Finn thought about his experiences with Wella. She hadn’t been forthright with him, unless it was about various herbs and medicinals. Even in that, she had referred him back to various textbooks, not giving him a direct answer.
“Still. Thank you.”
“Does it change anything for you?”
Finn hesitated. There was still one other question he wanted to ask, and given Meyer’s willingness to answer questions, he felt as if he should push. “Why me?”
“You don’t think that you were worthy?”
“The person I was?” Finn shook his head. “I don’t know if I was any more worthy than some of the people we’ve interviewed and sentenced.”
Meyer smiled tightly. “Do you know how many sentences I’ve carried out?”
“I don’t.”
“Over my career, there have been over a thousand. It’s brutal work. Bloody at times. There was a time when I was not much older than you and I questioned if it was what I wanted for myself for the entirety of my career. I didn’t know if that was what I wanted for myself, but then I saw something.”
“What?”
“It was in one of my earliest apprentices. He didn’t make it very far. I saw a hint of anger within him. He took too much joy in carrying out his responsibilities. Much like the man you call the Lion did. It’s dangerous, and it violates the intention of the king’s justice. It’s why I have taken my role as seriously as I have, and why I try to instill that in you. Anger—vengeance, if you want another term for it—is not the answer. Justice. That is what we serve.”
Finn leaned back in the chair, watching Meyer. The old executioner had a troubled expression in his pale blue eyes, and the wrinkles across his brow seem to have deepened more than they normally were. Was it the conversation that troubled him so much?
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
Meyer smiled. “I suppose it doesn’t. Maybe it’s nothing more than seeing something within you. Potential. Maybe it’s something else.”
Meyer finished his ale, and he frowned, looking past Finn.
Finn swiveled in his chair, and he saw Jasmine stepping out of the doorway.
“She’s going to have a hard time, isn’t she?” Finn asked.
“Maybe,” Meyer said. “I have to hope we can get her help.”
Finn turned back, looking at Meyer. “What sort of help do you think you can get her?”
“The kind she needs.” He got to his feet, tapping on the table. “Don’t stay up too late.”
He headed away and nodded to Jasmine, whispering something to her briefly before making his way to the staircase and up.
Jasmine joined Finn at the table. “Does your offer still stand?”
It took Finn a moment to realize what offer she referred to before nodding. “Of course. Do you like ale?”
Her nose wrinkled. “I suppose. I’d rather have wine, but after everything I’ve been through, maybe a mug of ale would do.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Morning came quickly, and Finn was still tired.
He hadn’t slept well. Dreams had been filled with screams and flames, leaving him tossing and turning, wishing he could find a way to settle in and get the rest he needed. At several points, Finn had considered heading back down to the tavern, but he’d rolled over and started counting in his head, wanting sleep that never truly came.
After they had the horses ready and back on the King’s Road, he looked over to Meyer with weary eyes. Meyer looked well rested, his walk quick, leading his horse with Jasmine atop it. A bit of a spark had started to come to her eyes, as if leaving her village had ignited it within her.
“What’s your plan when we reach the city?” Finn asked after they’d gone for a while.
“No plan. Not really,” Meyer said.
“What about her?”
“She will be fine,” Meyer said.
Finn sighed. There might not be a plan, but perhaps Meyer could have one of his contacts help her. He certainly knew enough people in the city, and Finn had to hope that he could use that to assist her. She deserved something more. She’d been through trauma and then more trauma again. It seemed to him that it was time for her to find a measure of peace.
He wasn’t at all sure how she would be fine. Given what she’d been through, and the fact that she was coming to a strange city, knowing no one other than the two of them, Finn didn’t know at all how she could be fine. If the situation were reversed, Finn wasn’t even sure that he would have been able to leave the village.
She was strong. He had seen that. There was that flash that was now in her eyes that told him she had some measure of strength.
It wasn’t long before they reached the city, then passed through the Teller Gate. Jasmine had drifted off during the ride, which had surprised Finn at first, but he knew what she’d been through. It shouldn’t surprise him that she’d be exhausted from all of it.
When they reached the stables inside the city, Meyer climbed down, and jostled Jasmine until she came awake. “Take the horses and stable them,” Meyer said.
“What about you?”
“I’m taking her with me for a moment.”
“A moment?”
Meyer shot him a look, and it was one that told Finn not to argue.
He had seen that expression from Meyer before; he knew better than to push too hard, but still, Finn felt a little obligation. He had been the reason that she had escaped sentencing. Had he not uncovered the truth…
Meyer likely would have.
Either way, she wouldn’t have suffered.
Still, Finn felt as if he needed to make sure that she was safe.
“I’ll get the horses stabled.”
“Then rest,” Meyer said.
Finn just nodded.
Jasmine climbed out of the saddle, and she glanced from Meyer to Finn, and for the first time, there was a measure of concern in her eyes. “Will I see you again?” she asked Finn.
“If you want to.”
“I would like that.”
Meyer nodded to Finn and waited while Finn guided the horses into the stables. Finn cast a glance over his shoulder and found Master Meyer speaking quietly to her, though he wondered what he was saying and where he intended to bring her.
He was tired, and after a long night awake, he wanted nothing more than to fall into his bed, sleep, but first he would do this. When Finn returned the horses, he paid a silver to the stable boy, found Meyer gone, and then started toward Meyer’s home.
He hadn’t gone very far when he had an unsettled sensation in his belly.
Someone was following him.
Finn struggled to surge into alertness. He needed to clear his mind, but after having slept poorly the night before, he struggled. Worse, he was sore from the time that he had spent in the saddle, and even more sore from the time that he’d been walking along the road. He needed to take his boots off, take his jacket and pants off, climb into bed and…
There.
It was movement off to his left.
He made a point of ignoring it, hurrying along, trying to pretend as if he had not paid any attention to it.
But he had to be careful.
Memories of Oscar’s lessons came back to him, though far more slowly than they should have. If one person followed him, there was a possibility another did. Occasionally, when pursuing somebody, there was value in letting them know they were pursued, while another followed from the shadows.
He looked around the city. He was close enough to Meyer’s home that he didn’t have to go very far to make sure that he was safe, but he also wanted to know who was after him. He wouldn’t learn that by running.
It was better for him to keep moving along the street, and he could even loop around, head back to Meyer’s home, or even slip along the alley.
That might be the best solution.
If he hurried ahead, he could make it look like he had headed into Meyer’s home and then back and around, searching for who
ever had followed him.
He sneaked toward the house, and as soon as he reached the fence, he glanced all around him before darting down the street.
When he reached the end of the street, he poked his head around and saw the figure turning the corner, trying to look casual, but there was no question now that somebody had followed him.
Finn circled around the block, looping back and finding an alley that trailed through, and using that to navigate closer to Meyer’s home. Having been outside of the city, the stench of the alley drifted to him, unpleasant and foul, but he had to ignore it.
He lingered in the mouth of the alley, looking along the street. Meyer’s home was only a few hundred yards away, close enough he could jog over were it necessary, but not so close that he would have to fear someone approaching without him knowing.
He made a point of looking in either direction but didn’t see anything.
As tired as he was, he wasn’t going to be able to watch very carefully or closely, but he also needed to be certain that he had seen someone. Given how easily Wolf had caught him before, Finn needed to ensure it didn’t happen again.
“You’ve gotten soft.”
He spun, reaching for the knife he had at his belt before realizing it was Oscar. “Dammit, Oscar. Was that you following me?”
“Not following you, but I saw you darting along the street. You looked like you’d seen a ghost, so I figured you were concerned about something. These days, you don’t move like that very often.”
“What do you mean, these days?”
Oscar didn’t answer.
“Have you been watching me?”
“I keep my eye on you, Finn. I told your father I would.”
“Did you, now?”
“You know I did,” Oscar said.
He was dressed in a black cloak, the hood drawn, and he stood casually behind Finn, though there was a tension within his posture, something that suggested to Finn he would be able to run at the slightest provocation.
“You’ve been gone for a little while,” Oscar said.
“Meyer took me out of the city. Apparently, that will be one of my tasks as I progress.”
“To leave the city on behalf of the king?”
“To carry out sentences in nearby villages.”
“I didn’t realize the executioners traveled so much.”
“Neither did I,” Finn said. “There was a murder, though probably more exciting than we expected.”
“Why is that?”
Finn shook his head. “I’m not so sure you really need to know.”
“It’s like that, is it?”
“I’m not trying to keep anything from you, Oscar; it’s just that—”
Oscar started laughing. “You don’t have to explain, Finn. You’re a busy man. You’re becoming respectable.”
Finn debating arguing with him about how respectable he might be, but decided against it. “I saw Wolf.”
“I know.” Oscar shrugged, stepping deeper into the shadows of the alley. It forced Finn to take a step back, and when he did, he realized that a pair of Archers marched along the street. Somehow, Oscar had known.
Finn had not. It might just be his fatigue, or it might be a lack of training, or it could simply be that Oscar was just that skilled.
“I’ve been keeping an eye on you, Finn.”
“You kept an eye on me up until the point where I ended up in prison,” Finn said. “And it took Master Meyer to get me out.”
Oscar stared at him.
Finn considered pushing. There was a question that he had not yet managed to get answered, one that left him feeling as if things might be all connected. His fate. Oscar. The hegen.
All of them had seemed connected to him in some way, but unfortunately, Finn had not managed to get to the bottom of it. It was possible he never would.
The hegen had given him a card for Oscar, and he knew the hegen had a relationship with Meyer, which left him curious more than anything else. Not concerned.
“Did you have a hand in it?” Finn asked.
“Did I have a hand in what?” Oscar shifted, and it looked like he was twisting to run, but he pressed back against the alley, shielding himself. There was movement at the other end of the alley.
Damn, but he was skilled.
It was a wonder Oscar had ever been captured before.
“Master Meyer using his right?”
“I think you’re reading too much into what happened,” Oscar said.
“Maybe.” He glanced behind him. Several people had moved along the street, though none had paid much attention to them. When he turned back to Oscar, Finn had expected him to have disappeared, but he was still there. “So, you knew Wolf was still in the city.”
Oscar nodded. “Back in the city. Wolf. Rock. The other two bastards that were involved.”
“Bellut and the other,” Finn said. Maybe Sweth, though he didn’t know. “I suppose you know what Wolf and Rock are up to?”
“I figured it was the same thing you were up to. Figuring out who set us up.”
“I’m doing my best,” Finn said. “There’s only so much I can uncover.”
“You have a little more respectability than I do. You can get places I can’t.”
“I can get places you can’t when Master Meyer permits it, but he’s made a point of telling me I’m not allowed to dig. I think he’s trying to teach me a lesson,” Finn said.
“What lesson is that?”
“The distinction between vengeance and justice.”
“It sounds to me like they work pretty well together. You get vengeance, and justice is served.”
“Not according to Master Meyer,” Finn said. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get more alert. “And I’m starting to think that maybe he’s right.”
“Are you, now?”
“That’s not to say that I don’t want justice served. Bellut deserves what justice he gets; it’s just that—”
“It’s just you aren’t able to bring that justice to bear.”
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Finn said.
“What are you saying, then?” Oscar stepped away from the wall, turning totally toward Finn. “It’s because of them I nearly got caught. You know what would’ve happened then, don’t you, Finn?”
“I know what might’ve happened,” Finn said, nodding slowly.
“What would you have done?”
“I wouldn’t have been able to question you.”
“Wouldn’t have been able to, or wouldn’t have been allowed to?”
“Both,” Finn said.
Oscar grunted. “You can’t forget where you came from, Finn.”
“I don’t forget where I came from. And you can’t forget what I went through.”
“I was there, when no one else was.”
“I know. You still didn’t get me out,” Finn said.
“There was no getting out. Not from that place. I did what I could, though, and I was ready to…” Oscar shook his head.
“What were you ready to do?”
“I told you, Finn, it doesn’t matter.”
Had Oscar been there the day that he had walked along the Blood Court, making his way toward the gallows? Finn barely remembered anything from that day. He remembered getting dressed in the Sinner’s Cloth, and he remembered walking with the priest, speaking the words of Heleth, and he remembered climbing the Stone. Beyond that, everything was a blur of sunlight shining down, a bright, warm sun that should not have been. There was the shouting around him, the sound of the crowd, but no distinct voice in it. There was the fear he had felt as Master Meyer had come toward him, asking him one last time to speak on his behalf.
Oscar hadn’t been there for any of it. Even if he had somehow intervened, what could he have done? Meyer was not easily swayed. He wanted justice, not vengeance, and Finn sincerely doubted Meyer would have been convinced by the hegen to help him, though maybe he wouldn’t have needed to.
The hegen had magic.
Could the hegen have used their magic to somehow coax Meyer into demanding his right? He was so tired, he couldn’t think through things.
“It matters, Oscar. All of this matters.”
Oscar eyed him before taking a step back. “I just want you to be careful, Finn.”
“Careful. Does that mean you’re worried about Wolf?”
“It means he’s up to something. You need to be careful with him. Wolf is in a difficult spot. It changes things for a man. It makes him desperate. You know what they say about desperation in crime.”
That was a lesson Finn did remember. “It makes a man dangerous.”
“And a dangerous man deadly.”
“I’ll be careful. Listen, if there’s anything that you learn about what Bellut is up to or who he’s working with, I need you to share it with me.”
“Sharing information with an executioner isn’t good for my kind of business.” Oscar studied him, saying nothing for a moment. “Be safe, Finn.”
“Come on, Oscar. It doesn’t have to be like that.”
“What do you think it should be like?”
Finn took a deep breath and looked behind him. He couldn’t see anything, couldn’t even hear anything. Whatever had upset Oscar had been enough that Finn wasn’t even aware of it. That wasn’t surprising to him. Oscar had been the one to teach him, though Finn had never been the best student, anyway.
“We can still be friends, can’t we?”
Oscar tilted his head to the side slightly. “Can we?”
“Why couldn’t we?” Finn knew what Meyer would say were he to ask him about maintaining friends from his past, especially friends who were like Oscar, but having seen what Jasmine had gone through, he’d realized that maybe he needed to find connections. The iron masters might be one such connection, and he’d started to find a way to connect to them, but what he needed were those like Oscar who still knew him and knew where he’d come from to keep him from changing too much.
“Seems to me friends would spend a little time around each other. Do you know the last time I saw you?” Oscar asked.
“When we had drinks.”
“When I had to chase you to have even a few words with you.” Oscar shook his head. “When you took on this job, I thought maybe it was for the best. Probably still is, but I can’t help think there’s something I’m missing out on.”
The Executioner's Apprentice (The Executioner's Song Book 2) Page 30