by Tracy Falbe
“I can get you ten maybe a dozen tough men in three days,” Welser said.
“You’ll have them here in the morning. Until then, stable my horse and give me a room. I need supper and a good sleep,” Janfelter said.
Welser nodded unhappily, gravely disappointed that Janfelter planned to stay. The smug look on the unwelcome guest’s face irked the banker, but he knew better than to trifle with an agent of Tekax. Terrible things were whispered of the one from the East.
He called for his butler, who timidly came to the door but did not enter. Welser conveyed orders for the care of his guest.
Janfelter smiled cheerily and bowed when he stood up. “I appreciate your cooperation, Herr Welser,” he said before following the butler out.
Welser let out a breath once he was alone. He stared at the silver token that his visitor had left on the table. At length, he reluctantly went to his lock box and removed the coinage necessary to acquire men of the sword.
Chapter 30. A Hostage
Mitri helped Thal carry Tobias upstairs and dump him into a bed. As Mitri confiscated a dirk from the man’s belt, the disheveled lawyer snuggled his face sleepily into a feather pillow. Thal nudged his shoulder, but the man only grunted into the lacy edge of the pillow case.
“Perhaps a break is in order for all of us,” Thal decided.
“Have everyone take turns keeping watch on the street,” he told Mitri, who nodded and left.
Altea came around the foot of the bed and stared at the lawyer. One of his shoes had fallen off when he was dragged upstairs. She slapped his stocking foot, but the man only tossed his head once.
She looked to Mileko who hovered in the doorway. “What did you give him?” she asked.
Mileko came to the bedside. He pried open the man’s eyes briefly to judge his incapacity. “Poppy extract. I think it worsened his drunkenness. We might need to let him dream a while before we can rouse him,” he explained.
Altea rubbed her forehead. Exhaustion and anxiety vied for command of her senses. “More waiting,” she grumbled.
“We can’t do much until Father finds us. We shall rest for now,” Thal said.
The day had been a whirlwind, and Altea agreed that a nap might renew her. Mileko was weary as well, and once he bolted the doors, everyone found a place in the home to settle down, except for Lenki who took the first watch.
Thal spread his cloak and wolf fur on the floor at the foot of the lawyer’s bed. He and Altea lay down together. Their warmth and gentle closeness were soothing, and they set aside the questions and concerns buzzing in their minds and slept the hard quick sleep of the exhausted.
Thal’s eyes popped open just before he heard Lenki hiss a warning to her pack mates downstairs. He could not make out the words, but he perceived her alarm clearly.
He gently shifted Altea aside and popped to his feet. He motioned for her to stay with Tobias and slipped silently into the hall with a gun drawn.
From the top of the stairs, he heard the back door rattle against the wooden slat that barred it. Pistol growled at his master’s heels.
“Who the Hell locked this door!” complained a man outside. He rattled it a few times to explore the futility of the situation before leaving the back steps. His feet soon clomped up to the front door and a key scraped in the lock.
Thal had made it downstairs by now, and Lenki looked at him urgently for direction. She had a long knife out. He shook his head and motioned for her and the others to hide. They ducked and darted into other rooms except for Lenki and Mileko who slid behind a tapestry. Thal sprang behind the door just as it swung open.
“Master!” the man called as he stepped into the house.
Short and youthful, the man had chin length brown hair and an overbite. He sucked his lower lip into his mouth when Thal grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around. A dog seized his ankle and snarled victoriously.
The gun barrel pointed at his head made meaningless the canine teeth tearing his stocking. He inhaled, about to scream. Mileko appeared behind him like a treacherous shadow and clamped a hand over his mouth.
Thal pointed his pistol up and said, “You must be quiet.” He kicked the front door shut with his heel.
The young man took his last glimpse toward the freedom of the street where life had so recently been normal. He trembled against the hard hands.
“Cry out and I’ll break your neck,” Mileko warned and then slowly released the fellow’s mouth.
From the top of the stairs, Altea observed the brief tussle with the manservant until Tobias moaned. She rushed back into his room and sat on the edge of his bed.
Tobias rubbed his eyes sleepily, and Altea smoothed his hair back from his forehead. He smiled at her touch and then blearily realized the dreamy woman was not a dream.
“Hello, Tobias Dorn,” she said.
He glanced around and gratefully recognized his room. “Did I bring you home?” he asked.
“I brought you home,” Altea corrected and fluffed his pillow so that he could sit up a bit. She watched confusion play across his features as he tried to piece together what had happened.
“You had a lot to drink,” Altea offered.
“What did I drink?” he wondered and ran his tongue along the roof of his mouth. The lingering flavor summoned the unwelcome memory of rough hands and a nasty draught being forced across his lips.
“I’m the new woman Madame Trefenski wanted you to meet,” Altea said.
Her story made him narrow his eyes suspiciously and then notice that one of his shoes was missing. Pushing Altea aside, Tobias swung his feet off of the bed. One shoe remained on his foot, but he could not spot the other one.
After another dark glance toward Altea, he hollered, “Dunherd!”
“You really must rest,” Altea tried to insist and tugged him back toward the bed. He reeled to his feet and caught himself against the wall as sobriety reminded him of its absence.
He called for his manservant again, but the door swung open and he got a bearded outlaw with a pistol drawn instead.
The dull ache in the lawyer’s jaw reminded him who he was looking at. “You!” he cried although he had no name to put to the face.
“I’m glad you’re up,” Thal said and shoved him in the chest, which easily toppled him back to the bed.
“What is this?” Tobias demanded.
“A matter of life and death,” Thal responded.
Tobias regarded the pistol with dread. “You must be mistaken...” he said.
“Are you the lawyer for Valentino del Sangoro?” Thal asked. He could see that the man recognized the name and considered denying it, but some scrap of duty incited him to honesty.
“Yes.”
“Then there’s no mistake,” Thal said happily.
Tobias held up his hands and even looked to Altea imploringly like she was a dear friend who would fling her body in front of a weapon to save him.
“I’ve done him no wrong. His case would have been resolved weeks ago if not for my diligent efforts. For his benefit, I made sure that every procedure was observed and that the Duke heard his ludicrous offer of ransom. If you’re here to avenge him because of some provincial notion of vendetta, he’s still alive and I’ve played no part in his downfall. Unless you’re here to pay his ransom, I must insist you leave.” He lifted his chest in a display of temerity.
Thal was relieved to hear that Valentino was still alive. “The ransom. I’m here for that,” he said.
The lawyer’s inebriated intellect stalled on the concept of someone actually paying Valentino’s ransom, but at last he realized that he might collect a fee upon the transaction.
“You’ll pay the ransom?” he said.
“Well...” Thal said. He slid his pistol into his belt and smiled to Altea. “Let’s talk about that.”
Tobias frowned. “Who are you?” he asked.
“Have you heard of Thal Lesky?” Thal asked, using the name on the imperial notices about his crimes.
Tobi
as shrank back as soon as he accepted that the notorious werewolf was standing over him. Denial locked the doors of its sad refuge against him. The man had already overpowered him like he was a rag doll, and his eyes spoke of a wildness that no man had known for long ages. The lawyer’s panicked thoughts jerked like a kite in a high wind as he contemplated everything from his violent death to collecting the sizable reward.
But he had heard that even bounty hunters had given up their hunting for this monster.
“Where is Valentino?” Thal said, and Tobias told him of his imprisonment in the castle dungeon.
“You must help me get him out,” Thal said.
“I can’t get him released. He’s dead as soon as the paperwork is finished,” Tobias explained.
Thal leaned into his face. “YOU are going to take me to him and help us leave Pressburg,” he said.
The ominous force pressing down on Tobias from this rogue filled him with mortal fear. He tried to make a counterargument but only managed to mutter fruitlessly.
Thal straightened. “If you betray me, I’ll say that you’ve been harboring me for weeks,” he threatened.
“That’s not true,” Tobias cried although he imagined how the accusation could make his friends and allies flee like rats from a burning barn.
With a shrug, Thal said, “What cares the court about truth?”
Tobias lapsed into a miserable contemplation of his shocking situation. He had known that representing wretched heretics would invite danger, but the hopeless spent their money so freely.
Altea, who had taken a position at the window, suddenly whispered, “Sarpu’s coming.”
Relief renewed Thal. He went to Altea’s side and saw both his father and Johan hustling toward the door.
As he exited the room with Altea, he summoned Lenki and Ansel to watch over their hostage. The lawyer tried to assemble a tough facade as more scoundrels entered his room, but the youthful creatures sensed how he cowered inside. And their earnest expressions smothered his hopes of somehow escaping.
Downstairs, Mileko ushered Sarputeen and Johan quickly into the home. The sorcerer put back his hood and looked around the stylish home of a bachelor.
“The lawyer’s house I presume,” Sarputeen said.
“He’s upstairs,” Thal said. “And my friend still lives. He’s imprisoned in the castle. Did you speak with the Duke?”
“He’s out on a hunt,” Sarputeen said.
With the hope of influencing the Duke out of reach, Thal considered how to act with only the lawyer’s help. Thoughtfully, he said, “We must escape swiftly after freeing Valentino. I’d like a boat.”
“A boat?” his father asked, surprised.
“It’s the quickest way to leave the city and head toward Tekax. And we might leave Janfelter far behind. Perhaps we could strike at Tekax before his champion can catch up,” Thal suggested.
“I could go to the docks and scout for a boat to steal,” Mileko offered.
“Good,” Thal said.
Sarputeen’s wisdom refused to plow ahead with their ideas. He said, “Have you considered that your friend might be in poor condition? He could have suffered torture. If he cannot travel, the fext will have time to find us. I’m certain that he has entered the city. I’ve warned the guard captain at the castle about a warlock. I’ll approach the local Church leadership and try to activate their ire against this thing as well.”
Thal knew well how Church leaders could arouse the local officials to persecute others. They seemed to crave such action and latch happily on to any excuse to condemn and imprison.
“Let us ask the lawyer about Valentino’s health,” Thal said, hoping the news would not be bad.
Altea called for Ansel and Lenki to bring him down. He was still a touch dull eyed and swayed on the steps, but Ansel steadied him. At the bottom step, he found his shoe and struggled clumsily to put it back on. When Tobias straightened, he took note of how many intruders had taken over his home. Dunherd hunkered in a corner with Mitri and Johan glowering over him. His eyes glistened with terrible concern, which reminded Tobias to mask his own fear.
“Come here,” Sarputeen commanded.
Tobias regarded the strangely ageless old one sitting in his favorite chair. Dark eyes drilled into him like a thousand fathers who must be obeyed. Ansel nudged him insistently on the back, and the lawyer approached Sarputeen.
When Thal asked about Valentino’s condition, Tobias said, “He’s still strong enough to try and kill me.”
“Why would he want to kill you?” Altea said. “You said you were trying to help him.”
Regretting his choice of words among these fearsome allies of the heretic, Tobias said, “He’s merely frustrated and lashing out. He cannot yet see the benefit I do him.”
“I’m sure,” Thal grumbled. He squatted next to his father’s chair and whispered, “I think I know what you’re thinking.”
Sarputeen smiled.
Thal continued, “Father, I must get my friend tonight. The matter cannot wait.”
Sarputeen nodded in his solemn way, proud of his son’s urgent sense of loyalty.
Thal announced to his pack, “I’ll go with this lawyer and Mileko to fetch Valentino quietly tonight.”
Tobias cringed. “You ask the impossible. No one’s going to open a cell in the middle of the night.” He would have gone on rambling excuses, but Thal seized his arm and jerked him close.
“Those turnkeys will turn any key you tell them to,” Thal said. He released the man in the direction of his manservant.
“I want to go with you to get Valentino,” Altea said, and Thal understood her desire to help a man who had shown her kindness in her most desperate hour.
Quietly, he said, “We’ll be going into a dungeon.”
She imagined the dark corridors and hopeless doors. The dank memory of blood and urine from her jailing in Prague scented her traumatic memories. She knew that denying her terror of the place would be useless.
“He’ll need you when I get him back here,” Thal said.
Subdued by her memories of chains and torture, she sadly accepted that she need not go. She kissed his cheek and urged him to hurry.
Chapter 31. Angels’ Kisses
Tobias sobered up with every step toward the castle. The chilly night air made his nose drip, and the nearly full moon cast a haunted glow upon the pale stone walls of the rugged castle.
Flanked by Mileko and Thal, he applied his wits to talking his way out of the appalling situation.
“This won’t work. It’s the definition of folly,” he said. “It’s unheard of that someone would visit a prisoner at this late hour.”
A church bell launched into chiming the midnight hour to support his statement.
“How many times have you visited the dungeon at night?” Thal asked, maintaining their pace.
“Never. That’s what I’m trying to explain,” Tobias said.
Thal patted Tobias on the shoulder and said, “So, you really have no idea what goes on there at night.”
Tobias pouted and considered how he might alert the dungeon keepers to his state of coercion. He could not expect those who turned the keys in the smelly bowels of state power to interpret any sly hints. They would need him to state things precisely, which could immediately incite his captors to kill him.
With a few precious moments left before they reached the gate, he attempted an appeal to Thal’s pity. If the rogue wished to save a condemned wretch like Valentino, then he might be compelled to show mercy to an innocent man merely associated with the situation because of his profession.
“I entreat you to leave me out of this wild scheme. Surely you must understand that I will be blamed for his escape. The gaolers will remember that I went to his cell. They possess enough wit to shift blame off of themselves,” Tobias said.
“My associate shall muddle the memories of those who see us,” Thal said.
Tobias glanced unhappily toward the slab of shadow that marked M
ileko’s form next to him. He suspected that the men were speaking nonsense to placate him.
“How am I to trust in this?” Tobias complained. “This affair will taint me.”
“I must confess that your difficulty is not my top priority here,” Thal said.
“I shan’t cooperate!” Tobias warned and even stamped his foot petulantly. “I’ll give you away. You won’t escape.”
Thal whirled on Tobias. Mileko seized their captive from behind. Tobias felt a poke at his back.
Mileko said, “One thrust into your spine and you’ll never walk again.”
While contemplating his future as an invalid, the lawyer shrank from Thal.
The werewolf said, “Don’t make me spill blood because I will. Starting with yours. Betray me and I’ll kill everyone who stands in my way. Do you want that on your soul? It’s your choice.”
His dark pupils encircled a reflection of the moon, and Tobias believed that he was in the presence of the Butcher of Prague, who had already torn apart one jail. Jokes about lawyers lacking souls flitted bravely through his thoughts, but he chose not to share them.
Mileko leaned into the lawyer’s ear and said, “If you doubt my abilities, will not a bribe buy these gaolers’ silence?”
“Maybe,” Tobias gasped, supposing it was a viable option as long as no one pressed the issue with them too strongly.
Thal feigned some tenderness and eased Mileko’s arm away from the man’s neck. He smoothed his cloak. “I suggest you finish your precious paperwork and list him as executed. That could cover your tracks,” he said and raised his eyebrows.
Tobias uncomfortably accepted that the idea had a chance of success. No one was likely to make any inquiries about Valentino, and a completed execution order would account for an empty cell. He disliked actually putting his name to a fraudulent document, but it might just become another piece of paper on a pile of paper that no one looked at unless inspired to investigate.
To further encourage him, Thal said, “Think of this as saving a man’s life. He has a child on the way. Do well and perhaps we’ll become friends, Tobias. My wife says I could use a good lawyer. Come, let’s see if Valentino will give you a reference.”