by Dan Decker
When they turned onto a main thoroughfare, it became apparent that Helam was heading toward the Rarbon Palace in the middle of the city.
Melyah! So there was something else on his list tonight. Why hadn't she thought of this earlier? Many of the city’s ruling officers would be at the ball tonight. It was an indication of how tired she was to have not already put that together. She had been hoping he would flee. If that had been his plan, though, he would have returned to Paroke because he could just use the Paroke gate to exit the city.
She wasn’t anxious to learn what he had planned to do at the palace ball, considering that the last thing he had done left many people dead. When she remembered that her mother was there, she was glad that she hadn’t been able to dissuade her mother from going armed.
The thought gave her pause, though. There would be enough armed men and women at the ball that Helam would need far more than he had to take advantage of the gathering. Several men had been sent on errands. Were they going to fetch additional soldiers?
She recognized a small alley to her right. She knew where it led and more importantly, knew that several buildings down the alley connected with another small side street. If memory served, the alleys were littered with refuse and barrels, affording many different opportunities to hide. There were even several places where some of the roofs were low enough that she could climb onto the buildings and slip away by going from roof to roof.
A glance over her shoulder showed that her escorts didn’t seem to be paying attention and that their conversation had become heated. Perhaps they were feeling guilty about what they’d done to the Kopal.
One of the men looked at her, or so she thought, until she realized his gaze was aimed further forward. She followed his eyes and settled on Helam, who was towards the front, walking in silence and staring at the Rarbon Palace.
Elaire had spoken about Helam’s desire to become Ghar and enter into the Rarbon Portal as if it was something he’d wanted for years.
That was something only a Rahid could do if he passed all the tests. General Adar Rahid was the only candidate now because Rahar Abel Rahid had failed his final challenge and been unable to advance.
She growled quietly. Helam’s quest for power was going to leave her dead if she wasn’t careful.
If I get out of this alive, she thought, I’m never again going to try to convince mother that carrying a sword isn’t necessary. Nelion would take up the habit herself, even in the archives.
She snorted, especially in the archives. Rarbon was becoming more dangerous by the minute. Taking a job working for Semal, in light of the fact that the Kopal were active, was one of the most dangerous things she had ever done.
Her questions about the Hunwei were irrelevant when she was fighting to stay alive.
Whether or not the stories about the Hunwei were true, everybody acted as if they were and for all practical purposes that made them true. It would be tough, if not impossible to prove that the Hunwei had never existed anyway since the universe was said to be never ending in its size and she had no way of searching it.
So it all came back to the question: what could she do?
One thing was certain, the last few hours had established in her mind the importance of not only being armed at all times but also maintaining her skills. Her mother had mentioned she had a week to make a decision, but she didn’t need that long. She’d enlist in Korew army once this was all over and take the oaths without hesitation.
Assuming she lived. It was time to get moving.
Nelion faltered in her step, allowing the soldiers to draw closer, and heard the words “overthrow the Rahar” before they realized how close she was and stopped arguing.
“Don’t dawdle,” said the one directly behind her, grabbing her arm and pushing her forward.
It was several moments before the conversation continued, this time quieter than before but with the same amount of anxiety in their voices. She didn’t try to get close again; she’d heard all she needed. They weren’t paying attention to her.
While part of her wondered if they supported Helam and his plan or were concerned about what they might be ordered to do next; it didn’t matter, because this was the opportunity she needed.
She waited until they were turning a corner. Helam and most of the men in front of her were out of view. Taking several deep breaths in quiet succession to prepare for her run, she imagined were the men behind her would be and turned to face them.
They were so deep in their conversation that they didn’t see her at first. She took advantage of their inattention, kicked the first in the groin, and jabbed the other in the neck. The first had been the one to give her the handkerchief and she felt a stab of guilt as he crumpled in pain.
As she darted past, he grabbed her leg and she tripped, skidding to the ground.
Her heart was thudding in her ears as she rolled to her feet. At the same time, the soldier latched onto her arm. She snaked her hand to his belt, grabbed one of his daggers and plunged it into his leg. The pain must have been excruciating, but he didn’t call out; a quiet high-pitched groan escaped his lips as he let go of her arm and tried to push her away.
Helam had given orders to maintain silence and the look on his face had conveyed that he would punish anybody breaking the order. Given what Helam had just done with the Kopal, it didn’t take much imagination to make the soldier want to keep quiet.
Nelion was impressed at the man’s self-control as she stepped away and felt another twinge of guilt about stabbing the soldier who had shown her kindness, but she’d acted out of reflex. She hadn’t wanted to hurt him, just stun him long enough for her to get away. She whispered a quiet apology as the man glared at her and cursed. The second soldier was on the ground clutching his neck, but it wouldn’t be long before he started looking for her.
Without waiting to see what they would do next, she ran back the way they’d come and ducked into the alley she had spotted earlier, running as fast as she could.
It was half a minute before she heard the sounds of pursuit, but by then she was already to the crossroads and running a different direction. It was good to know that not all of her skills had languished during her time as a scribe.
Chapter 16
Helam frowned as he looked at Clift Rosser and Hael Wardes. Both withered under his stare and avoided eye contact. How had a woman scribe, little more than a girl, managed to escape some of his best men? He supposed that it was possible she was more skilled than he had thought, perhaps she’d served in Korew or Verag army, but that still didn’t explain it. They couldn’t have been paying close attention for something like this to have happened. By the sound of it, they hadn’t even put up a fight.
He’d picked all of these men not only because he knew that they’d follow his orders but also because they were capable of independent thought. While he hadn’t given the order to tie her up, they should have assumed that when he said to bring her along.
If Helam had been paying better attention, he might have noticed that they had messed up by not putting her in bonds, but there was only so much that a man could focus on. Bleeding Melyah. This had the potential to mess up his plan. That woman would head straight for Adar.
Clift had wrapped a bandage around his leg that was slipping away from the wound and he was having a hard time standing. Hael hadn’t been wounded but he kept rubbing his neck. Helam didn’t have time to deal with this nor did he have the men necessary to see Clift back to the base.
“Can you walk?” Helam asked.
“Yes, Sir.” Clift shifted to his wounded leg and then back to his good one. “Not a problem, I won’t slow you down.”
“Return to base.” Helam nodded towards Hael. “Her escape is going to cause a problem. Run back and find Lieutenant Briggs. Tell him to bring an army of a thousand men to the palace. Tell him to bring the mercenaries as well. He’ll know who I’m talking about. They’d better all be at the west palace gate within the hour. Have him leave the
men at the gate and bring the mercenaries with him to the Portal.” It was risky to mention the mercenaries. Hael might put it together, but even if he did, the man had just participated in the Kopal execution. For better or worse, they were in this together now.
The two men stood as if waiting for more.
“Go!” Helam motioned for the group to move again. Bringing an army to the palace was something he had hoped to avoid, but with the woman escaping, it was better to be prepared. If Adar showed up with some of his men, Helam needed to have enough to overwhelm him.
It was fitting to Helam that midnight was an hour or so away. A new day for a new beginning. If he’d have known about the course of events that would have brought him to this point twelve hours ago, he was certain that he would have still made all of the same decisions. A man had to look after his family, if he could. His wife was beyond saving and their marriage would not be repaired, but he could still save his son.
At all costs, his son needed to be protected. This was something Helam hadn’t done well. Elaire had promised to not recruit Molach and for some reason that Helam was now having trouble explaining, he’d trusted her to keep it. Perhaps he’d been blinded by his feelings for her or it could have been that in the back of his mind he’d never expected Molach to be taken in by such lies anyway.
Regardless, he had miscalculated. No doubt, she had been indoctrinating Molach for a long time. When he had discovered her, Elaire had claimed to have recently joined the Kopal, but how could she have risen to such prominence among them so fast unless she’d been a member for far longer than she said?
Little incidental memories were now surfacing that made him realize that his son had been taught this all along.
Molach had been just a boy, not even five years old. Helam had given Molach a wooden sword for this last birthday and the two had been sparring back and forth with Helam holding a stick as if it were a blade. Growling, Helam had chased his son saying that he was Hunwei. Molach had laughed, wondering why the Hunwei would want to harm him.
Helam had thought nothing of it at the time as their bout switched to tickling. The memory had been buried over the years, but now, plain as day, the truth was evident. He hoped that his son would be able to come back from it. Everything Helam was doing now was to get his son free of the grasp the Kopal had on him.
The executions of all the Kopal had been for his son. If those that had known of his son’s involvement were gone, there would be no one to point a finger at him, and more importantly, there would be no need for Molach’s death oath to come into play.
The Kopal needed to be eradicated and Helam at long last had put into effect his plan to get rid of them. It hadn’t happened in quite the way he’d intended, but perhaps this way would be better. The Kopal didn’t have an opportunity to prepare and they’d made the mistake of thinking that Elaire had kept him on a leash for all these years.
Well, who is on the leash now? he thought, looking back at her. While he couldn’t bring himself to hurt his wife, he was happy to have her stand as a witness to the deaths of her friends.
He was proud of the way his men had followed his orders and carried out the executions without comment or complaint. He’d selected and trained them well over the years, though, he didn’t have any illusions that more than a small minority of his men would go along with what he was about to do.
The army that he was having Briggs bring along was more for a show of force. It would be best if it didn’t come to an actual fight between another Radim army. Helam had been hoping to take Adar out at another time, but events were cascading. If he didn’t act fast, he’d lose his opportunity.
If the girl got to Adar, he’d come with an army, but it would take Adar time to gather his men.
A thought occurred to him. If Tymy ran, he might make it to Adar before the general and his men left their base.
“Tymy,” Helam said, motioning for the big man to follow him away from the others. “Kill Adar, make it look like the Kopal did it. You can search Elaire for her mask or get it from someone else.” He’d seen a few of his men pocket a mask as a souvenir. Helam had made special note of them because he’d have to keep an eye on them. He wasn’t certain why, but it seemed that a man, who wasn’t bothered by death or wanted to keep something to remember it by, was somebody that Helam should be careful about trusting.
Tymy didn’t act immediately. “Sir? Your protection? You’ve sent everybody else away.”
Helam snorted and motioned to his men. “I’ll be fine.” Helam had sent Hanri and his other guard, Jakk Growel, back to the base to put in place a contingency plan, in case Helam failed today. There hadn’t been another choice but to send both because Helam trusted Hanri to implement it and Jakk was the closest candidate to Molach’s size who could handle a sword well. Helam hated to lose Jakk but if Hanri had to implement the plan, Helam would be dead anyway. Jakk’s death and Helam’s betrayal of him wouldn’t matter much then. Molach was going to get a second chance, free of any doubt that Adar could pin to him if Tymy failed.
Tymy still hesitated.
Helam was glad for the show of loyalty but he was running short on time. “Go.” He made his voice firm and showed some of the anger that was burning in his chest.
Unfazed by the emotion, Tymy nodded his head and headed towards Elaire.
Helam couldn’t say for sure if his wife had ever loved him, there was more than enough reason now to suspect that she’d married him because she’d thought he’d excel in the army and she wanted to be with a powerful man. That notwithstanding, his feelings weren’t so easily disregarded.
In that moment, when she’d urged him to kill her, he’d looked into her eyes and found her lack of emotion about her death disturbing. Helam wasn’t naive enough to have expected reconciliation, but he’d been hoping for some hint of human feeling from her. Regret at what had happened to their son. Something.
When that hadn’t surfaced and instead she’d looked at him, goading him to kill her, he realized the truth. All of these years he’d been holding out for nothing. For something that wasn’t there.
Strange as it was, though, that didn’t invalidate his feelings for her. He’d given up too much for her. He’d risked and lost too much for it to mean nothing, which was why, in the end, he hadn’t been able to see her die.
Enacting his plan for the final action, the plan of last resort, was something that he’d never thought he would need to do. He’d created this plan in the event that the Hunwei returned before he was ready and he needed to get into the Rarbon Portal to access the weapons or blueprints of weapons that had been stored there.
It had never crossed his mind that he’d enact this plan to protect his son. But now, he realized that the plan could serve that purpose. If Helam could in one fell swoop, strike a major blow to the Kopal and simultaneously gain access to the Rarbon Portal, showing that a normal person could access it, the Rarbon Council may of their own volition accept him as the Ghar.
If they did not, well, he had a plan for that as well. It too was part of his final contingency plan, but for the good of the people of Rarbon and the world, he was a little more hesitant about enacting it just to protect his son. But, if it came down to it, he would do it without hesitation.
Chapter 17
Adar descended the staircase that led from the room with the Kopal bodies and was glad to leave the scene behind. At the landing was a small but decorated entryway that had a hall leading to the back. He was still unsure if this building was used for business or pleasure because there hadn’t been a sign above the door they’d entered. The whole setup struck him as odd, but he didn’t have time to investigate.
One thing was certain. The owner of the place was in for a nasty surprise. If it turned out this place wasn’t above board, the owner would have some explaining to do when the city guard started asking their questions.
When Adar stepped outside, he noticed that the twin moons were getting higher in the night sky and he pegge
d the time at around midnight. The temperature had dropped a few degrees and the cold had an edge to it that hadn’t been there before. It felt good to breathe without the acrid smell of blood, but he was afraid that wouldn’t last long. There would be more bloodshed tonight.
Before entering the building, Adar had ordered his men to disperse so that they weren’t all congregated while he went in to investigate. He wanted to avoid being conspicuous until they were ready to move again. It was difficult to hide five hundred men on a street, but they’d done a decent enough job.
A person that traveled this side street would notice the soldiers, but there wasn’t likely to be many such passersby at this time of the night. Several blocks away, this street connected to a central street that would have traffic regardless of the hour.
This was why Adar had given them the order to disperse. He didn’t need anybody from the central street noticing his men. That might have resulted in the city guard coming to investigate before Adar was ready. Now that he had finished his own examination of the scene, he would send a runner to the guard so that they could take over the grizzly affair.
“Been another great evening,” Tere said as he exited the building behind Adar. “I didn’t need the rest anyway.”
“Sleep is for those rotting in the ground,” Adar said. “For us, the living, we have work to do.” He’d meant it as a joke, but Tere didn’t laugh and instead just nodded his head. Adar couldn’t tell if it had fallen flat because it wasn’t funny or if Tere thought Adar believed it.
Adar made a thin smile. It was probably the latter, considering how many nights Tere had gone without sleep since Adar had taken over Napael army. Adar would have to be better about making sure his senior men got adequate rest.
A commotion to the side drew his eye as several of his men approached with a struggling woman between them. She was bound and gagged, but the men who held her were having a hard time keeping her in custody. When Adar noticed it was Nelion, he went to meet them.