On the Matter of the Red Hand

by JM Guillen

“I thought I might amble toward Temple Courtyard when I heard your dulcet tones.”

  “Temple Courtyard, eh? Might I step that way with you, or should I be on my merry?”

  “Come on, I could use someone with a spare thought in their head.” I gave him a grin. “You can help me keep out an eye for just a one.”

  “Alright, Sallie,” he scoffed and headed in the proper direction for the old Courtyard. “Just try to not end up unconscious in alley, or doped by men who are after your purity. I’ve already seen that one this week.”

  I groaned, signaled to my good girl, and followed him.

  2

  In Temple Courtyard there stood an ironwood tree. No one knew how old it was, only that it had been there long before the Shroud fell across our land. In fact, the entire courtyard had once been a garden, but the fragmentary remnants of such things were difficult to place in the Warrens of today. Now there was only the ancient tree, a few potted flowers, and a wrought iron remembrance bench.

  This was where Wil and I chose to sit. It was a nice place, and we used it occasionally. It was comforting to relax onto the bench and watch the world go by. It wasn’t quite our table in the Masque and Moon, but without the twin distractions of amazing food and our favorite draught board, it was possible we’d actually get some work done.

  Wil ran his fingers through his sandy hair. His mouth twisted into a frown.

  “I’m glad to see you all ambulatory.” He grinned and pulled out one of Svester’s training rings. “How’s the serum treating you? Are you on the road?”

  “No. Not really.” I took off my hat and set it next to me on the bench. “So far it’s just been a lot of questions. I don’t have the clearest direction for work either. All in all, things aren’t much better than they were when I started this mess.”

  “That’s rough.” Wil threw the ring and both our birds chased after, calling and cackling to each other. “What can I do to help?”

  I ran my fingers through my hair. “I’ve uncovered a second strand. I don’t know if it has anything to do with my initial case or not.”

  Wil clicked his tongue against his teeth. “That’s annoying. However, I’m certain the serum has steered you clear of the wrong choice?” He gave his voice a hopeful lilt.

  “It’s more than just a wrong choice. I’ve uncovered the possibility that someone is taking street people: girls and women from what I understand. I can’t exactly stop and chase it, but that’s not the kind of thing I can leave alone.”

  Wil sat up and gave me a sideward glance. “I’d hate to spend an afternoon with you trying to chase down all those grateful women. I understand, however, if it’s too much for you to handle.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “My primary assignment involves the Red Hand. Santiago’s sister has gone missing, it seems. And now someone else has discovered that there were other ladies that might have gone missing as well.”

  “Do you have any leads on it at all?” Wil leaned forward in his seat. “Any direction? Someone I could talk to?”

  “No. I have an idea that they may be out toward the Remnants. I have heard that they are primarily taking young girls, perhaps some from the Havens.”

  “You’d have more luck at the Havens than I ever would.” Wil shook his head. “Not that the cantorès and orphans wouldn’t help me, but you grew up there.” He smiled. “Perhaps the only folke in the Warrens who prefer you over me.”

  “I know it. I wasn’t planning on going just yet however.”

  “I can look into it for you.” Wil mused, leaning back. “I could talk to Goodman. The man hears everything.”

  “Goodman?” I sucked air through my teeth. “I hate you doing business with that man.”

  “He has always been good to me.”

  The birds brought back the ring, but it was being held by both of them. Neither was willing to let the other have it.

  “I’m sure that Svester here is making you proud, trying to take a toy from a lady.” I emphasized the word ‘Svester.’ I liked teasing Wil about his bird’s name.

  Wil shook his head ruefully. “This again?” He looked up at the sky, grimacing. “Everyone always chooses ‘Midnight’ or ‘Storm.’ I always felt like they just needed a fecking name—that’s why I chose ‘Svester.’”

  I snorted.

  Wil looked indignant. “Svester is a perfectly respectable name. I know it’s not ‘Scoundrel’ or anything. What did Jor name his?” He thought for a moment. “‘Assassin,’ wasn’t it? For a judicar’s bird?” Wil scowled slightly. “They don’t need Sindrian travel-names.”

  I glared at him and reached for the ring. Only Svester held it now. I looked about for Scoundrel.

  “Scoundrel is a perfectly acceptable name and a queen among ravens.” As I spoke, I spotted her. I closed my eyes. The queen in question appeared to be eating street trash.

  Perfect.

  Wil took the ring from Svester and threw it again. This time he put his arm into it, and the ring soared. The birds were after it like small black darts.

  “Use Goodman if you want.” I shrugged. “I don’t have any say over your sources.”

  “I know you’re worried about me, Darla. Don’t be afraid. The big judicar knows how to take care of himself.”

  He never seemed to think that joke got old.

  Of course, Wil was right. I was coming to him for a favor. How he dealt with it was not my issue.

  Wil changed the subject. “How did you find things with Santiago?”

  “He was good enough to me. Things were a little tense for a few moments. Nothing that couldn’t be handled.”

  “I dealt with the man last week on one of his concerns. It was a potive shop, some little place over summerward of the river.”

  “Doc Thane’s place. You had mentioned.” I paused, considering what Grith had told me. “You said the place burned.”

  He nodded. “It was positively nauseating. The smoke from all his reagents was damn near toxic. People were passing out in the street.”

  “How many died?” I knew at least one had, but I wanted Wil’s take.

  “Well, Thane did, of course. The man’s corpse was horrific. All black and sticky. I could see bits of skeleton.”

  “Any innocents? Anyone get caught in it?”

  “The smoke made about two dozen people sick. We had docieren from the Physikan’s College on site. Even brought in someone from the Library of Ægedas, a man who knew about dangerous forms of alchemy.”

  Alchemy again. I thought about Booker’s words, and corpses that burned into black sand.

  “A scholar from the Library?” I was impressed.

  “He may have been one of the Scriveners for all I know. He and the docieren did more work in the building then I could have. They had to wear special masks just so they could breathe.”

  “How did Santiago take all this?”

  Wil shrugged. “He was angry but not with us. Thane’s shop was bleeding money. Seems as if Santiago had quite the investment in it. He was absolutely livid that Thane was dead.”

  A sudden thought occurred to me. “If the body was as burned as you say, are you certain it was Thane’s?”

  Wil nodded. “That was what Santiago hoped as well. He thought maybe we had the wrong man.” Wil shook his head. “We didn’t. The man had an alchemical guildmark on his hand. It wasn’t completely burned away. Neither was his hair, and we had half his face.” The ravens had returned again, and Wil took the ring and threw it. He shrugged. “Doc Thane’s dead as dead.”

  It was too bad. I didn’t know Thane well but had chatted him up on the street. He was a decent fellow, and it sounded like he died hard.

  “So…” Wil looked at me out of the corner of his eye. “Have you caught the person who dosed and left you in an alley? Or is this something I need to look out for as I make myself available for your business?”

  “I have not caught her yet,” I winced, realizing I had said too much.

  “Her?” Wil laughed.
“So it was some Warren’s doxie who was trying to take your purity?”

  “No.” I frowned at him. “It’s…”

  Lost gods, how to even begin?

  “It was an assassin. One that I am pretty certain was hired by Santiago.”

  “Wait.” Wil waved a hand in confusion. “You’re working for Santiago. Why would he hire an assassin to come after you?”

  “I don’t think she was actually after me.” I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. “I think she was after Killian Gould, and I just happened to get in the way.”

  “You aren’t telling me something.” He leaned closer to me, a wide leering grin on his face. “Oh yeah, you’re keeping something good.”

  “She…” I grit my teeth, knowing that this was high foolishness. “She seems to think that she’s the Warren’s Spider.”

  “I see.” There was a long moment of silence as Wil valiantly fought the wide smirk off his face. He cleared his throat and took a breath.

  “Come on, you can say it.”

  “No. I mean, I don’t have anything to say.”

  “Wil.”

  “I’m serious. Why, I had an assignment just the other day that dealt with Knackermen. Seems they had rooked a Gnarl out of a wish. Also, I have a continuing interest in the comings and goings of the Harridan as she slips out of the Er’meander River and steals children.”

  “I didn’t say that she was—”

  “It’s gonna be pretty tough.” He took a deep breath. “Fighting off the Warren’s Spider, when she comes to assassinate me. I’m glad you told me. You are a true friend.”

  “I hate you.” I stood.

  “I’m serious!” He raised his hands, palms forward. “Why, most judicars would never even consider that the fabled Warren’s Spider might be stalking them through the alleyways. But you, you, Thom, are unique. You think around all the corners, and that’s what I like you so much.”

  “I haven’t thought around even half of these.” I gave him a gloomy smile. “The missing women, semi-fabled assassins, those are the easier parts of this assignment.” I reached for the training ring, but Scoundrel coyly pulled it away. I grinned ruefully. “As far as I can tell, I have a couple of days left to return a young woman to her brother. I have no real idea who my Jack might be, but if I fail, the Red Marquis is going to start a guild war.”

  “Guild war?” Wil’s ears perked up. “Who with?”

  “Twilight Blades.” I paused. “I think. The Blades sent people to kill me last night and—”

  “Last night?” Wil’s eyes grew icy. “I thought you were at Ely’s last night?”

  “I was.” I gave him a weary smile. “It’s been a rough few days.”

  “Sounds like it.” Wil nodded. “Maybe you should start from the beginning.” He leaned back against the ironwood tree and threw the birds’ ring again.

  Once I started talking, the weight lifted from my shoulders.

  For the first time, a few things began to make sense.

  The Watchers in the Darkness

  Riddling, Third Bell Dusking

  Talking things out with Wil always helped more than one might think.

  For one thing, once he quieted down for longer than a nonce, he was actually a good listener. In between referring to me by women’s names and insulting the girth of my manhood, we actually came up with a reasonable plan.

  The first bit involved a certain ragman by the name of Coryn Koas. Took us a bit to find him, but Wil knew the man’s route. Once he saw us, he smiled.

  “Twice in a day?” The man grinned, showing yellowed teeth. “You honor me, sir Judicar!”

  “That’s odd,” Wil muttered beneath his breath, “I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard anyone respect you, Lilly.”

  “I wondered if I could beg a favor, Mister Koas,” I gave the man my most endearing smile. “I can promise to make it worth your time.”

  “Whatever I can do, Thom.” He smiled again and set his cart aside. “How can a humble ragman assist a judicar, hmm?”

  It took Wil and I almost a half-bell of pawing through the man’s cart for everything we needed. It was a mess. He had everything from cast-off clothing to mildew-laden scraps to bits of leather. He even had a three-cocked hat that hadn’t seen much use.

  “No.” Wil’s tone was flat. “Absolutely not.”

  “Yes.” I grinned at him. “It’s perfect.”

  “It’s ridiculous.” He shook his head. “I’m certain there’s something in the Codex… something about a professional appearance?”

  I paid him no heed. Once we had a few more items, I paid Mister Koas, and we were on our way.

  “Trust you to have ragmen cohorts.” Wil gave me a sideward smile. “This is why you can’t keep a lady-friend, you know.”

  “I have more lady-friends in a week than you do in a month!” I laughed at him, sneering a touch. “I don’t think you can speak on the matter.”

  “Doxies and dollymops.” He gave me a sarcastic grin. “And they all leave. Interesting to note.”

  “Intereeesting.” Svester drew the word out as he mimicked, and Wil laughed.

  The second part of our master plan was Wil’s hand to play. We stopped by three different guildhouses before we found what he was looking for, and I was actually quite surprised at his final choice.

  “The Warrenlights?” I gave my friend an odd look. “That seems unlikely.”

  “Faithless cur.” Wil scoffed, but gave me a smile. “Watch. Be educated as to the work of a man.”

  The Warrenlights were one of the oddest guilds in the entire borough. Almost uniformly, they were comprised of children and youths, the oldest being a few years past their ‘prenticing. Of course they had guildmen that were considerably older; one at least had to have reached their majority to sit in the Guild Senate. Still, for every one person older than twenty, there were probably five underage street rooks or orphans, specifically ones who could not find a place for themselves at the Havens. Teredon was a dangerous city, it simply made sense for them to band together for their own safety and security.

  Their name came from the fact that they tended to remain close to the Mantle, which was the Lightmen’s guildhouse in the Warrens. It just made sense, for ones so young, to remain in the best lit portion of the Warrens.

  “You’re kidding.” I shot Wil an incredulous glance as I realized who he was looking for. “How can they help?”

  “You need to learn a thing or two, sweetheart. Just watch.”

  Wil found Culpepper, the headman of the Warrenlights, playing tiles in Khalliç Square. The dark-haired young man had his opponent dead to rights and looked to be about to win a whole silver slip.

  Culpepper might have been all of twenty and four years old.

  “Public gambling, Culpepper?” Wil’s voice had a note of teasing to it. “What will the city fathers think?”

  “Well, Judicar…” Culpepper looked over his shoulder, a small smile pulling at the edge of his lips. “They’ll probably be outraged, don’t you think?” He stood, stretching his back as he did. “Why, I bet there will be rioting in the streets.”

  I chuckled, scratching the Warrens’ best bird on her head.

  “I might have some honest work for you, if you think you’re up for it.” Wil stretched nonchalantly. “Of course, it would be straight, above the board work. One might even say you’d be doing the city a favor.”

  Culpepper placed his last tile, although his winning was a moot point. His opponent growled something that sounded decidedly unsavory, glaring at the young man.

  I realized that if we hadn’t been standing here, this might have gotten ugly.

  “Good game, Cyrik.” Culpepper was positively cheery. “I’d say let’s have another, but I have business just now.”

  Cyrik was not pleased. As Culpepper scooped up the silver coin, Cyrik tipped his ratty hat at us and walked away, spitting as he did.

  “He hates losing.” The young man gave us a sunny sm
ile. “I don’t know why he doesn’t find another game.”

  “I have another game for you.” Wil paused. “It doesn’t involve rooking drunks on street corners, however.”

  “I don’t know…” Culpepper eyed me before looking back at Wil. “Honest work? Sounds like trouble.”

  “There might be a little bit of trouble to it.” Wil reached into his pocket before pulling out a black Judicar token. “My assumption was that it wasn’t anything that the Warrenlights couldn’t handle. That’s why I came to you first.”

  “Is he always this full of wind and onions?” Culpepper looked at me, a smile dancing his eyes. “Or is it only on Wending?”

  “It’s pretty much every day.” A quick twitch of my fingers, and Scoundrel seconded the notion.

  “Every day. Every every day.”

  Culpepper laughed, apparently unafraid of my sweet girl.

  “Well,” he looked shrewdly from Wil to me. “I gotta hear all the particulars, don’t I? It wouldn’t do to make choices without thinking about the ramifications for my guild folke.”

  I smiled at the thought. Culpepper might occasionally skirt the rules, but in the end, he really did some good, looking after his people.

  I liked that about him.

  Yes, it was true that occasionally one of his youths might practice a little fine-fingering in someone’s pockets or make off with a careless shopkeeper’s wares. But for the most part, Culpepper kept these things in check. He wasn’t as interested in getting rich as much as being certain that his own got fed and stayed warm.

  Wil and I tried our best to look the other way.

  For a moment, I thought of Ilsei, the young blonde girl who had been trying to sell herself in the alleyway. If she didn’t have a family, she could do far worse than Culpepper.

  Maybe I needed to make an introduction.

  “Okay, perhaps you weren’t the first choice.” Wil gave the young man a winning smile and nodded to a small pub on the far side of the square. “However, if you let me buy you a short beer at Allison’s, I’ll tell you why you and yours might be the best choice.”

  “Free short beer and the opportunity to earn a Judicar token?” Culpepper gave a small shrug. “Seems like I’d be a fool not to listen.”