The Immortal Walker

by McKellon Meyer

  Kam hooked his thumbs into his belt and rocked back and forth on his heels. He always did that when he was pleased about something, Kaislyn thought balefully. “I remembered how much you love smelly places.” He didn’t try very hard to hide his satisfaction at her discomfort.

  “Especially after what you did to the fish district,” Jaden said with a laugh.

  Jaden found her animosity with Kam amusing and was goading her. She couldn’t resist responding anyway. “I didn’t blow it up because it smelled! I promised to get you Kam’s turf and I did.” She waved a free hand at Kam. “It’s not my fault you thought I was bluffing.”

  It’d been a calculated risk using the Black Sand. There wasn’t supposed to be any of the explosive stuff left from the Second Bloody Year and she didn’t want the telltale signs of the explosion to attract the notice of anyone... important.

  “I can’t help that I have a sensitive nose,” Kaislyn added.

  “Very sensitive,” Jaden agreed.

  Kam rolled back on his heels. “Far be it for me to be petty about how you acquired my territory. Nor would I ever hold a grudge against someone as pretty and clever as you.”

  “Go away!” Kaislyn snapped.

  Jaden laughed again. “You’d better listen, Kam. The last thing any of us want is for Kaislyn to blow up this inn with us in it. You’ve won your bet anyway and I want to spend time with her away from your sweaty presence. We’ll meet up later today. Find out what you can about the east gate in the meantime.” He passed a few coins to Kam.

  “It’s not smart elevating him so far in the gang, Jaden,” Kaislyn said once the other thief had gone.

  “He’s been invaluable. Besides, he just likes to give you a hard time. Forget about him. He’s not here anymore.”

  Kaislyn’s glare softened under his easy smile. “That’s not the point...” What was that? Kaislyn leaned forward, attention fixing on the front of his shirt and the spatter of red across it. “Is that blood?”

  “Hmm?” Jaden looked at his shirt. “Oh... that. It’s nothing.”

  “Is it your blood?”

  “It’s not important,” he said, though the satisfied smile that kept flickering across his face seemed to indicate otherwise.

  “You didn’t... did you kill someone?” Blazes, if he had... If he and Kam...

  “I’ll tell you about it later.”

  Uneasy, she let him dismiss the bloody shirt for now. “So why am I here?”

  Jaden leaned forward. “Itzli is delivering a small shipment of diamonds today,” he said in a low voice. “They’re hiding it in an alpaca caravan, but I know which animal has the pretty little stones. I thought that just you and me could do this one. Sort of a one-year anniversary present.”

  Kaislyn was glad the shirt hid most of her face and the gloom the rest of it. Diamonds from the Fifth City? “Doesn’t the queen take a closer interest in her gem shipments?”

  “She’s not here. She’s holed up in the Royal City.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Don’t tell me you’re worried about the Itzli City Guards! They’re among the worst in the Five Cities.”

  That was the point.

  “Come on, Kaislyn. I’d thought you’d like this.”

  Kaislyn forced a smile, forgetting Jaden couldn’t see it for her shirt. “I do. It’s perfect.”

  “Uh-huh. Stop lying.”

  “Couldn’t we do pearls or something from a boat? That’d be more fun.”

  “No,” Jaden shook his head. “This isn’t just about diamonds or pearls, Kaislyn. This is about showing the rest of the gangs that we can do whatever we want whenever we want. Doesn’t matter where.”

  Was it? She eyed his bloody shirt. Not his blood. He was becoming too ambitious. Reckless too.

  Or was she getting bored?

  Kaislyn pushed the unexpected thought away. How could she get bored when she had Jaden and a large territory of the thieving underside of the Third City to control?

  “It’ll help smooth the way for taking the Docks I guess,” Kaislyn said.

  “Exactly.” Jaden leaned across the table, tugged the shirt from her face, and dropped a kiss on her lips. “Come on.” Holding her hand in his, he led her from the inn, giving her details along the way of how he planned to steal the diamonds. Kaislyn suggested a few changes, but otherwise listened in silence. She couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a mistake. A very bad mistake.

  Everything went exactly as Jaden had assured her it would. As the caravan was waiting their turn to water the animals at a well just inside the city, Jaden advanced, begging in a loud voice to be allowed to water the animals for the caravan. He was very cheap, very fast. He was soon joined by other urchins who lurked near the well, all insisting they were cheap too.

  Kaislyn had always liked alpacas. Maybe it was because they were native to the mountains. They were soft and elegant with their long necks and ears, and bright, inquisitive eyes. It didn’t hurt that they didn’t smell either. Not like goats or camels. Kaislyn patted an alpaca as she slipped unseen between two of the pack animals.

  She wiggled her hand under the blankets of a third animal when someone tapped her on the shoulder.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, child.”

  Kaislyn froze. Slowly, she drew her hand out, showing her hands to be empty as she pivoted. A guard stood on the other side of the alpaca, stance relaxed as he watched her. He was tall and lean with a brown beard covering his face except for where a thin, white scar ran from cheek to jaw.

  Slashed just deep enough for it to scar, Kaislyn thought, her lessons from Jaden drilled into her head. The bottom of the scar twisted a little, as if the one doing the scarring had panicked.

  The guard’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Kaislyn? What the blazes are you doing here?”

  Kaislyn ran. She ducked under several alpacas and sprinted across the square to the nearest street. She yelled the alarm to Jaden.

  He caught up with her at the end of the street. “What happened?” he panted.

  “One of the guards saw me. Here.” She shoved one of her bags at Jaden and glanced behind them at the pursuing caravan guards. She spotted a few stray City Guards in the mix. Damn.

  The caravan guards were more persistent, and smarter, than either of them were used to. Kaislyn promised herself that she would yell at Jaden later for claiming Fifth City Guards were stupid. These weren’t.

  Still, they knew the streets better than guards from another city did and they were slowly putting more distance between them. They split at the next street corner, Jaden diving toward the marketplace, Kaislyn toward the docks.

  She lost the guards easily in the chaos of the waterfront. The tide had come in and the wharf teemed with extra activity as ship cargoes were unloaded. Kaislyn hid herself in a secluded section of crates where she could view the activity of the docks unobserved. She watched four guards pass her hiding spot and muffled a snicker. Judging by their dull expressions, they’d already given up on finding her and were merely going through the motions of a search.

  Kaislyn selected a crate to sit on and pulled her hair loose of its ties. Unbraided, her hair fell to her waist. She was very proud of her long, thick, hair, but rarely left it loose as it tangled too easily. She began to redo her hair in a double braid, tucking stray strands out of her face so that her vision remained unimpaired.

  Finished, Kaislyn snatched a discarded hat that reeked of fish and slapped it on her head. Her eyes watered from the smell. What would it be like not to ever smell again? How wonderful would that be? Breathing through parted lips, she ambled back into the city to meet up with Jaden.

  Beyond the docks was a series of taverns. Despite the fact it was the middle of the afternoon, they were full. Sailors have their own night hours, Kaislyn thought as a burst of raucous singing erupted from the nearest tavern.

  Her feet slipped. At first she thought she had stepped in something, but the street sank around her, rushing past her li
ke the incoming tide. Kaislyn clutched the open window of the tavern to keep from being swept away. The ground softened into a sinking, sliding sludge, threatening to suck her down and drag her into the harbor.

  Kaislyn squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the Shift attack to end. It was rare that her surroundings were affected by an attack, straining toward something else, a different place. And this made two Shift attacks in one day.

  Gradually, the nauseating motions slowed and when Kaislyn opened her eyes, the street had settled into solid, worn stones. Letting go of the window proved more difficult. Kaislyn’s legs trembled from sudden weariness, and her fingers didn’t want to uncurl. Her nails had dug deep grooves into the wooden sill.

  Taking several deep breaths, Kaislyn forced herself into the street again. Her body shook with exhaustion. She tried to concentrate on how solid the street was, tried to make herself walk as though nothing had happened. A staggering drunk was having as much trouble as she was, slipping over his own moving cobblestones. He took a more cheerful approach to the challenge, singing as he slithered and stumbled.

  The drunk tripped over his feet and fell into Kaislyn, knocking her hat off. Sweaty, dirty arms flailed around her and Kaislyn tried to push him upright and out of her way.

  Too late did she recognize the clean-shaven, round face as the man’s drunkenness suddenly vanished and he regained his balance, hands fastening around her neck. “Gotha,” he growled in her ear, voice clear and articulate, no longer drunk.

  “Blazes, Falan!” She scrabbled at the city captain’s hands. No, strangulation wasn’t sharp either. Falan transferred his hold, enveloping her in a smothering body hold.

  “Do you really want to keep resisting?” he asked.

  “No,” she choked, going limp in his grasp.

  Falan loosened his grip. “Good. I didn’t relish dragging you kicking and screaming.”

  Kaislyn twisted just enough to flash him a bright smile. “I would never do something so undignified.” Filling her lungs with air, she screamed that she was being kidnapped by a slave dealer, kicked Falan hard in the shins, and ran.

  Straight into the guards he’d posted.

  A key rattled in the cell door and it opened, flooding the tiny room with torchlight. Kaislyn blinked her eyes to clear them as Falan entered. It was barely big enough for the both of them, but it was clean. It was rumored that Falan made his guards clean the cells as punishment for various infractions. Considering who was kept in these things, it couldn’t be a very pleasant task.

  She glared at Falan. He’d gloated far more than she thought was necessary. When they found the packet of diamonds in her pocket, she hadn’t worried about it too much. But then Falan announced she wasn’t just a thief but the arsonist who had blown up the fish district and who ran with the Thief-king.

  That worried Kaislyn. How had he figured that out? Only she and Jaden knew...

  And Kam.

  Kaislyn cursed silently. Supplementing their gang with Kam’s after the fish district was one of the few arguments she’d ever lost with Jaden, but Jaden wanted Kam’s unique skill of creating flawless diversions. It was small consolation that she’d been right never to trust Kam. It wouldn’t be easy to convince Jaden though. He and Kam had become close friends.

  Falan was talking. Kaislyn forced herself back to the present.

  “I might be willing to cut you a deal.” Falan’s voice was hard and sympathetic at the same time. He knew just what sort of attitude to strike with the criminals he caught. “You’re young. You got swept up in the excitement of being part of a gang. Of feeling like you belong somewhere. I get that. And at your age, it seems a pity to lock you away. I’m willing to help you, but you have to help me.”

  Kaislyn folded her arms and kept glaring.

  “I don’t really believe you were the one to set the fish district on fire,” Falan assured her. “A pretty little thing like you? Someone else convinced you to take the fall for that, I’d guess. Told you it would make you really important in the gang?”

  Kaislyn choked on a laugh. She hadn’t been treated that way since the Fourth City when she really had been young and stupid. “I was as much a part of anything as... as anything!” she managed.

  “Of course you were,” Falan said. If he tried to pat her on the shoulder she really would burst out laughing.

  He didn’t and Kaislyn struggled to regain control of herself. She let her body droop and pinched the inside of her arm until her eyes watered again. “I don’t want to stay here. If... if I help you, you’ll let me out?”

  “Sure. Absolutely.”

  Kaislyn pinched herself harder to keep from spitting out a sarcastic comment. That was the point. Let him think she really was a token member of Jaden’s gang.

  “I’ll have some dinner brought and then we’ll continue this chat, shall we?”

  A little rich food in a scared girl’s stomach to comfort her and loosen her tongue. Kaislyn nodded and ducked her head a little, pretending to hide her tears while making sure he saw that she was crying. “I don’t want to stay here,” she said as pathetically as she could.

  “Help me out and you won’t,” Falan said, a bit more sympathetically this time and left her alone.

  Kaislyn wiped away the rest of the tears. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince Falan she didn’t know anything of value. Maybe convince him she was just a carrier? If she acted like she knew a lot but then made sure all her information was useless? If she chattered a lot. Blazes, she knew what useless chatter was like from the Fourth City. How mind-numbingly annoying it got. She could do this. She had to.

  She thought of Jaden’s dark, narrow face. Was he worrying about her, wondering why she hadn’t met up with him? How long before he heard she’d been caught?

  An old man brought her dinner. Kaislyn was surprised to see such a frail person as a guard, let alone a cell guard. He bent with a creak of joints and set the tray on the floor. His face sagged with wrinkles. Kaislyn didn’t know whether to be insulted Falan assigned an old guard or not. Maybe she should just try to run now. It wouldn’t take much to overpower him. Or had Falan done this on purpose? To see if she did try to escape?

  Kaislyn leaned against the far wall of the cell. “I didn’t know Falan had such old guards,” she said, deciding she would insult him instead.

  The guard straightened. “I didn’t know you had decided to run with one of the worst gangs in the city, Kaislyn.”

  Kaislyn recoiled at the sound of her name. The old man smiled at her. “You don’t remember me, do you? You must have been eight the last time I saw you. You’d broken your ankle if I recall correctly. Silas,” he added. “Former captain of the City Guard. I was visiting when Falan brought you in.”

  For the first time Kaislyn was afraid. She’d been annoyed and worried. But this... this was actual trouble. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’ve already done it. You should have spilled names as soon as you were brought in.” He closed the door softly behind him.

  Kaislyn looked at the stew and fresh bread on the tray. With Silas’ threat echoing in her cell, she wasn’t hungry. She slid down the wall into a squat and tried to think of something she could do. Anything. Anything at all. Her mind was blank of escape plans, and all too full of what—who—was coming for her.

  Far sooner than she would have liked, the door was unlocked to reveal Falan. It took him a moment to locate her in the dark corner.

  “Thought I’d escaped?” Kaislyn inquired, standing and stretching.

  “It crossed my mind.”

  “Nah,” said Kaislyn in a tone that made Falan stiffen. “I wouldn’t want to get you into any trouble.”

  “Let’s go,” Falan ordered.

  She didn’t move right away. “What happened to those deals you spoke of earlier?”

  “The sooner I’m rid of you, the better.”

  “You’re the one who caught me. I was perfectly happy where I was. You brought this upon yourself.”
<
br />   “No,” snapped Falan, rounding so suddenly on her that she took a step backwards. “You did it with your own actions and I won’t be blamed by you for doing my job!” He didn’t quite dare grab her arm and drag her, Kaislyn saw his hands twitching to do so, but he did give her a sharp prod forward.

  Kaislyn set a slow, sauntering pace, each step down the hall and up the stairs, she knew, driving Falan crazier. It wasn’t a nice thing to do; Falan was a good city captain and Kaislyn liked him. At least, she had until he’d caught her and ruined everything.

  The main room, dark and cool from stone floor and walls, was crowded with guards. Every guard in the city would know what she looked like now, she thought. Silas stood near the doorway to the cells and shook his head at her when she passed.

  In the center of the room stood a tall, broad-shouldered man whose hair was more grey than not, eyes a bright, glittering green. He was dressed in plain, dusty clothes of muted browns and greys, a battered sword at his waist.

  The large number of guards made more sense now. Everyone would want a glimpse at one of the Phoenix Queen’s famous Royal Assassins.

  Kaislyn halted in front of Drazan. She dug her hands deep into her pockets and slouched a little as she looked up at him. “Hello, darling,” she drawled.

  Without a word, her father grabbed her by the neck and pushed her out of the guardhouse.

  3 | The Mountains

  Before the Phoenix Queen claimed the Five Ruling Cities during the Second Bloody Year, the cities were controlled by independent, bickering lords, each focused on making their own city the most powerful. The priests, weary of the fighting, petitioned the gods for help, and on a still, moonless night, the gods answered.

  In the deepest, darkest part of the night, the Royal Assassins appeared. Appointed to prepare the cities for the Phoenix Queen’s return, they slew anyone who might be a threat to her rule, leaving the corpses to line the main roads, their blood in jars at every intersection.