Monster's Mercy

by William D. Arand

  Rene looked at the desk and began to idly move his fingers through the papers there. Most were lines of credit, notices of debt, or demands for payment.

  “I have powerful backers,” Junk said by way of answer.

  He was admitting nothing, still posturing as if he expected some type of violent action.

  “I couldn’t care less. I’ll kill them too, if I have to,” Rene muttered. He didn’t feel like he was bragging about that either. Given his skill, experience, and that he wasn’t likely to ever be suspected of being the Hood or the Mask, he could live his life in anonymity.

  “When you work only for yourself and are beholden to no one, it gives you a certain amount of… freedom,” Rene remarked as he picked up a bill of debt. He recognized the name on it. A name Geoffrey had mentioned as being a friend.

  Frederick Dern.

  We’ll help them and give their letter of credit to Geoffrey.

  Odelia will like it.

  We can be her hero.

  Barely fighting back a groan, Rene picked up a few other papers and made sure they were bills of debt.

  “I’ll just take a few of these if you don’t mind. You can consider them recompense for trying to betray me. It’ll serve as a lovely down payment.”

  “Now… now see—”

  Irini slapped Master Junk across the face with one hand. The crack of her gloved hand on his cheek was loud.

  She didn’t say anything; she just stood there, waiting for him to start talking again.

  Rubbing at his cheek, Junk glared at Irini.

  “Yes,” he mumbled. “Feel free.”

  “Thank you,” Rene said, pocketing the papers. “I’ll sell them to Rene Anatolis as an apology and for some quick cash.

  “And that’s why I’m here by the way. Someone leaked your little plan to the guard. Then Rene. Who promptly started digging into it, assuming it was you. It didn’t take long for him to track it back.

  “You leave a mighty large wake it would seem.”

  “What?” Junk demanded.

  “You heard me,” murmured Rene. “If I had to guess… it all surrounds a man named Lieutenant Ronder.

  “I think he may have sold you out to someone or just gabbed. He tried to have several people killed as well. They all failed, of course. I made sure of that. I saw no reason to work with someone who would end up creating loose ends.

  “Except… except when I started looking into this Ronder fellow, I found that… you were going to have me arrested by him. You hired me, then sold me out to the guard. I have no idea to what end, and I don’t care, but I don’t really appreciate it.”

  “I wasn’t selling you out,” Junk argued. “I would have paid you for anyone who got caught. I just wanted Ronder to get into the Anatolis vault. He could have claimed that the robbery had already mostly happened and all the coin was gone.”

  Ah. In other words… you really did just want to have it all for yourself.

  Because as soon as Ronder took it all, you’d just have him killed, pay me for a few losses, and then keep it all for yourself.

  Effectively eliminating all your loose ends and walking away clean.

  Not a terrible plan.

  “Yes, well, that’s all done now,” Rene said, looking to Junk. “You work for me now. I’ll take a single percent of all your earnings. Payable to me directly.

  “In return, I’ll provide you protection. From myself and others, of course.”

  “Are you j—”

  Irini slapped Junk again, her head tilting to one side as she stared at the man through her hood.

  Leaning to one side, Junk glared at Rene.

  Glared at him with boiling rage and hatred.

  I’ll need to kill him sooner rather than later. He’s not easily cowed.

  “Fine,” Junk said. “Fine, but I expect you to actually protect me and my businesses. Starting with the damn Snakes and Ravens. They’re costing me more and more every month, and the price keeps going up.”

  “Oh? Alright,” Rene agreed. “What are they doing for you and what are you getting?”

  “You don’t need to know, but they’re costing me. And I want that cost done with. Eliminate them,” said Junk, still with a hand pressed to his cheek.

  “As you like. I just thought it would be good to know, so I don’t inadvertently damage your business,” Rene explained as he got to his feet. “Well. I’m going to go see Ronder. See if there’s any other problems I need to seal up. I expect my payments on the first of every month. Just have them brought by the Tramp’s Tail.

  “Now… do be a friend and call in the guard, so we can escape without killing him. I’d rather not spill blood tonight since it looks like my day tomorrow will be full of it.”

  One… problem neutralized. Now we just have to get through tomorrow.

  Which is likely to be just as problematic. If not more so.

  Chapter 27

  Grumbling, Rene rolled over.

  The soft insistent knock on the door didn’t cease, however. If anything it was slowly growing louder.

  “What?” Rene demanded, lifting his head up from the ever-welcoming pillow.

  “Rene, there’s a… squad leader Aurora from the Felicie guard here for you,” called Alana through the door.

  Groaning, Rene stuffed his face back into his pillow.

  He knew she’d be here early.

  Had expected it.

  But it was different to know you weren’t going to get much sleep than to actually wake up with little sleep.

  “Send her in,” Rene called after lifting his head from the pillow again.

  Sitting up in his bed, he started to scrub at his eyes. After doing little better than aggravating them, he sighed and looked at the door.

  There was a soft clack, and then the door swung inward. Aurora and Alana were standing there in the doorway.

  Aurora was dressed out in her full uniform and armor, and Alana was in her androgynous style.

  “Ah… young master, I can return at another—”

  Rene shook his head and made a curling motion with his hand.

  “Come in, Aurora, come in. Let’s chat,” he grumbled. “Close the door behind you.”

  “Yes,” Aurora said. She stepped forward into Rene’s bedroom, then took the doorknob in hand and closed it.

  With a sigh, Rene turned partially in his bed and then put his hands behind him and leaned back.

  “Give it a few seconds, then come over to the other side of the bed and talk to me,” Rene said. “Possibility of those trying to listen in.”

  Especially the sugary-sweet maiden.

  “Yes,” said Aurora rather stiffly.

  Walking around the bed, Aurora ended up near the corner on the other side from Rene.

  “How’s your shoulder?” Rene asked.

  “It’s much better, thank you,” Aurora murmured. “The wound was very precise and quite clean. It’ll heal quickly.”

  You’re welcome. I did my best.

  “Glad to hear it,” Rene said, smiling at Aurora.

  There was an odd part of him that was attracted to Aurora. She was an adult, a woman in her career, and had persevered in her own right, by her own hand.

  If she hadn’t run into Rene, there was the distinct possibility she could have been promoted all on her own in time.

  That, and it was somewhat enjoyable to push on her a bit. It was obvious she didn’t know what to do with the attention, and his name and status clearly intimidated her.

  Aurora’s cheeks turned a faint red, and she nodded.

  Then she cleared her throat and straightened her posture.

  “I led three squads into your lending office late last night,” Aurora reported. “We walked in on Lieutenant Ronder standing in the middle of your vault. There was nothing there at all. It was completely empty.”

  “Yes, the vault wasn’t really finished yet; it still needs a few things to be complete,” Rene admitted. “So there was no gold in there anyway.
But I’m going to claim there was. That he stole close to eighty thousand gold.

  “I’m sure they’ll recover quite a bit hidden around Ronder’s house, home, and possessions.”

  “I… yes,” Aurora said, looking uncomfortable. “That’s the claim I’ve made on your behalf. I had Ronder arrested on the spot. The commander of the guard has requested your presence and sent me to fetch you, young master.”

  “Please, call me Rene, Aurora,” Rene said and stood up. “And I’d be delighted to come with you. Just take a seat while I get changed.”

  “I think I should wait in the other room,” Aurora murmured.

  “Of course not. Just have a seat, Aurora. I won’t take long,” Rene said and went into his closet.

  You enjoy bothering her, more than I enjoy bothering you.

  She’s so earnest. It’s hard to resist poking at her.

  Sighing, Rene got dressed. Today was not going to be very pleasant and if it went poorly, there was the distinct possibility of him going to jail.

  ***

  “Young Master Anatolis, of Laetus Lending, please meet Commander Carden,” Aurora said, standing rigidly at attention next to Rene.

  Giving her an odd look, Rene turned toward the commander of the Felicie city guard.

  It was a man in his late fifties with a balding head, and what hair remained was stone gray. He had hard brown eyes that looked flat and lifeless.

  He was sitting behind a desk and made no move to shake Rene’s hand or stand up for him.

  I don’t care for him.

  “Greetings, young master,” Carden said in a soft rumble. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

  “Of course. How could I say no to the woman who caught my thief?” Rene said and looped an arm around Aurora’s hips, leaning into her.

  Acting the part of a young man who was slightly infatuated with the older woman who had “saved him” was the ideal move right now.

  Aurora looked rather uncomfortable with Rene hanging on to her, but she didn’t push him away.

  “Yes, well,” Carden murmured. “That remains to be seen. Did Aurora tell you—”

  “Indeed. Because I told her about it,” Rene said, letting go of Aurora. Smiling, Rene walked over to Carden, as he sat behind his desk. “I was told anonymously that someone in the guard was planning on robbing me. I only had the barest of details, but a friend of mine gave me the squad leader’s name.

  “Apparently she’s beyond trustworthy and has shown a great deal of intelligence and merit in her work.”

  Carden wasn’t looking very happy at any of this. In fact, he was looking rather angry now.

  “You could have—”

  “No, I couldn’t,” interrupted Rene, before Carden could get started. “Because for all I knew, you were in on it. Or you’d warn off the would-be robber.

  “My legal counsel advised that I not involve anyone from the guard, but… I felt sure about Aurora.”

  Rene pulled a small stack of legally signed, sealed, and documented statements from his tunic, then laid them down in front of Carden.

  “Legal statements as to what I believed would happen and had been told would happen,” Rene murmured. “As well as several statements from legal counsel, both noble and citizen legal counsel. While I do understand it’s more than likely I’ve lost all the money he stole, that’s a small price to pay for ending corruption.”

  Turning his eyes toward the papers on his desk, Carden didn’t bother to pick them up.

  “And now that Aurora has come through for me,” Rene continued. “I’m going to have to drop a sizable donation into the city guard’s coffers. I honestly didn’t think the guard could solve this. I left everything up to her to handle after involving her.

  “It seems my trust was very well placed.”

  Carden lifted his eyes up and glared at Rene.

  “I assume you’ll be pressing charges against Ronder?” he asked.

  “Of course!” Rene said with a wide smile. “There’s no reason I wouldn’t. He’s robbed me and taken from me. Unless he can somehow replace the eighty thousand gold coins that are now gone. I might be willing to let a charge drop at that point, but… I don’t think I’ll ever see my coin again.”

  Rene didn’t even know how someone would steal that much weight in gold without several sturdy wagons, but that wasn’t his to prove.

  Thankfully, this wasn’t the American system of justice.

  Ronder having been caught red-handed, and along with all the paperwork Rene had produced, would be more than enough to put him into a pit.

  There was a firm knock on the door to Carden’s office.

  “Not right now,” shouted Carden.

  “Sir, I think I need to give this to you and—”

  “Not. Right. Now,” yelled Carden.

  “Pish posh,” Rene said, thinking it was probably the incriminating ledger of Ronder’s. Or something equally bad. Moving over to the door even as Carden shouted at him, he opened it. Standing there was a very young guard. “What have you got?”

  “I… that is… uh… we found a ledger in Lieutenant Ronder’s home and—”

  “That’s quite enough!” shouted Carden at the top of his lungs.

  Rene spotted the ledger in the young man’s hand and simply took it from him. He immediately opened it and made a show of reading it.

  “Oh, goodness. It’s everyone he was taking bribes from, it looks like,” Rene said, walking back into the center of Carden’s office. “I had no idea. This is going to become quite the scandal when all these names get dropped into the public.”

  Closing the ledger with a smile, Rene looked to Carden.

  The older man was red faced, breathing hard, and looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

  Oh? Is he taking bribes, too? Is that the issue?

  Is his name in here, I wonder? I didn’t see it and I can’t remember it. Did I look hard enough?

  Can Ronder implicate him?

  “I’m sure my legal counsel will be happy to review all of this for you,” Rene said, holding up the ledger. Then he turned to the guard, while Carden was visibly trying to collect himself. “Did you find any large quantities of gold?”

  “Uh… yes. At least twenty thousand gold in a false floor,” the guard said, looking from Rene, to Aurora, to Carden.

  “Wonderful—there’s part of the money I suppose I can collect in repayment,” Rene said. “Go ahead and have that all rounded up and sent over to my office, guardsman.

  “Any other gold you find, you be sure to send it over as well and-”

  “That’s enough!” roared Carden, slamming his fists into his desk. “You’ll leave right now and—”

  “Certainly,” Rene agreed with a smile. “I’ll go see my legal counsel and then maybe the city regent. I have an appointment with him pre-scheduled for today. Just in case the guard really did try to rob me. It’s all rather sordid and interesting, you know?

  “I mean, I’ve been robbed before. Even attempted kidnapping. But never by the guard itself.”

  As if someone had dumped a bucket of water over Carden’s head, the older man stilled and went rather pale.

  The person at the top of Felicie was the city regent. The single person assigned to make sure the city contributed and met the requirements given to every city by the council.

  There was no one above them, other than the prime councilors themselves.

  Lifting his chin up fractionally, Carden looked to be having a very hard time.

  “I think… I think Squad Leader Aurora needs to be congratulated first and foremost,” murmured Carden. “It’s clear that she’s gone above and beyond in her duty to bring justice to bear. Secondly, with this new evidence, it’s quite obvious that Ronder was acting in a way unbecoming of a lieutenant. I’ll put his case directly before the city regent to judge and assume all evidence for him.”

  “Oh? Certainly,” Rene agreed waggling the ledger. “I’ll have this brought over once I have
a copy of it made. It would be good to know if Ronder was paid to rob me. Maybe he had it listed.”

  “Ah, I’m sure we could make a copy for you, young master Anatolis,” Carden said, trying to put on a fraudulent smile.

  “No, no, don’t trouble yourself. I’ll have it taken care of in a matter of an hour,” Rene said, then he turned to Aurora. “Congratulations, Aurora. Maybe you’ll finally get that promotion everyone always talks about. Or maybe the city regent will move you up to a captaincy!

  “That’d be rather exciting. Actually, I might not make it to my lawyer as quickly as I’d like. Could you hang onto this for me? My trust in you was already rewarded, I’d rather invest in you at the moment.”

  Rene held the ledger out to Aurora.

  Taking the small book from him, the squad leader looked slightly panicked. It was obvious she caught every single implication of what was going on, and that she was actually playing both sides.

  She was bought by the Mask.

  “Ah, yes,” Carden said, then cleared his throat. “I’d certainly say Aurora will easily be promoted into Ronder’s old position. I’ll assign the lieutenant commission myself.”

  “Oh? Lovely, lovely,” Rene said then turned to the guard at the door. “What are you still doing here? Get going. Go get my coin and bring it to my home.”

  The guard startled, saluted Rene, and then ran off.

  The hell did he salute me for?

  I ’unno.

  “Well! Lieutenant Aurora,” Rene said, grabbing the woman by the shoulders. Then he hauled her down to his own height and kissed each side of her face once, gravitating far closer toward her lips than normal prudence would allow—practically the corners of her mouth. “Congratulations! We’ll have to have dinner tonight to celebrate. Or perhaps tomorrow, depending on whether the city regent wants to see you.

  “You’ll say yes, of course, right?”

  “I… of course. Yes,” Aurora murmured staring down at Rene. “Dinner.”

  “Great. Perfect,” Rene said, holding onto her shoulders. “Say… seven o’clock? My carriage will come pick you up. There’s this lovely eatery over by the keep. I have a standing reservation there.”

  “Yes… seven o’clock, carriage will pick me up,” Aurora parroted, clearly not quite following, but repeating the words.