The slug thing began pulling me in, my feet sliding along the tunnel floor. I was helpless against the strength of the thing. But Biter suddenly slashed down, severing the tendril, causing me to flop backwards from the recoil.
Brindar jumped back and to the side, barely escaping another slimy tendril that shot out of the thing at him. At the same time, another grabbed me again, this time wrapping around my right foot as I lay on the passageway floor. It pulled me toward it, as I struggled to free my right hand, and strove to hold on to the floor, the wall, or anything, with my left.
My hand was still stuck firmly to my chest, the barrel of my gun protruding from the sticky mess. The slug thing moved closer to me while it pulled me forward. I tugged at my hand, and while it may have moved slightly, I wouldn’t free it in time.
Instead, I stuck out my left leg, ramming it into the dirt of the tunnel wall. I wasn’t strong enough to stop the slug from pulling me toward it, but I did manage to make my body turn, enough that I could half roll, and pull the trigger. I didn’t need to hit the thing dead center, anywhere would do.
The little, metal ball came out as it did up above at the docks. It left a line of searing pain across my chest as it went, but it did hit the slug thing. The effect was immediate. The same freezing process went to work, causing it to slow, then stop. The tendril was still attached to me, but it was no longer reeling me in. As I watched, the icy blueness reached the base of the tendril and started up. I wondered if the cold from it would freeze my foot as well, but didn’t find out. Brindar brought Biter down again, severing the connection, and then walked forward and shattered the slug into a million pieces.
“Nooo!!!” we head a voice scream. It was the mad-man’s voice, but back to the high pitched, cracked noise we first heard. “Not my Thing! You’ve killed it! My beautiful Thing!”
Really? This lunatic actually called these creations his things? Well, no wonder the gun worked.
Brindar helped me to my feet, and to get my hand unstuck from my chest. The stickiness of the mess that remained was fading, but I was still covered in a pink, foul smelling slime.
“Enough of this,” he said.
I didn’t even answer. We headed down the passageway to where we heard the voice, moving quickly, but more cautiously this time.
We needn’t have bothered. The tunnel dead-ended, in an area that was still being dug out. Was the slug working on that very thing when we came upon it? Or were there other slaves that this guy had that we hadn’t seen yet?
Regardless, I didn’t ask him. He stared at us and ranted as we came around the corner. I heard something about the blood, more things to be made, and powerful friends. But as Brindar said, enough. The little, metal ball hit him at almost the same moment as Brindar’s thrown axe.
I looked back at our rat-man friend, who stared at his tormentor’s corpse with a strange expression. He looked relieved, but also sad. I understood. We stopped him, but too late for many of his kinfolk.
“We’ll help you clean out that hole back there,” I told him. Brindar nodded beside me.
“No, we do it. It our folk, our family. Thank you. Thank you.”
He shuffled away, back toward the ladder that led up to the trapdoor in that horrible room above. Brindar and I followed silently.
We took the piper out of the room and back to the watchhouse, where Sarge locked him up. Since I was still covered in the remnants of pink slime, I broke my earlier vow and told him what we discovered.
“I’ll send some men to get the body,” he told me.
“Tell them to be easy on the rat-people down there,” I said. “They’ve been through enough.”
I parted ways with Brindar, telling him that I would see him in a couple of days for the wedding. Neither of us seemed to have much enthusiasm for it at the moment. It was a feeling that would pass, but right now, neither of us could get the images of what we saw down in the sewers out of our minds.
The clothes I wore would be burned, since there was no way that I was going to attempt to clean them. If any slugs still roamed the city, the Watch wizards would take care of them, using freezing spells and allowing Watchmen to clean up the rest.
I was done. I wanted to rest. A couple of days to do nothing but relax and get ready for the big day. The city could go on without me or Lilly for a while. It had Brindar, and Sarge, and even Raven. Not to mention a whole host of witches, wizards, necromancers, the NHLF and others. For all the times that Lilly and I stepped into some big emergency, they could handle it.
The way I figured it, they owed us.
FOR WHOM THE WEDDING BELL TOLLS
There are some days that you can tell are going to be perfect, even as you open your eyes for the first time in the morning. The sun streaming through the window is the right brightness, and the sound of the birds singing in the trees or cooing from the rooftops is musical. Your eyes open, you take a moment to adjust to being awake, and then turn over to see the most beautiful woman in the world lying in bed next to you.
I looked at Lilly, still asleep, her face at rest. Today was the day that I got to marry her and there was a large part of me that still couldn’t believe it was real. In a few hours, we’d walk into Father Magnus’s temple, hold hands and say those words to each other. Words that…
“Ahhh!!! Duke!! No! Get out!”
My reverie was interrupted by a pillow being shoved into my face, followed by a hard push to my chest, which spilled me out of the bed and onto the floor. I lay there for a moment, stunned and not sure of what exactly was going on. While I did, I heard feet hit the floor on the other side of the bed, and go running toward the bathroom. The door slammed shut before I could get to my feet.
“What the…” I murmured, rubbing my backside where it hit the floor and putting the pillow back on the bed.
“Lilly! What’s going on?”
“Get out! You’re not supposed to see me today!”
“If I can’t see you, how can I marry you?”
“Don’t be an idiot! You know what I mean! You’re not supposed to see me until the wedding.”
“Then why were we both here last night?” I was honestly confused. At the moment, Lilly still owned her own house in that weird necromancer’s place that you could only get to through magic. She never stayed there though, and we were planning on living here, at my place, after the wedding. Not least because this was where Petal and her people were. But still, if we weren’t supposed to see each other this morning, she could have gone there.
I walked over to the closed bathroom door so that she could hear me through it without me having to shout.
“Lilly, that’s an old wives’ tale, right? What difference does it make?”
“Some of those old stories have real power, Duke. Do you really want to take the chance?”
“No, I guess not, but why didn’t we think of this last night?”
“I did!” she cried. “But I fell asleep! I was going to slip out, but I couldn't stay awake.”
"It’s not the end of the world.”
“Duke, please! Can you just go?”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. Go get breakfast somewhere. Give me a couple of hours, then I’ll be gone, and you can come back. As a matter of fact, you have to. Daddy, Bancroft, and Uncle Wally will be coming by, so you need to take care of them.”
“What am I supposed to do with them?”
“I don’t know!” For the first time since I knew her, Lilly was starting to sound frazzled. I got the impression that I wasn’t helping.
“Okay,” I said. “No worries. I’ll make sure they’re having a good time. Don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you. Now get out!”
“I love you, too,” I yelled to her as I moved away from the door. “I’ll see you at the temple.”
I heard the door crack open behind me as I walked across the room.
“Duke?”
I turned back, ready to be told that she loved me too and she
was sorry for shoving me off the bed.
“Don’t be late,” she said. “And don’t forget your suit.” Then the door shut firmly once more.
I never mind breakfast out somewhere. You can get a variety of eggs, breads, and meats without having to clean up after yourself. I went to the Barman’s Choice, took a table near the open window, and ordered up a whole plate of morning goodness. I watched the life of the city flow by as I waited, and was happy to see that not a single emergency, or more than normal weirdness, occurred. Not even once.
My food came, and I took up knife and fork, cut into a nice thick slab of ham and realized that I had no appetite whatsoever. When I first came in, the smells set my mouth to watering and my stomach to gurgling. Now, my stomach was still making noises, but the thought of eating was making me ill. I put the fork down, pushed the overly laden plate away from me, and picked up my cup of coffee with a sigh.
Maybe Lilly wasn’t the only one that was feeling frazzled after all.
I sat and watched the city, pondering why I would feel like this. Was it that I didn’t truly want to marry Lilly? Or more likely, get married to anyone-ever? No, that didn’t feel right. I was very happy about marrying her. I knew what I had in her, and that I was damn lucky…
There it was. I was lucky. And I felt somewhat like a fraud. I never tried to be anyone but myself around Lilly, and had no intention of starting now. But, I felt like I had still managed to pull the wool over her eyes somehow. And that feeling led to me thinking that at some point, she was going to wake up, realize that she’d been duped, and walk out the door. That…yes, that was it. That was what was making me feel this way.
But. What if she didn’t feel fooled? What if she really did see me as a good guy, somehow worth being married to for the rest of her life. The fact of the matter was that Lilly was one of the smartest, most capable people I ever met. So how could I have duped her? It didn’t seem possible.
Which meant…that I wasn’t up to her level. Never would be. At some point, she would realize that. She’d come to know that she could have done much better than a not-so-humble Nuisance Man who liked his ale too much.
But then…
And around and around my thoughts swirled, while I sat and sipped my coffee. The perfect day that I envisioned when I first awoke was starting to fog over. Oh, the sun still shone down merrily on the streets, but in my mind there was a gray haze.
I sighed and sipped at my coffee, which was growing cold in the mug now. Then, the chair across the table from me was pulled out, and Jessup plunked down into it, a mug of ale in hand.
“I would have got you one,” he said, “but Lilly would kill me if you started drinking this early today.”
I smiled sadly at my friend. How could he possibly understand? He wasn’t setting himself up for a world of pain, as I was when Lilly came to her senses.
“Oh, got the wedding day jitters huh? Well, get over it pal. You’ve got stuff to do before you get hitched.”
“You don’t understand…” I started to say.
“Yeah, yeah. Sure.” His voice took on a mocking sing-song quality. “You don’t understand. I’ll never be good enough for her. She’s soooo wonderful. Get over yourself, man.”
My jaw was hanging open.
“What? You think you’re the first of my friends to get married? They all say the same thing. But here’s something to chew on. You’re right. About all of it. She is too good for you. Any woman worth having is. I don’t mean just you, I mean all of us. And they all know it, but they take us anyway. Be a good man, and a better husband, and live up to her expectations. Trust me, they’re probably not that high for you.”
He laughed and took a swig of his ale. I looked down at my coffee, set the cup down and reached over to take the ale from his hand. I took a swig, and passed it back.
“Thanks,” I said, meaning for both the pep talk and the drink.
“No problem. But that’s it on the ale for you, lover boy. You’ve got a suit to pick up.”
I ate part of my breakfast, splitting it with Jessup, who was glad to finish what I didn't. Then, I took my leave, telling him that I would see him at the temple later on.
"Nope, you'll see me before that," he said. "I've been charged with making sure you’re presentable and get there on time. I'll see you at your place in a few hours."
He winked, raised his mug to drain it and signaled for another one as I left.
The tailor had my suit ready for me when I got there. I tried it on, and stood for inspection. When he was satisfied with the final fit, he insisted that I remove it and put my normal clothes back on. As far as I was concerned, I was already dressed, so what difference did it make if I wore it now?
In answer to this, the tailor simply handed me a scrap of paper. On it was a message, which read: "Duke. Do what he tells you and don't give him a hard time! Lilly."
It certainly looked like her handwriting, and the tailor stood at his ease, waiting for me to comply with his, and indirectly, Lilly's, wishes. Moments later, I was back in my every day clothes and heading for home with the suit, carefully covered, hung over one shoulder.
Once there, I opened the door and shouted for Lilly, but there was no answer. I assumed it was safe to go inside now, so I did. Then....well, then I didn't know what I was supposed to do. I had been told to get my suit, take care of the male portion of Lilly's family, get dressed and get to Father Magnus's temple before 4:00 PM. It was only 10:00 AM now, and there was no sign of the guys.
I sighed, went to the kitchen and got an ale for myself. Yes, I know it was only ten o'clock in in the morning, but it was a good, heavy, dark ale, and I needed something to calm my stomach. Although Jessup had done a great job of helping me get rid of my doubts, I was still nervous. I comforted myself with the thought that it was probably normal to feel queasy on your wedding day.
I took my mug to the living room and sat in my chair near the hearth. It was a warm day, with no need for a fire. I picked up the newssheets, scanned them, and realized that I wasn't reading anything. I was simply staring at the words on the paper. I sipped my ale, and kept up the pretense out of sheer boredom.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, but was really only about a half hour, I heard the sound of a coach pull up outside our door. Coaches aren't that common in Capital City, since most people can't afford them, and those that can don't take them to neighborhoods like this very often.
Before the knock even came, I was opening the door, to reveal Bryer, Lilly's father, Bancroft, her sister's husband, and Wallace Worthington, Bryer's business partner.
"Duke!" Bryer said. "It's good to see you again!"
"You too, Bryer. And you, Wally, and you too, Bancroft."
They bundled in, all of us shaking hands and asking about the trip, what was new, and so on. Before I knew it, Wally found the kitchen and returned with four ales, which he passed around.
"To Duke," he said, "who joins the family today. We welcome you."
I took a sip of my ale, but noticed that my three guests were intending to reach bottom, so I thought it rude not to match them. When it was done, Wally gathered the empty mugs, and made himself at home by returning to the kitchen, and coming back with four more.
"And that's your last one for now," Bryer said, indicating the mug in my hand. "Make it last."
I was glad that we were on the same page, since I had already determined that this would be it for now. No one even needed to say anything. I had no intention of showing up drunk for my wedding.
"So, Duke," Bryer said, settling into my chair. "Have you given any thought to possibly coming to work for me? I can make you an executive, like Bancroft here. He's taking care of our finances, and doing a bang-up job of it. I was thinking that you could be in charge of security, worldwide."
I nodded, surprised. It never occurred to me to go to work for Bryer's company. And worldwide? That sounded like a lot of time outside of the city, which didn't appeal to me in the least.
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br /> "Thanks," I told him. "But I think I'm going to stick with what I'm doing. It's not glamorous, I know, and we'll never get rich off of it, but I feel like I do some good sometimes. You know?"
"I do know, and Lilly said you'd say that. But you can't blame a guy for trying. You do good, Duke. Lilly tells her mother things, who then tells me. Trust me, any man that can win Lilly's heart must have something going for him. But you take care of her."
I sat back in what was normally Lilly's chair and smiled. "I’ll try. But I have to say, I've never met anyone who needs taking care of as little as your daughter."
He smiled back. "Maybe not out there, on the streets. Or up here." He pointed at his temple, then reached out and poked me in the chest. "But in there, Duke. You take care of her in there."
I raised my mug to him. "Always," I said. He raised his back, and we sipped our ales.
Later the four of us went out to get lunch, where I watched with some degree of envy as they all drank a couple of ales, while I sipped on water. I still didn’t have much of an appetite, but managed to down some of my meal. Bryer made sure of that, telling me that there was no way he was going to watch me pass out in front of everyone and ruin his daughter’s wedding. He was laughing when he said it…so I guess it was a joke.
It was one of the stranger days I have ever had, and that’s saying something. At times, the day seemed to slip by, the minutes and hours flying past. Then, it would slow down, and when I was sure that it must be almost time to leave for the temple, it would only be minutes that had gone by.
Sometimes, I was fully into the conversation that was going on around me, and then I would realize that I had no idea what we were discussing, and that the talk had moved on to a totally different subject. The other three watched me with amusement written all over their faces, since they were all veterans of this, and remembered their own wedding days.
But finally, we were back at the house and the clock was nearing three. Jessup showed up, let himself in, and introduced himself to the family. He grabbed two mugs of ale, shoved one into my hand and kept the other.
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