‘Pretty sure I won’t!’ Sitain yelled in his ear.

  The gunfire died down and Lynx had a chance to look around. They were not in a good position, little cover to evade or flank their attackers.

  ‘How about that shield thing you did in Jarrazir?’

  ‘Is that going to be your answer to everything?’

  ‘Every time someone’s trying to shoot me? Good chance o’ that, yeah.’

  ‘Shit. I … I can try it. It won’t last long though.’

  Lynx tried another look around the corner. There was an open stretch of ground twenty yards long, then some sort of sunken water garden surrounded by foliage. Past that was the palace, the nearest block of which had suddenly erupted into gunfire when he appeared.

  ‘Quick is all we need,’ he muttered. ‘They won’t have much ammo. Hey, Layir, get an earther ready!’

  Lynx loaded a burner into his own gun. He took two quick breaths and nodded to Sitain. The tattoos on his skin flared white immediately. He could see the glow from his cheek even as Sitain began to blaze. She stood with arms raised, buoyed by the sudden roar of power inside her. Lynx followed at a crouch, ready to fire but anticipating the gunfire she’d have to endure first.

  The air ahead of Sitain was a smoky haze, a shapeless and shifting curtain of shadow that billowed as she moved. She cried out as the first icer struck, some strange mingling of terror, shock and exultation. Before too long he couldn’t hear her as icers hammered into the shield in rapid succession. Some small part of his mind counted the shots before a pause, seven, eight, nine, while he scanned for their source. Then the gunfire faltered and Lynx yelled Sitain’s name.

  The shield vanished in an instant. Sitain dropped to a crouch as Layir loomed at her shoulder. Lynx sensed him there as he drew a line for his shot, waiting for Layir. The boom of the earther hammered at his ears when it came, but Lynx was ready for it and followed the dark path with his eyes. Layir’s shot smashed into the rocky wall of a second floor and burst through. The windows on either side crumpled and shattered as Lynx fired next.

  A stinging scent clawed at his nose as the burner tore through the night. There was the familiar sour taste of dread in his gut as the wrecked palace windows crumpled. Flames bloomed before bursting out from the other windows. The roar of fire met screams of people and merged to one, but Lynx didn’t wait to inspect his cruel handiwork. Burners were a necessary horror, he knew that, but he’d seen too much of their effects over the years.

  ‘Back!’ Lynx yelled, he and Layir dragging Sitain safely back around the corner.

  The anticipated return volley didn’t come as Lynx reloaded. Just as he was getting ready to skirt to the other side of the building there was a flurry of gunshots. This time none of them struck the workshop. He looked at Layir who shrugged and gestured for him to step out in the open.

  ‘Oh thanks,’ Lynx muttered. He stood there a little longer, but before long he started to feel a bit silly so he edged back to the corner.

  This is how I’ll likely die, Lynx thought as he looked around it. Getting shot to avoid feeling stupid.

  The first gunshot made him yelp and scrabble back around while Layir chortled behind him.

  ‘Ulfer’s horn, didn’t think you’d actually do it!’ the young Olostiran hissed.

  ‘Do it again,’ Braqe urged from further back. ‘Slower this time.’

  ‘Anyone want to be ordered out there instead?’ Lynx snapped. Before there were any volunteers a loud voice broke the temporary hush. Lynx paused. ‘That Teshen?’

  ‘Nah, Teshen don’t speak foreign,’ Layir said.

  ‘This whole city speaks foreign,’ Lynx replied. ‘He was born here, remember?’

  ‘Oh, yeah – probably Teshen then. Sounds like him.’

  ‘Are you drunk?’

  ‘Not one drop of booze has crossed my lips,’ Layir said solemnly.

  Lynx listened to the words unspoken there and decided he didn’t want to know any more. If it was Teshen talking, this was over. Most likely. His suspicion was helped by Kas yelling for him to come out of hiding.

  ‘Come on,’ Lynx grunted, mage-gun raised as he went.

  The others let him step out before moving, but he chose to ignore that, advancing on the palace in the faint light of the skyriver. He saw more Cards emerging off to his right. Toil was at their fore and the pale face of Reft loomed over her.

  In several windows he saw locals with mage-guns, tracking his path but snatching glances towards the part Lynx and Layir had laid waste to. There, in the wrecked window, were Teshen and Kas either side of an older woman, presumably Kabat Siym.

  The kabat had light brown skin with the same sandy hair as Teshen, although hers was shaved up the sides and the remainder put in a topknot. Somewhere past fifty, she was tall with a strong build. She probably would have made a good fight of things had Teshen not been pressing a mage-pistol behind her ear.

  ‘It’s over,’ Teshen called, repeating the same in his native language. What followed was, Lynx guessed, the local dialect for ‘throw down your weapons’ but it didn’t elicit any response.

  Old instincts prickled at Lynx and he dropped to one knee, lining up a shot on one of the guards at the windows. The scuffle of feet behind him suggested the rest of his small command were doing the same.

  Or they’ve just run away, the treach
erous voice at the back of his head suggested.

  The stalemate didn’t last long. Teshen said something to the kabat and with a scowl she called out to the guards, saying something not unlike Teshen’s words. There was a pause then the guards put up their weapons.

  A couple tossed theirs from the windows, making Lynx wince though the cartridges didn’t go off, before they turned away from their windows. Presently, Holding guards and a handful of fetish-adorned Mastrunners emerged from the main doorway. Behind them was Suth, a pistol in each hand and such an assured saunter Lynx couldn’t help but wonder if she’d gone to the same school of arrogance as Toil.

  He put up his gun and they waited for Teshen to come down. A few Cards collected the remaining mage-guns, corralled the resigned Siym fighters and helped themselves to every mage cartridge they could find. The Mastrunners bristled at such treatment, but in the face of Varain’s grinning belligerence they wisely chose not to pick a fight. Beyond their red sashes and tied-up hair, they had no uniformity in their appearance. Two sported dozens of tattoos, but most just had crew markings on their upper arms like Teshen.

  ‘The Siym Holding is now under the control of the Whitesea Banking Consortium,’ Toil declared as Teshen and the kabat appeared. ‘The Holding is forfeit in its entirety for the non-payment of loans.’

  She waited a while as Teshen translated, looking up at the various windows around them. Most of the Holding’s inhabitants were too far away to hear, but Lynx could see a good number of faces creep to the windows. He guessed this was enough of an audience to get the message across.

  ‘All employees and Siym who wish to stay will be paid any overdue wages recorded in the ledgers. The Consortium intends to continue running the Holding – the title of kabat will be added to the ancillary honorifics of each Consortium Principal and their Factor will direct affairs here.’

  There was no word of protest, no anger or complaints, but no obvious resentment either. The Siym looked resigned to their fate, the guards more relieved than anything else that they hadn’t been shot yet.

  ‘Additional guards will be brought in temporarily,’ Toil went on. ‘There will be a curfew for five nights and anyone who breaks it or takes a weapon to any Consortium employee may be shot. Any guard who molests the Holding’s inhabitants will be dealt with harshly.’