by C S Vass
Chapter 14
The banquet cost a small fortune. Luckily for Godwin, that was exactly what Yegvellen had agreed to pay him. Across the small white-cloth table, Robert was tearing apart a piece of roast duck while hot grease dribbled down his chin.
“Nice of you to finally lighten up and start enjoying yourself,” the easterner said as he guzzled a cup of wine. On the other side of the room, a nude woman with pearls festooned across two perky breasts played a warm harmony on the harp.
“What can I say?” Godwin shrugged. “A man has to learn to put his feet up from time to time.”
“Quite right,” Robert agreed before slicing himself a generous portion of roast boar.
“Save some room for the wine,” Godwin said loudly. He clapped his hands and a serving girl wearing an open fur cloak and nothing else instantly appeared.
“Wine for the gentlemen,” she hummed as she started to pour.
“Bring vodka,” Godwin said. “The good stuff, not your usual swill. This man’s an ambassador from the East. He’s very important, and I won’t have diplomatic relations jeopardized because of cheap liquor.”
“An ambassador…of course I am,” Robert said, smiling and puffing out his chest. “About time I’m shown a little respect.”
“Of course sir,” the girl said. “I’ll bring you the very best.” Before leaving she glanced at Godwin’s own untouched cup. “Is the wine not to your liking?”
“Wine can come after vodka,” Godwin replied with a wave of his hand. “Quickly now!”
“Right away,” the girl responded.
“I must say,” Robert said as he choked down a slice of buttery wheat bread. “I am enjoying this side of you. You should take these contracts more often.”
“Indeed,” Godwin said. “Surely a wealthy man such as yourself needs to indulge from time to time. Let’s just hope your wife doesn’t get wind of you coming here.”
“My wife?” Robert asked. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand this role playing. And you don’t have to shout, Godwin. I’m right here.”
“Don’t play the fool, I know your wife. Green with envy every time another dress passes by you on the street.” Before Robert could ask what he meant, the vodka arrived.
“Drink!” Godwin commanded after he poured two tumblers.
“My that’s heavenly,” Robert sighed. His face was a bright shade of pink. “I haven’t drank like this since my time with the Eternal Children.”
“That’s the spirit, gentlemen!” a fat balding man in gold-trimmed robes a table over laughed. “The Three Sisters are the secret spice that makes life so delectable.”
“Cheers brother!” Robert chuckled while he pulled one of the wandering courtesans into his lap.
Godwin’s lip curled with distaste while he watched Robert eat and drink and make a general jackass of himself. This type of thing was beneath him. It was one thing to hunt a demon through the terrors of the woods at night, or over the frozen slopes of the mountains. But this was just not something he ever thought a Shigata would have to do.
His eyes scanned the prostitutes and searched for any sign that one of them might be a vampire. He knew it was futile. If she truly was a higher class demon, there would be no way to tell until she chose to reveal herself. And even then there was the not at all simple matter of killing her.
“My lord looks so sad and grim,” a long-legged girl laughed as she tumbled into his arms kicking her feet high into the air and kissing him on the cheek. “What can a lady do to bring a smile to your face?”
“Bring me water,” Godwin said coldly.
She rose, teeth shining like pearls in the candlelight, but with ice in her eyes. “I’ll win you over before the night is over, my lord.”
“That you will darling!” Robert slurred, his own courtesan still planted in his lap. “He needs it, the stiff old bastard.”
“He’s not the only one who’s stiff,” the woman in Robert’s lap cooed. “Perhaps you both have something to show me. At the same time?”
Godwin’s fingers twitched involuntarily. “Robert, so help me gods if you answer that, this will be the last night you’re able to enjoy a woman’s company.”
“Ah, ignore him darling,” Robert said. “Your charms are wasted on a brute like him. He’s a killer. A rogue. He’s in love with a prostitute, you know.”
Godwin’s heart skipped a beat. Robert’s eyes fluttered like moth’s wings. But what he just said…how would he…no, it was drunk talk. Just the rambling incoherence caused by strong drink. Deeply unsettled, Godwin shifted in his seat and took a sip of wine to hide his expression.
“How wonderful!” the girl cried. “To be in love is such a beautiful thing. Who is this fair maiden, sir? Anyone I know?”
“No. Now you’d bett—”
“Selena,” Robert slurred. “Her name’s Selena.”
Godwin’s heart thundered in his chest while he gripped the table so hard that his knuckles turned white. “What did you say?” he breathed in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Selena, isn’t it? You told me yourself, you fool.” Robert was swaying back and forth so hard it was an amazement that he hadn’t fallen out of his chair. “Didn’t you say—”
“I don’t think the gentleman wants to talk about it,” the girl said gently into Robert’s ear, anxiety growing in her voice.
“Of course he doesn’t,” Robert snorted. “He doesn’t want to talk about anything, ever. He just wants to brood and kill things. You’d think after traveling across the bloody continent that we’d be friends enough to share. But even these major details of his life I’ve had to win out of his fever dreams.
Godwin rose suddenly, shaking. The girl curled even tighter around Robert, momentarily putting a stop to his swaying.
“Well?” Robert asked. “Am I wrong?”
“Take him to bed,” Godwin said. “Take him to bed and do not follow him into the room. My friend has grown drunk and needs some time to reflect on his words before sleeping it off.”
“Yes sir, right away,” the girl whispered as she leapt up. Three other women immediately assisted to carry Robert off to his room. Godwin collapsed into his chair all at once, fuming. He hadn’t been that upset in a very, very long time, and he didn’t like the feeling of losing control of his emotions. Especially not while on a contract. He took his still-untouched tumbler of vodka and tossed it back. Earthy bliss seeped over his senses making his tongue go numb and his face tingle.
“You brought it on yourself you know,” a feminine voice whispered.
“What?” Godwin looked up. A woman with a tumble of black hair and a silver tiara stood before him in heels and a skirt only.
“Come now, don’t try to deny it,” the woman said as she sat down across from him and crossed her legs. “Please, what do you think we do here? You think I can’t recognize someone manipulating a man just because unlike the rest of the people doing it here, you have that monstrosity between your legs? It wasn’t the most artful attempt at getting a man drunk, but then again I suppose it didn’t take much effort with that one.”
Godwin eyed the woman uncertainly. She was the first person in the establishment who had not tried to seduce him. “Grushenka,” she said with an extended hand.
“Godwin.”
“Charmed. So, Godwin, what the fuck are you doing in my bordello?”
“You’re the owner?”
“I said as much, didn’t I? And you’re not answering my question.”
Godwin shifted his eyes around the room to make sure nobody was paying them any mind. The rest of the guests and courtesans were all too wrapped up in their own affairs to notice him. He made the calculated decision that if she was the owner, she would be happy to have him rid the place of Namaeria.
“All right, just keep your voice down,” Godwin said as he leaned in. “I’m here to take care of your little problem.”
“You’ve got a cure for sailor’s itch? My best girl’s been
out for two months because of it.”
“Very funny. Your bigger problem.”
“Oh,” Grushenka cocked an eyebrow and picked an olive from the bowl. “How are you planning on doing that?” she asked as she chewed it slowly.
“Very carefully, and with no casualties,” he said. “Or are you okay with all of the business that you’ve lost because of your little friend?”
“It matters not,” Grushenka said to Godwin’s surprise. She picked another olive and placed it in her mouth seductively. “I thought that our visitor would be a disaster for the Three Sisters, but I’ve actually come to find that some men pay even more. They like the danger.”
“Then they’re fools.”
“What does that make you? King fool who seeks out the danger itself, and not just to be on the edge of it.”
“I’m different.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m a Shigata.”
“That didn’t stop your comrades from dying when Tarsurian ships landed on Black Wolf.”
“I was told that wasn’t common knowledge yet in Saebyl.”
“I’m well informed.”
“Why?”
“Because information is even more valuable than what’s in-between my legs.”
“Is that why we’re talking worldly politics instead of talking your price?”
“No, Godwin. We’re not talking my price because I don’t like the look of you. You have no warmth.”
“Prostitutes get to concern themselves with that?”
“The ones here do. We’re not—”
“Common dockside whores. So I’ve been told.”
Grushenka laughed merrily and filled a cup with wine from the pitcher. “I hope you don’t mind buying me a drink.”
“Why not?” Godwin shrugged. “I’ll likely be dead by morning. You can have Robert work off any debt I incur. I’m sure he won’t mind hanging around here scrubbing pots so long as he doesn’t have to wear a blindfold.”
“Oh? What makes you lack the confidence to slaughter this demon? Or do you simply want to die? A shame to waste your blessed gift. We always mourn the passing of a Star-blessed.”
“Then you won’t mind my silver eyes closing. I’m not Star-blessed.”
“Ahh,” Grushenka said, leaning in closer still. “How very interesting. I never would have guessed. Is that why you’re in such a foul mood? A life of hardship and lucklessness.”
Godwin chuckled and took up his own cup. “Funny you should say that. I’m starting to think I don’t believe in luck.”
“And what do you believe in then, Godwin?”
“Destiny.”
A blast of wind sent a chill through Godwin’s body as soon as he opened the window. This would be no good. He’d need to make the potion extra strong if he were to have a hope of not being blown from the side of the building.
Wrinkling his nose with displeasure, he ground up the dead insects in his mortar with all their glorious tarsal claws that he would need. After losing his supplies in the shipwreck, Godwin only had the simplest of ingredients that he collected in a hurry. He added a single feather from a dove, not really sure if that would help or not, but figuring it couldn’t hurt, and some boiling water. He threw in a green tea bag from the bordello’s kitchen for flavor and waited.
In the next room Robert would be passed out drunk, the unwitting bait used to lure out Namaeria. Godwin still didn’t like that he had resorted to such a trick. He could have used a stranger. He could have found some contemptible piece of human garbage. But it was too risky. They might start asking questions. At least Robert actually knew him. He was an easterner which hopefully would make him intriguing to the vampire.
Still, it was impossible to focus solely on the task at hand. Not after what Robert had said. The comment about Selena had deeply disturbed Godwin. He would never have wittingly brought her up, much less used her name. If he had spoken of such things in his feverish sleep, what else might he have said that should have remained behind his lips. And to who?
Shaking off the thoughts, he approached the window. The pale moon was high in the sky, appearing strangely small and distant. The potion would last fifteen minutes at most. A narrow time frame. Vampires had an affinity for striking precisely at midnight. At least the ones that he had encountered before. They seemed to enjoy the ritual involved with doing things a particular way.
More likely than not the demon would fail to show up, and Godwin would have to formulate some kind of new plan. “Woe is me,” he chuckled to himself. “I might have to stay here all week.” If that were the case, he would have to send Robert away. Well-paid as he was, he didn’t have enough gold to keep them both at the Three Sisters endlessly.
A grandfather clock in the corner of his room ticked loudly. Midnight was six minutes away. Making sure the sign to leave him undisturbed was properly placed outside of his door, Godwin swigged the potion and tried not to gag. At first he thought that nothing had happened. He observed his hands closely and saw no noticeable change. But before long he felt a tingling sensation. His entire body twitched and seized. He placed his hands together, and to his satisfaction felt that when he tried to pull them apart, they were quite sticky.
“Shit,” he cursed when he ripped them apart too quickly. A small strip of flesh just below his left pinky had ripped clean off. It seemed that he would have to peel himself off of things carefully. Without concerning himself with the wound, he stepped out of his window and lowered himself.
The potion continued to increase its effects as he moved along the building’s wall. Slowly, Godwin learned the precise amount of pressure that would allow him to move up and down quickly without flaying himself. While he was strong enough to utilize the potion correctly, he had to strain the muscles of his upper body to keep himself suspended on the wall. Hopefully Namaeria would show up before he found himself falling to his death.
Approaching Robert’s window from below, Godwin slowly crept upwards against the chill of the wind. Below him the streets of Saebyl were silent. Inside the room a fire flickered in the hearth warm and inviting. Robert was snoring loudly on the bed, his pompous hat strewn over one of the bed posts.
Godwin observed silently, waiting for any sign of a disturbance. He would have to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. The vampire might decide to strike quickly and retreat. He would not allow Robert to die as bait without even realizing what was happening. He could control that much at least.
The seconds ticked by both painfully slow and terrifyingly fast. So far the potion was holding up to Godwin’s expectations, and with his fingers wrapped around the window ledge there was no immediate danger of him falling to his death.
A noise drew his attention. The doorknob slowly turned, and the large oak door swung inward. There was nobody there. Godwin tensed up, wondering if the creature was capable of turning itself invisible. Such powers were not unheard of for the higher class of demon.
“Over here.”
The words startled Godwin so badly that he would have fallen off the building had he not instinctively pulled himself up onto the window sill. Crouching like a cat, he looked down just in time to see a swish of darkness shoot past him and into the room. Above Robert’s sleeping frame, Grushenka was grinning wildly at him with bared fangs. She was no longer half nude in a skirt, but wore a mix of armor made up of leather and chain-mail.
“I should have known,” Godwin said as his blade slide from its sheath.
“So you’ve come here to kill me?” Grushenka snorted. “Was my conversation so painful to endure?”
“Let’s take this outside,” Godwin said. “We don’t want to wake him.”
She laughed, a noise that sounded like wind through chimes. “A war hammer against a gong wouldn’t wake this one,” she said. “Though I do find it curious that you’re so protective of him despite the fact that you’re comfortable using him as bait. I hope you don’t think you were being subtle. Trying to pass him off as some sort o
f diplomat while meanwhile you’re sitting there, scolding him. No Tarsurian ambassador would tolerate that. I wasn’t fooled for a moment. I can feel the magic radiating from your thrygta. I knew you were a Shigata instantly.”
“Yet still you’ve come.”
“Which should worry you. It means I’m not scared.”
Godwin eyed the vampire and tried to size up the situation, hoping to find an advantage. He was far outclassed in speed judging by how quickly she had moved earlier. Likely strength would be no different. What did that leave him? Luck? Destiny?
“Tell me,” Grushenka went on. “Who contracted you to kill me?”
“Why should that matter?”
Grushenka’s nostrils flared. “I have a right to know.”
“Yegvellen the mage.” Godwin was surprised that he told her. He hadn’t planned on it, and he didn’t think that she had used magic to coax it out. What could that mean?
Grushenka smiled and shook her head. “I should have known. Very well, there’s no point in dragging on with this. Just answer me one last question. Are you committed to seeing this contract through and taking my life?”
“Yes.”
She flew at him. Grushenka moved like lightning, and when she slammed her fist into his stomach, he felt like the blow had been struck by a sledgehammer. Godwin stumbled backwards and swung his sword outward to earn a moment’s time. Grushenka didn’t grant him that. Flowing like a stream of black silk, she darted to his side and kicked him hard in the back of the left calf. As he toppled to his knee, he sent a piercing back-handed strike towards her head which she knocked away with the back of an armored forearm before sinking a dagger into his side.
Hot pain seethed at the point of the injury. Remembering some of the medicine Jondus had given him, Godwin rolled away and took a vial from the nearly empty set strapped to the inside of his cloak. Ripping the stopper off with his teeth and spitting it across the room, he downed the opiate concoction and relaxed.
“This isn’t a fight you can win, Godwin,” Grushenka said. “But more importantly, I don’t think it’s a fight you even want to have. You’re not ready for death. I can see it in your eyes. Despite what you tell yourself, you want to go back to this Selena. This prostitute you gave your heart to.”