by Kris Schnee
She smiled, though there was an ambivalent droop to her tail. "I was just in the neighborhood. Wasn't the Lord's fault I got caught up in this mess."
Since they'd already lost the element of surprise, Dominic pitched camp for the evening and studied the map. He brought Rose and Perrin into his command tent along with Jakob, and Jakob's wolf. The ex-Servant had said little in the last few days, too caught up in improving his magic.
Dominic said, "An army can't break through, but a man can. When I was first there I ducked into a drainage tunnel for the great Seaflower well, and saw the streams radiating from that to the fields. That means there are multiple water routes into the city."
Jakob looked skeptical. "With metal grates, presumably."
"Yes, but that's not the end of the world. What's important is that it gets me past the Flower Walls and the actual city walls."
"You mean yourself? If there's sneaking to be done, pick someone that can fight a battle without shouting 'look at me'."
Dominic blushed.
Perrin rolled his eyes. "You can't just throw open the gates and win. I would wreck the Seaflower. Cut off their water source."
Rose said, "They depend on that thing, right? Probably works like the mine-draining vines back home, pulling water up. Could probably snuff it like a candle, but you'd want to undo that later."
Dominic said, "You're talking about cutting off the water supply to a whole city!"
Perrin smacked the table. "You're right. Too cruel. Let's just stab people." He saw Dominic's glare and grinned. "No, seriously, if you want to minimize the harm, cut off the head. The thing they depend on. Then they'll have to surrender. It's how the whole country works. Ideally you'd just go after the Boundless One and end this in one round. Watch the Servants flop around like dying fish the moment they stop getting orders. Ha! Or from what you've said, maybe they'll all just sit around in that nice dungeon of theirs and fail to notice the revolution outside."
Dominic paced, thinking. "I know people in there, so I need to go." Maybe there was some way to talk them into giving in, with Mithraic troops on the way.
Jakob said, "But you need my skill if you want to disable the Seaflower in a way they can't fix quickly. Rose might be able, but she's a bit conspicuous."
Dominic sighed. "Call in Piter." The man who'd struck Dominic during his rant at the troops had proven to be a good officer. "He'll be in command while Jakob and I are gone." Perrin scowled at the thought of taking orders from Baccatans, but remained silent.
* * *
He took a nap in preparation for a night invasion. He dreamed of using his powers to shred a towering, rotten old house that swayed in the breeze and blotted out the stars. As the broken timbers whirled away or exploded into sawdust, he saw a frightened woman cowering in the wreckage, suddenly exposed to the cold. Dominic paused for a moment and warned her to get out, quickly, but she wouldn't move. He woke up with only a vague memory of dread.
* * *
Dominic and Jakob decided to pose as Citizens, ash-marked and on foot. They had to walk slowly, by night, to make a wide arc around the city to the south. They got around the Flower Walls to the Newmorning River, where they'd have the best chance of sneaking in. Wheat fields gave them some cover.
Jakob's wolf sniffed the air. Dominic said, "What's she telling you?"
"I don't know, yet. Sir Marion says that over time we'll have better understanding. Anything dangerous, Lupa? She says no, I think."
They heard running water and soon found the dark stripe of the river, where it converged from several irrigation streams. Exposed rocks lined the riverbed and forced it into shape to correct for natural drift.
"She smells wildlife," Jakob whispered. They inched along upstream for fear of patrols or watchful farmers. A few halfhearted imitations of the Flower Walls loomed at intervals to the west. "Doesn't smell like the loyalist army's right here either."
One of the streams ran through an obviously sturdy grating in the mighty walls ahead, but the next one they checked came from underground. "Our best bet," said Dominic. The land rose slightly to their north, so that Seaflower probably let this stream pour beneath the streets and out through this little cave. "Do I want to know what your friend smells in the river?" There was a reason some of the businesses advertised that they had the "first water".
Jakob made a face. "It's not that bad. I'd rather not think about it." The wolf seemed not to mind.
The three of them approached the stream's cave and ducked to enter. They heard their own breathing echo off the mossy stone around them. Dominic lifted a few arrows to hang in front of him, and Jakob dug out an amber piece to light.
A pair of eyes flashed like coins in front of them. Dominic flung a dart out in an impulsive, frightened attack, then realized it wasn't a man watching them. Jakob's amber gleamed and showed them a small, frightened animal cowering behind a rock.
"Ah, an otter!" Jakob said. "Looks like a young one. Lucky thing for the critter that you held back. Although Lupa's plainly asking if we can eat it."
Dominic blinked. "Held back?" He spotted his dart lying on the stone floor, still faintly glowing to the magic-sense even though he'd released his hold. He suddenly pictured himself getting arrowed in a counterattack by the creature, as ridiculous as that would be, and laughed. The animal hissed and retreated farther up the dark tunnel.
"I didn't drop the dart myself. Jakob, have you heard of an animal using the Weave?"
"You mean that wasn't you? There was some talk of it when I met Faas the dolphin-keeper, but there was no proof." The soft gold light of the amber wavered as he used the same hand to scratch his ears. "No reason why they couldn't adapt a little to it, in basic ways, in the centuries magic's been around. Other than, you know, that being a heresy against Mithraic doctrine about magic being a human thing."
"This isn't the best time to be investigating magic theory."
"No, no, this could be important." Jakob jostled him. "Just think. You could get a loyal otter officer."
Dominic scoffed. At least this thing's presence meant there probably were no vagrant tunnel-dwellers to deal with. He let the spell of animal-calming blow through the Weave's knots. It was less a command to stay still for a hunter's arrow, than a smoothing of one's own soul, to suggest a lack of danger. Dominic slowly pulled his dart back and stowed it, then crept farther up the tunnel. The otter splashed ahead. "We have a scout, at least. Could you have your wolf hang back?"
They reached what they'd feared, a set of iron bars blocking the already narrow, low passage. The otter squeezed between them and spun, glaring at them with beady, flashing eyes. Water ran around its feet and splashed down a small ledge.
The dim light let Dominic see a ragged gash across the creature's side. Not fresh, so not his doing. "I could probably help with that." He reached slowly out with his mind, projecting the little-practiced spell meant to brush against a creature's small spirit. He felt... curiosity, maybe, as though it was aware what he was doing.
Dominic briefly forgot his cares. The little animal stared at him from behind bars that it could easily escape, yet used to hide from the man who could teach it, heal it, show it a new world. It didn't know any better! He grew frustrated with the standoff. Maybe he could yank it through, and help it before the thing foolishly retreated deeper into the darkness.
He sighed. That wasn't really what he'd ever wanted to do, to anyone, and it seemed he'd be doing it anyway before long. "This isn't the time to be searching for familiars," he said. He lowered himself to sit in the dirty tunnel, flattening himself against the wall. "Hang back like I'm doing. Let it escape past us, if it wants."
Jakob reluctantly sat too, and held his wolf tight. After a long pause, the otter leaped out from between the bars and sprinted past them, not stopping until it was out of sight.
But then, once it was decently safe, it turned back to look.
Dominic smiled.
A few minutes of healing later, the animal was followi
ng them warily, keeping its distance from Jakob's wolf. Dominic felt slightly more optimistic about his chances in Seaflower, despite the bars ahead. "With that distraction out of the way, I think there's a lock on the other side."
Jakob leaned in. "I see. Hold the light for me. I've done this sort of thing. Small enough that it can't be using more than one or two tumblers."
Dominic watched him work, molding sturdy bits of wood into two rods for poking into the lock from the wrong side. Jakob explained as though it were a magic lecture. "With better tools and angles I'd just explore and make a key. But in the old days I learned to jiggle one tumbler to the right height and then twist to hold it there while I work on the others..."
"Is it that bad, there?" said Dominic. "I've only visited once."
Jakob worked. "The food taxes, the senseless allocations... I once saw meat on sale that... that..." He went back to his work and slammed the lock open with such a clang that Dominic felt sure they'd be discovered, but nothing happened. Jakob pushed the grate open. "I was willing to do anything to get out, even become one of the masked goons. Not that I had much choice. But then I did have the choice of whether to spend my life hurting other people, just because it was the way of things."
"We should go there, then. Once we've taken Seaflower."
"You mean that? At this point we're talking about overthrowing the entire State one piece at a time."
"We might as well."
"I agree." Jakob looked down the long tunnel to the outside world. "I think I'm with Perrin on this, somewhat. I've already helped kill people that probably didn't deserve it, because they were helping the Baccatan army and there was no other way. I believe you can talk sense into some of them, but... if you can't, we should do whatever it takes. No more than it takes, mind you. I think Perrin would be happy to just kill everyone."
"Right. One step at a time, before we burn our way across the continent. Let's survive tonight." Dominic smiled and tried to sound confident. But underneath his immediate worry was the sense that he still wasn't sure where "whatever it takes" would lead him.
* * *
Dominic's legs ached from scuttling through the tunnel. He stopped every so often to listen, but heard only fleeing rats. Jakob halted and held him back. "Cleaner water. We're near the source. And I think I see it."
Dominic strained to see. The passage felt wider ahead, with a breeze. An irregular dark shape loomed there. "Roots?"
"And a pit." Jakob eased forward into the larger, root-choked room, and found enough space to stand and stretch. Wow. Look at the Weave."
Dominic saw a fountain of light. The entire massive tangle of roots formed a single grand trunk that pulled many waters out of darkness and into the world of men. The drone of water that they'd been hearing was louder here, where the Seaflower worked tirelessly to nourish an entire city. "The work of the Boundless One!" The glittering emerald work of the Servant of All extended far, far below them, tearing through earth and stone by His will. Dominic felt faint dread, like the mightiest ant realizing the existence of boots.
Jakob nodded, but kept staring. "It seems a little off, ill-maintained. Not guarded, though. So, I doubt they expected a good mage to be willing to sully his hands sneaking in here. What do we do?" He cracked his knuckles. The wolf posed vainly nearby.
Dominic studied the intricate pattern of the water-hauling root. "Back when we reached the Righteous Fury, the original plan had been to wreck it. Wouldn't have been that hard. But we saved it and turned it to our advantage, instead. If we just broke this thing, we'd be killing the city, not liberating it."
Jakob looked doubtful. "Maybe Rose could rig up a replacement after they surrender."
"Would you be willing to try another gamble with me, and see if we can take the city intact?"
"You're talking about going up to the streets! Surrounded by people who have reason to hate us. Quite possibly with guards patrolling this instant." Jakob leaned against a side-root and made sure his wolf kept away from the apparently bottomless pit. Even the otter looked skeptically at Dominic. "I think it'd make more sense if one of us stayed here, ready to break this thing and run if that's the only option."
Dominic thought of his days in Seaflower, when he first learned to teach and study, to stand up against petty injustice, to brush the Weave's threads and feel the world tremble in reply. He didn't want to repay all that with thirst and suffering. "Then I'll go. I know a Citizen who might listen to me. And... maybe an innkeeper's girl. And a few merchants."
"Slim set of allies, Dom. I'm thinking we're best off doing what it takes to capture the city, and fixing it afterward."
"The people don't deserve that. I want to treat them with justice. 'Let each reap as he sows.'"
"Fool!" Jakob turned away, shaking his head. "If you're intent on it, I can wait until nightfall tomorrow, I guess, if you don't make contact. Can't sneak out of here by day anyhow. Want to take along an otter for good luck?"
They explored the root area and found an old maintenance door. Jakob listened and frowned, then went back to Dominic to whisper, "Someone on the other side. A vagrant you can pay off, maybe, but maybe not."
"There's another way up."
"What? No! You can't be serious."
"Can you open up that side root a little? It should be wide enough to fit through."
Jakob grumbled but did it, widening the gap. "You'll have at most a few hours before dawn, depending on how long we've been down here. Be quiet, keep to the shadows, and blend in. You have Baccatan coins from the baggage train? Darts? Good. And you brought something for me to read, right?"
Dominic looked back at him, startled. Jakob stifled a laugh. "Sorry. But don't let me die from suspense or boredom, all right?"
Dominic patted him on the shoulder, then got pulled into a hug. "Slim chance of the second one for either of us, my friend. We've come too far for that. Wish me luck."
16. A Prince Seeking Justice
Dominic held his breath and climbed into the Seaflower root. The suction yanked him the rest of the way in before he was quite ready. The water chilled him and shoved him, banging him against the wooden walls. Oh Three, oh King, what if they got too narrow? But just as his lungs felt like they'd burst, he spilled out of the top at a familiar fountain. The water pressure threw him to one side so that he skidded on wet rocks, soaked and shivering and completely undignified. And then an otter landed on his head.
"You were supposed to stay below!" Dominic whispered. He fell silent and looked around. No torch-lit guards. Most fighting men were probably away at the Flower Walls or this city's actual west wall. Dominic stood up, dripping, and limped into the shadow of the nearest building to rub his aching leg and shoulders. He'd brought nondescript Baccatan clothing for this mission, so it was just a matter of getting dry. He rubbed his forehead and saw the wet, ashen "brand" he'd just helped smear away. He cursed. It seemed he was a Bound again today. Hopefully they were as lax as he remembered about that. He could make a "trainee" amulet with the right materials...
"Psst!" He whirled and spotted a huddled figure in the shadows, saying, "You hiding out from curfew?"
Dominic nodded, reaching slowly for his belt. "I've got some copper for you if you can keep a secret." If not, he had darts.
"Doesn't bother me." The alley man took Dominic's gift of a few coins. "City's gone crazy. Where you from?"
"Out by the west fields."
"No wonder. Hear it's dryer than an old maid out there. You know, the ash trick only gets you so far if you run off."
Dominic rubbed away the rest of the mark. "Is there a better way?"
"Nah. It's a rat's life. But the guards don't much care so long as you don't flaunt that you're on the loose. We do some of the odd jobs, carrying nightsoil and cleaning up bones and garbage from the streets."
Dominic sighed in relief. "How about talking to the... I think it's the Hall of Law? About a bad Citizen, I mean. Can you walk in and complain if you're, you know, not supposed to
be here?"
"Wouldn't make trouble if I were you, but they do let people walk in, in the mornings. You say you're 'representing' your Citizen." The man chuckled. "Thought about doing that when I first got here, but changed my mind. Why're you all wet?"
Dominic figured the bum had missed his entrance. "I landed wrong. How about I get us some food once it's light, so I can see this place? Then I'll take my chances with the Hall."
The man let him huddle in the alley for a few unpleasant hours. Slowly, merchants converged on the Upwell Market plaza around the fountain. Dominic scanned their faces, and grinned when he spotted a familiar cheese seller.
He strode out of the alley, feeling stiff and forcing himself not to look around or let his heart explode with worry. "How's the cheese supply this morning?"
"Running short, but it's all fresh. Should be getting in the first goat cheese soon." He sold Dominic some of the cheaper stuff. "Do I know you?"
"Would you believe that Servants don't always wear masks?" Dominic murmured. Maybe he could get some information with the meal.
"Mm. True or not, you've picked a bad time to show up. Any news from outside?"
"Western soldiers rolled right past the border. They must think they have a way to get past the defenses. Wouldn't want to be living on a farm there, right now. A lot of good men haven't come back."
The merchant glanced toward Dominic's feet, making them both notice that the blasted otter had followed him over here. "I don't see a bond on you," the man said. "Whatever you're doing here, I wouldn't parade that thing around. Looks bad for a Bound and conspicuous for a Servant."
Dominic nodded, cursing to himself. "Do you think the city's safe?"
"No. Too much bad blood between the lead Citizens. Plus the water's been running a little low lately, and nobody's saying why."
Dominic tried to look troubled. "Thank you again." He slipped the merchant a silver coin and went back to the alley man.
He shared the cheese. "Could you maybe hang onto my pet for a little while?" Dominic managed to keep the critter calm enough to sprawl in the alley and not stalk him for the moment. He had more important things to worry about.