by Claire Luana
“This is very, very odd,” Hale said.
Wren nodded uneasily. Her stomach was churning. Something was wrong. “Let’s see if we can find Lucas and get some answers.”
They pushed their way through the people towards the door that led to the inspector’s offices.
“Hey!” someone cried. “We’ve been waiting. You can’t just go in ahead of us!”
“We have an appointment,” Hale said, flourishing a bow before backing through the door and into the hall.
Angry cries followed them but were muffled when the door closed. “I don’t like this,” Wren said.
“What’s to like?” Hale remarked blackly.
Lucas’s office was at the end of the hallway, and as they approached, they heard more angry voices.
Wren took a deep breath and peered around the door jamb into the office. Lucas stood behind his desk, his hair mussed, deep shadows under his eyes. He must have been summoned in the middle of a night’s sleep.
Guildmaster Pike, head of the Spicer’s Guild, stood before him in all his glory—glossy, black hair; neat goatee; shrewd, dark eyes. He wore a red brocade jacket and gleaming boots over black trousers. His hand rested casually on the curved sword strapped to his hip.
“Pike?” she said.
“Ah, Wren. And your large angry friend,” Pike replied, inclining his head graciously towards Wren and pursing his lips at Hale. The last time the two men had seen each other, Hale had thought Sable was dying and hadn’t been particularly tactful in his quest for an antidote. “Let me guess. You’re here to report that a member of your Guild has gone missing.”
Wren blinked in surprise. “How did you know?”
Lucas heaved a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Who is it? Not the new fellow? Thom?”
“Thom,” Hale confirmed. “He disappeared early this morning.”
Pike continued, “I knew, Wren darling, because someone has gone missing from every Aperitive Guild last night.”
“Are you serious?” Wren asked, shock washing over her.
“It seems to be true,” Lucas said. “I keep telling Guildmaster Pike that he should take his concerns up with the head inspector, who’s handling the investigation.”
“And I keep telling you, I don’t want to take it up with him.” Pike leaned forwards across the desk, a shadow darkening his face. “Because he’s in the king’s pocket. Just like half this city. You seemed willing to piss off your dear old dad when it came to saving your girlfriend here, so I’m hoping you’ll do it again. Find my guildsman.”
“No one is in the king’s pocket,” Lucas said in exasperation, ignoring the rest of Pike’s twisted compliment. “I know my father isn’t overwhelmed by his popularity, but the suggestion that he kidnapped a bunch of Guild members…it’s insane.”
“Almost as insane as the king paying someone to poison a guildhead and framing another guildhead and a Guild member? And his little snake Willings being in on it?” Wren asked.
Lucas blanched. “That’s…different. This is…so public. What does he possibly have to gain by kidnapping one Guild member from each Guild?”
“Ask the hooded men who took my apprentice last night,” Pike hissed.
Wren’s ears perked. “You saw them? Was one of them missing a middle finger?”
Pike whirled, skewering her with his penetrating gaze. “How did you know that?”
“He was?” Excitement and anger churned through her. Wren turned to Lucas. “It was the Black Guard, Lucas! The same Black Guard who attacked Thom kidnapped Pike’s man. What will it take for you to admit your father’s behind this?”
Lucas collapsed into his chair, cradling his head in his hands. “I believe you.” His words were muffled. He looked up with such a look of misery that Wren softened. Maybe she had been a little hard on him. “I just don’t understand it. What possible motivation would the king have to do this?”
“How about securing absolute control of the Guilds who control the city’s food supply just days before the Apricans lay siege to this city?” Hale said.
Silence hung over the room. That made sense. Even without knowing about the Accord, and the fact that the king wanted control of all infused products for use in the war effort…of course he would want to control the food supply.
“He could tell the city that he’s looking out for everyone’s best interest,” Pike said. “Saving them from the greedy opportunistic Guilds who would raise prices when people need supplies most. Ensuring that they have food in their bellies until he can defeat King Evander.”
“You saw this man attack your member?”
“Yes,” Pike said. “From an upper window. Donovan was in the courtyard. Four men came at him. He fought like a lion, but they were well trained. He wounded one. I saw the blood. By the time I got down there…they were gone.”
Poor Thom. If he was attacked by a similar set of men…he must have been terrified. And where was he now? Was he being mistreated? Tortured?
“So, it’s worse than I feared,” said Lucas with a sigh. “My father has well and truly lost his mind. He kidnapped your Guild members.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Pike asked Lucas, who looked as if a wave of weariness had overtaken him. Wren wanted to go to him and wrap him in her arms but didn’t dare in front of Pike or Hale.
“We’re going to find them,” Lucas said. “Obviously.”
“Is there anywhere you can think of that your father might be keeping…guests?” Hale asked.
“There’s the dark hostage dungeon,” Lucas joked dryly. “No, I can’t think of anywhere the king might be holding ten innocent Guild members against their wills.”
“The crown has properties scattered throughout the city and Alesia,” Pike said. “They could be anywhere.”
“Would he risk taking them out of the city?” Wren mused. “With the Apricans approaching?”
“Wren’s right,” Hale said. “He wouldn’t risk the hostages getting cut off if the Apricans lay siege. They’ll be somewhere in the city.”
“So we only have a haystack to search, instead of a hayfield,” Pike remarked.
A bell began ringing in the distance, muffling whatever Lucas was about to say.
“What’s that?” Wren asked.
Lucas was on his feet in a flash, exhaustion replaced by deadly seriousness. “That’s the alarm bell Steward Willings set up after the night of the wedding. The Apricans are attacking.”
Chapter 14
The ringing of the bell jangled Hale’s nerves as inspectors and guardsmen poured out of the offices lining the hallway, buckling sword belts and shrugging on coats. Hale and Wren joined the tide of bodies, pounding their way down the stairs and out into the cool morning.
“Where is it?” Wren grabbed Lucas’s arm before he was gone.
Hale’s mind whirred as he tried to anticipate where King Evander’s legion might be attacking. One of the gates perhaps. To test the strength of Maradis’s defenses?
“I don’t know,” Lucas said. “Get back to the Guildhall. You’ll be safe there. I hope.”
Wren squeezed his arm and stood on her tiptoes, giving Lucas a kiss. “Be safe.”
He nodded and jogged after the other men.
“Awr,” Hale said, but the jest was halfhearted.
“Shut up.” Wren’s reply lacked her usual spirit as well.
“Back to the Guild?” Hale asked.
She nodded grimly.
The bells continued to ring as they made their way through the city streets back to the Guild Quarter. They saw no sign of Apricans; most citizens seemed as confused as they were about where the attack was coming from.
As they turned onto the wide avenue leading up to the Tradehouse and Guildhalls, Hale spotted a plume of smoke rising in the west.
“Look.” He pointed.
“The harbor,” Wren said.
Something unspoken passed between them and they both broke into a run, leaping up the steps of the Guil
dhall. Would the Apricans make it into the harbor, onto the docks? If so, how many men did they have? How much time before they’d make it this far?
Hale didn’t know where they would go, what they would do, if the soldiers made it this far. His only thought was to get to Sable, to be together to face whatever came.
“Where’s Grandmaster Sable?” Hale asked the guard at the door as they skidded to a stop.
“The roof, I believe,” the guard said.
Hale and Wren took the stairs two by two, ducking through the narrow little door onto the sun-soaked roof. Callidus and Sable stood near the western edge, silhouetted against the smoke billowing into the sky.
Hale and Wren approached on either side, their lungs heaving from the run. In the distance, a fierce battle raged, turning the blue-gray waters of Maradis Harbor into an inferno. Long, sleek Aprican ships in lacquered black darted about the larger Alesian navy, taking cannon shots and then backing away. They seemed to be nimble and swift, whereas the larger Alesian galleons struggled to turn in the tight confines of the harbor. One ship that bore Alesia’s emerald green flag was already on fire.
“What did you learn?” Callidus asked without looking away from the scene.
“It was the king,” Wren said, clutching at her blouse as if she could hold her heart inside her chest.
Sable’s head swiveled towards Wren at that. “What?”
“He has taken one Guild member from each Guild. I’m guessing each of them is Gifted. As…assurance that we cooperate with him during the siege. I’m sure his list of demands will follow this morning,” Hale said. So much was in motion. The king declaring war on the Guilds. The Apricans snapping at their heels. And all Hale could think about was how lovely Sable looked with her ebony hair dancing in the morning breeze. Gods help him.
“He goes too far.” Callidus’s voice was low—even. A deadly dangerous tone Hale had not heard from Callidus before.
Hale felt a bloom of grudging respect grow within him.
Callidus continued. “We are free men. And women. We choose our own destinies. He will not get away with this.”
“Tell that to the Magnish,” Sable muttered.
Callidus stared unblinkingly as another Alesian ship caught fire.
“How will we get Thom back?” Sable asked, turning to Callidus. “What do you think is the best course of action? We can’t refuse the king to his face. He could hurt Thom.” It was strange hearing Sable asking questions instead of taking charge, but Hale recognized what she was doing. Trying to respect her role as Callidus’s second. Prod his decision, his leadership. But it seemed to have the opposite effect.
“I…I don’t know,” Callidus admitted. “I keep wondering what Kasper would have done were he in my shoes.”
“Kasper would have gotten himself killed,” Hale muttered.
Sable nodded her agreement. “Hale’s right. Kasper was a dreamer, an idealist. This world chews up idealists and spits them out. We have to be shrewder than Kasper was. We have to outsmart the king.”
“And how do we do that?” Callidus’s tone was bitter.
Wren chimed in. “We find Thom. Remove his leverage. Play along with the king just enough to keep Thom safe. Send him infused goods for the war. Say we’re considering. Stall. All the while we find Thom. Find all the Guild members.”
“You’re dating an inspector and so you fancy yourself a great detective?” Callidus leveled his dark gaze at her.
“We outsmarted him once, didn’t we? I’m still here. We can do it again. Besides, do you have a better idea?” Wren challenged.
Callidus looked away, and Hale schooled his face to stay neutral. These past few days, it was as if fire burned in Wren that he hadn’t seen before. As if the king had pushed her one too many times, and now she was determined to push back. It was a good development. They would need that fire before this was done.
Wren softened. “It’s no shame to let us help you. You don’t have to bear all these burdens alone. We’re…” She looked at Sable, then Hale.
He nodded encouragingly. “We’re family.”
Callidus pressed his lips in a thin line. When he spoke his words were thick. “I can’t help feeling like I’m failing Thom. I offered to protect him, to be his sponsor, and he’s out there alone. He could be hurt. And I can’t do a damn thing.”
“You can, and you will,” Sable said. “We’ll figure this out. Together.”
Callidus looked at each of them in turn. His thin shoulders seemed to straighten. “Very well,” he said softly. “Where do we start?”
“The Imbris clan,” Wren said. “Lucas’s younger brother is missing too. He’s a member of the Vintner’s Guild. I think he was the first to go missing. Chandler told me that Guildmaster Alban was acting strange at the last accord meeting.”
“You talked to Chandler about this?” Callidus said.
“You wouldn’t tell me anything!” Wren protested. “We need to share resources. We can trust Chandler, we can trust McArt and Bruxius, we can trust Pike.”
“Pike is a viper,” Callidus said.
“Yes, but he’s our viper,” Sable countered. “You leave him to me.”
Hale tightened his jaw at that but said nothing. He didn’t like how Pike looked at Sable. How he touched her. A lingering hand, a lingering look. The man feigned aloofness, but Hale recognized the signs. He and Pike were drowning in the same sea and Sable was the only life-boat. And he’d be damned if he let Pike get there first. Hale found Wren watching him, and he looked away from her penetrating gaze. Sometimes that girl saw too much.
“So the Imbris clan,” Hale said, forcing a tone of levity. “You think they have some psychological insight into the inner workings of their unhinged royal father?”
“All we need is the location where the hostages are being kept. That might give us some place to start,” Wren said
“So go talk to Lucas.” Callidus shooed her. “What are you waiting for?”
“Lover boy is defending our fair city,” Hale said, motioning to the scene before them in a sweeping gesture. The wind had shifted towards them, bearing a hint of smoke on the air. Three large Alesian ships were now burning, while only one Aprican.
“It looks like the Centese have joined the fray,” Sable said, pointing to a set of blue-sailed ships that were rounding the breakwater of the harbor and engaging the closest Aprican vessel. “They must have been anchored outside.”
“Nice to see the alliance is holding,” Hale said.
“There aren’t enough Aprican ships to win, right?” Wren said. “Why did they attack?”
“They’re harrying us. Chipping away at our edges, our ability to defend ourselves. We’ll keep the harbor closed from now on,” Hale said, “meaning it will be harder to re-provision the city.”
“Is King Evander as unpleasant a fellow as our royal leader?” Sable asked.
“They’re rolled from similar batches,” Hale said. “They speak one language: power. They want more of it. More land, more wealth, more glory. They don’t give a damn about their subjects.” Sable’s question brought up a flood of emotion, Hale’s past that he had tried to bury deep in Alesia’s fertile brown soil. King Evander’s coup had been the catalyst that had started the downfall of the Firena family. First his father, murdered in the palace at Se Caelus. Then his brother, Cal, whose blood had watered the dry Aprican ground. His mother, lost two years ago now, cut down in her prime by the Red Plague that had swept through Maradis. Hale couldn’t help but wonder if the Huntress now came for him in the guise of King Evander of Aprica.
“You fled when Evander took over, right?” Wren asked gently.
Hale fixed his eyes on the flickering flames kissing the gray waters of the harbor. He didn’t like to talk about it, but it was a fair question. They needed to know what was coming. “The coup was efficient and ruthless. He killed my father, who was one of the king’s ministers, and came for my family. We fled in the night, tried to get out by boat, but it was bl
own up. Looked a lot like that scene.” Hale nodded towards the harbor. “We made it ashore and hid in a caravan heading to Tamros. It wasn’t an easy journey. My brother didn’t make it.”
Sable walked over to Hale and wrapped her arm around his waist, tucking herself against him in silent comfort. His heart skittered in his chest. She fit against him too perfectly, like two puzzle pieces. He rested his muscular arm lightly on her shoulder, wanting to bury his head in the crook of her neck and soothe himself in her ocean scent.
“There is something else you should know,” Hale said instead. “There was a man who worked for the king. A cuisinier. He had an interest in the occult. It was rumored that he kept all the rich of Se Caelus young through his miracle recipes.”
“A Gifted?” Sable asked, looking up at him, her dark eyes reflecting the shimmering flames of the harbor. “I didn’t know there were Gifted anywhere but here.”
“I think so. I think my mother was one as well. Her wine…it was prized. I didn’t recognize it then, but now…anyway.” Hale cleared his throat. “This cuisinier wanted my mother. He came searching for us. Followed us halfway through Tamros before we lost him.”
“He wanted her? Why?” Callidus asked.
“I don’t know. I never wanted to think about it. But part of me…the rumors…I think he might have been using Gifted somehow. Exploiting their magic for his own recipes.”
“How is that possible?” Wren asked, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.
“There is so little we know about the Gifted,” Callidus mused. “I suppose anything’s possible.”
“I’ve heard that he’s still with the king, except now he’s Evander’s righthand man,” Hale said. “I only mention this because…if we think our own king is dangerous to our kind…we haven’t seen anything yet.”
Chapter 15
The Apricans retreated far sooner than the flames did.
Wren sat on the roof for hours after the worst of the attack, thinking and worrying. She wished she had some brilliant scheme to help Thom and rescue the Gifted hostages, but she had nothing. She had no idea where to start looking.