Daughter of Lies and Ruin

by Jo Spurrier

Kara stepped forward, her sword sliding out of its sheath. ‘You? You son of a bitch, you told them?’

  In the horse’s body, Aleida tossed her head with a sharp snort. But I was already lunging forward to catch Kara’s arm. ‘Hey! No killing the messenger.’

  She all but snarled at me, but she let me pull her back and took her hand from her sword. ‘Why?’ she said. ‘Why would you betray him? You were his friend! At least, you used to be.’

  Toro hung his head. ‘It was the drink. Look, lass, I know what kind of man I am. I lose my mind when I drink, I always have. It’s the reason I fell in with this cursed troupe in the first place, there was a noose awaiting me for what I did back home. And those bastards knew it, they knew there was nothing I wouldn’t do for the grog. Your da was the only one who could keep a lid on things, he’d knock me on my arse if I was drunk, and keep them off my back if I was sober. But if he left me with them, I knew they’d be the death of me. Or I’d be the death of some poor sod in the wrong place at the wrong time. I couldn’t take it. And the other lads, they could see something was amiss. So they got me drinking, and I spilled my guts. And then they got me to tell them what I swore I never would. I told them where you lived. So they told your father he had to stay, or they’d cut his throat on the spot, and then go pay you a visit. And then we saw this moll on the road, and Grinner hit on the idea to make him prove his loyalty.

  ‘I knew it wasn’t right. I knew it straight away. She wasn’t normal, you see. She was dressed all in rags and scraps of leather, no proper clothes at all, and with these queer marks all over her skin. And those horses — two beautiful white horses, without a stitch of harness on them. It was just off. I knew it was going to go wrong, but all the others went down to nab her, so I went too, and then it all went to hell.’

  Kara was still as stone, listening, her hands white-knuckled as they gripped her arms, folded across her chest. ‘And then you escaped,’ she said, her voice hoarse. ‘But you didn’t take him with you.’

  ‘I couldn’t,’ he said, pleading in Aleida’s voice. ‘He was one of the big beasts, I don’t know which one, I didn’t see. All the big ones were chained up away from the gates. But me and the other two . . . I got the idea she didn’t think we were worth much. We barely got away as it was.’

  He slumped then, abruptly falling forward as though taken by a faint. But then an instant later Aleida was back, sweeping her hair back from her face with both hands. ‘All right, that’s enough. Dee, bring me that stick.’

  Kara was still, staring in shock as I stepped around her to help Aleida up and give her the staff. Toro stayed where he was, ears twitching, eyes showing their whites. The poor sod was probably utterly disoriented. I knew I would be.

  ‘You want some of your potion?’ I asked Aleida quietly, but she shook her head.

  ‘Just some water. Thanks, Dee,’ she said, rolling her shoulders and stretching her neck.

  I brought some for Kara, too. She looked like she needed it. She took the cup in both hands like a little child.

  Aleida drank hers as Toro heaved himself to his feet. ‘Well,’ she said to him. ‘I suppose that’s one way to get sober. Look, you won’t last out here. Maybe I can find a living for you somewhere, some kindly household that’ll treat you decent while you work for your keep. Or you could stay with the girl, if she’ll have you. It’s up to you.’

  His head low, Toro made a low nicker and turned away, his feet dragging in the dust.

  As Aleida hobbled back to the wagon, Kara lifted her head. ‘What do I do now?’

  Aleida stopped to look her over, her eyes narrow and assessing. ‘We’re moving on. You ought to think about it too.’

  Kara gaped at her. Then, her eyes filled with tears. ‘Moving on? No! You can’t!’

  Aleida turned away with a sigh.

  ‘Please!’ Kara called after her. ‘Please help me! You’re the only one who can! Look, I’m sorry about the money. I’ll find some way to get it back to you, I swear, just please help me save my father. I’ll do anything you say, just tell me what to do!’

  Shaking her head, Aleida started back towards the wagon. ‘Just walk away. There’s nothing you can do.’

  Kara recoiled like she’d been slapped in the face. ‘But . . . but you have to help me. You have to! You’re a . . . a—’

  ‘What?’ Aleida said. ‘A good witch? I never claimed to be anything of the sort. Look kid, this is not my problem. As far as I see it, those sons of bitches got what’s coming to them. If they didn’t want to get turned into beasts and used for some ritual, they shouldn’t have attacked a witch.’

  Kara looked up at her with fury, and threw the cup down at her feet. ‘You godsdamned hypocrite! Talking about my da like he’s muck on your shoe! You’re no better than he is, you sanctimonious harpy! I heard those wretched nuns gossiping about you, talking about all the things you’ve done!’

  Aleida cocked her head to study her, like she was some curious specimen that had emerged in the gardens back home. ‘Oh, it’s true. It’s all true, what you’ve heard. Listen kid, I’m going to give you some advice, though I know you don’t care to hear it. It’s a hell of a lot easier to avoid that life in the first place than it is to get in deep and claw your way out again. If you’ve got any coin stashed away, go and get it. Make your way to one of the big cities and find a sword-fighting school with a decent name. Look at you, you’ve got a pretty face, a good figure, got all your teeth — if you can fight worth a damn, the school will polish you up and get you a job as a bodyguard for some rich heiress, posing as her lady-in-waiting. You’ll be living the high life, and getting paid to boot.’

  ‘You can shove your advice up your arse!’ Kara said. ‘I’m not leaving here without him!’

  ‘Up to you, it’s your life. But there is one more thing . . .’ Aleida reached into the little pouch she carried on her belt, and pulled out a familiar thing: a little pot of shimmering ointment, and a tiny brush. ‘Give me your hand.’

  ‘I—’ Kara started, her voice dripping fury, but then her mouth snapped shut, and she thrust out her right hand.

  ‘Thank the gods for mind control,’ Aleida muttered, opening the jar and swirling the brush in the ointment. ‘Personally I wouldn’t touch that sod Holt with a ten-foot pole; but you gotta do what you gotta do. This,’ she said, painting a symbol onto the back of Kara’s hand, ‘will at least stop any other little souls getting tangled up in this mess. It’s good for one year, all right? And that’s assuming he hasn’t already put a baby in your belly. If he did, it’s too late for the ward to stop it, but the nuns back at Haven will take you in if it comes to that.’

  The moment she finished, Kara snatched her hand away. ‘Screw the nuns,’ she said. ‘And screw you.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah. Good luck.’

  In a flood of tears, Kara turned and bolted into the forest.

  I frowned after her, biting my lip. My heart ached for her. I barely remembered my father, but I couldn’t begin to count the number of nights I’d lain sleeplessly running over and over what memories I did have of him. I couldn’t imagine how Kara must feel, finally learning the truth after worrying for so long, only to be told to give him up for dead — and to hear it so heartlessly, too.

  On the other hand, the last thing I wanted was for Aleida to decide she had to go and confront this witch, whoever she was.

  I felt torn in two, but there was one thing clear. Aleida seemed quite content with her decision, but Kara was distraught. ‘I’m going after her,’ I said to Aleida. ‘I need to make sure she’s all right.’

  She nodded, as though she’d expected as much. ‘Go on, then. Just keep your wits about you.’

  CHAPTER 6

  Kara whirled when she heard me behind her, her hand flying to the hilt of her sword. ‘What do you want?’

  ‘I just wanted to make sure you’re okay,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry we didn’t have better news for you.’

  She wiped tears away with an angry hand, and sniffed.<
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  ‘What are you going to do?’ I said.

  ‘I am not giving up on him! I don’t care what he’s done or what you think of him, he’s my father and I love him! I’m not giving up without a fight!’

  ‘Of course not!’ I said. ‘I never thought you would. Look, Aleida . . . she never had a father. She doesn’t know what it’s like to lose one.’

  ‘And you do?’ Kara snapped.

  ‘Yeah, I do. My da died when I was little. It was lockjaw, there was an accident while he was cutting wood.’

  ‘Oh,’ she said. Hesitantly, she turned away from me, heading back towards the bandits, but glancing back to see if I’d follow.

  ‘I take it your ma’s not around?’ I said.

  ‘She died a few years back. Da was away, and she just got sick one day. Real sick. Now it’s just him and me.’

  ‘What’s his name?’ I was trying to remember the woodcuts I’d seen back in town, and the names Toro had stammered out last night in the few brief moments he’d been back in human form.

  ‘Brent,’ she said. ‘His name’s Brent. But that’s not what the others called him, they had nicknames they used out on the road, and that’s what they put on that stupid wanted notice that was plastered all over town. There they called him Brute. Picture didn’t look nothing like him, either.’

  ‘It must be hard, living out there all on your own.’

  Kara lifted her chin in a way that reminded me of Aleida. ‘I’m used to it. It’s just the way it’s always been.’

  ‘So what’s your plan? How are you going to get the men to help you if the money’s gone?’

  She slowed, and stopped, wrapping her arms around herself. ‘I don’t know. If it was just Holt I could manoeuvre him to do what I want, but these outsiders have thrown everything awry. They want Holt to be their face-man, like Da was for his troupe. They can’t show themselves much, what with those tattoos, your mistress was right about that. But Holt can talk to anyone.’ She sighed, then, rubbing her eyes. ‘Even if I can’t turn Da back, if I can get him out alive, that’s better than nothing. I don’t care about leaving, if I get him out we can stay here forever. We just need to find a way to get rid of those outsiders.’ She gave me a dark glance from under beetled brows. ‘Is your mistress really going to walk away from all this?’

  I shrugged. ‘I honestly don’t know what she’ll do. This morning she swore blind that we were going to check on you and find the money and then be on our way, but now . . .’

  ‘Check on me?’ Kara interrupted, heat in her voice. ‘I don’t need—’

  ‘The nuns told Lord Belmont and his men that you’d been dragged off by the bandits,’ I said. ‘But that’s how you wanted it to look, isn’t it? Not a bad idea. If Belmont knew for certain that you’d opened the doors he’d put your face up on the wanted poster beside your father’s.’

  She was silent at that for a long moment. ‘They lied for me? I never expected that.’

  ‘I think they know you’re in a tough spot,’ I said. ‘We do, too. Really.’

  ‘You’re not as heartless as your bitch of a mistress, then,’ Kara said, and she rubbed a weary hand across her eyes and tipped her face up to the sky. ‘Oh, Lord and Lady,’ she groaned. ‘Why couldn’t Da have escaped instead of that wretch Toro? I can’t believe he’d do that to Da. They used to be friends!’

  ‘Did you know him well? I thought your da kept you away from the others.’

  ‘Most of them, yeah, but Toro . . . He used to have a wife, and a daughter. Her name was Abby, and she was my best friend when I was a kid. We were born in the same summer, and we didn’t have to worry about keeping secrets since Abby’s da was in the business, too. They’d come to stay with us, sometimes, when da and Toro were away for work. His missus had family over in Lord Haversleigh’s lands, that’s where they lived most of the time; but one day there was a fire . . . half the village burned, or so I heard. I never saw him much after that. Ma told me he crawled into a bottle after they buried them, and never really came out again.’

  ‘Oh, Lord and Lady, that poor fellow.’

  Kara gave me a sharp look, opening her mouth to retort — but then there came a sound that made us both fall still. Twigs cracking, somewhere close.

  Kara’s eyes were wide as she met mine, and she reached for her sword-hilt.

  A crash in the dry bushes behind me made me turn — and then something hit me hard from behind, sending me staggering. As I fell, an arm snaked around me, pulling me upright again and clamping me firmly against a man’s chest, as solid as a tree-trunk. I tried to kick at him, but it was like trying to kick at a boulder, even with my hobnailed boots. He didn’t seem to notice.

  With a curse, Kara drew her sword. ‘Let her go!’

  I knew without looking around that it was one of the tattooed bandits, and I felt him laugh as the rest of the thugs emerged from the bushes to surround us. Silently, I cursed my teacher. Hadn’t she said they wouldn’t be able to move so quickly again without a rest? Then, with chagrin, I realised that one of the bandits hadn’t used his burst of speed back on the road, after all.

  ‘We should take her as well,’ one of the others said, nodding to Kara. ‘That idiot Holt will soon fall into line when he knows we’ve got his girl.’

  ‘Might be best,’ another agreed. ‘Don’t want her telling the witch just where her little bird has vanished to. Let her think the lass’s run off.’

  I went for my knife, but before I could get to it the bandit caught my wrist and forced my arm up, grasping it in the same hand that kept me pressed against his chest. Then he plucked my dagger from my belt and threw it down in the dust.

  I had an idea, then, thinking of the day before when Holt had swung himself up on the seat beside me. I twisted in the bandit’s grasp, reaching for the wand that hung by my thigh.

  He tightened his grip, squeezing me so hard I could barely breathe, and as my hand found the wand he found it too, crushing my fingers against the crystal at its tip with bruising force.

  I felt power pulse, and with a blinding flash of light and a crack like thunder he was hurled away from me in a stinking cloud of scorched wool and hair.

  With a ragged breath I pulled my wand free and stooped to snatch up my knife. That was Aleida’s working, the one that meant only she or I could touch my wand. When she’d done it, I’d taken it as a defence against pickpockets, and though she’d never bothered to explain otherwise, the look she’d given me when I’d said as much now made sense.

  As I moved closer to Kara she swung around, so we were back to back. ‘Looks like you boys might want to rethink this whole thing,’ Kara said to them. ‘Looks to me like you’ve found more than you can handle.’

  The men ignored her words, and drew their swords. The one who’d grabbed me picked himself up, shaking his head like a dog. ‘Make sure you take them alive, lads. Don’t have to be in one piece.’

  I gripped my weapons tight and glanced upwards. How long before Aleida would come to check on us? I doubted we were close enough for her to hear the scuffle.

  In the clear sky I saw the eagle’s dark shape, much lower than before, clearly a bird now and not a distant dark speck. I looked away, but an instant later something dragged my gaze back.

  Poised above us in blinding white and sun-lit gold was a magnificent creature — wings as long as our wagon, eagle’s talons outstretched. It must have been soaring too high above us for me to hear the beats of its wings or to see its shadow outlined upon the ground, but now it was diving down from the heavens like an avenging angel — a griffin, swooping down upon us.

  Every instinct within me screamed at me to run. Those eyes were full of ancient hunger, and they were fixed right on me.

  I backed into Kara, pushing her off balance, and she cursed at me. ‘Bloody hells, Dee.’

  ‘Run!’ I yelled, stepping around her, and bolted, not caring a whit about the bandits and their swords.

  Above us, the griffin shrieked, like a demon fresh
ly released from hell. I felt the buffeting of the wind as it spread those vast wings, beating the air to chase after me, and I knew how a hare felt when a hawk swooped down upon it.

  The bandits moved to intercept me, but the sight of the griffin tailing me made them falter. I tried to dodge around them, but I’d forgotten what Aleida had said about their marks — enhanced reflexes, was that how she put it? The nearest of the bandits moved like a striking snake, grabbing me by the arm and swinging me around to his side.

  But he hadn’t reckoned on the griffin’s bulk, or its speed. With a twist of its wings it changed course and slammed into both of us, driving us down to the ground. Those huge talons closed around the bandit’s shoulders, and he cried out in pain as the creature’s enormous bill-hook of a beak gaped wide above his head.

  Squirming with all my strength, I managed to bring up my knife and wand to cross them in a ward, a bubble of force, just as the griffin’s beak snapped closed. I hadn’t given a thought to the bandit above me, but the shield saved him as well as the beak slid harmlessly off the impervious shell.

  Then, with a screech of anger, the griffin pulled away. The others had regrouped to attack its hindquarters, and it turned to slash at them with sickle-sized talons.

  I shoved the bandit off me, and tensed when I felt someone grab my shoulders — but it was Kara, dragging me up. ‘Come on, run!’ she screamed at me, and together we took off, heading for the nearest cover, a huge, sprawling tree. It wouldn’t help us much against the bandits, but it would keep the griffin from swooping down upon us. ‘What in the hells is that thing?’ Kara demanded as we ran.

  ‘They’ve got one at the tavern back in the village,’ I said. ‘Have you been to see it?’

  ‘It’s a fake,’ she said. ‘Those things are always fakes, Da says.’

  ‘This one’s not,’ I said, glancing back. With powerful strokes of its huge wings, the griffin was lifting off the ground again, trying to escape the men and their swords. One man was lying wounded and bloody in the dust.

  ‘Can you hide us or something?’