"All the city's looking for you. Not to mention the Daughters of Curcula for your failure."
"I just need to leave Arathum."
"I have no doubt. I can help you to leave, but you must promise me you will not return. Your life hangs in the balance."
"I have no desire to return. My reputation has taken enough of a hit here in Arathum. They came to me in Uticaburg."
"Because the Queen has largely rooted out the assassins here in Arathum. She's brutal against those who practice the secret arts. Her preference is the field of battle, as it has always been."
"I do not doubt. How will you get me out of the city?"
"I have to consider that. Arathum is on lockdown thanks to your stunt. The Voice has decreed it in order to make finding you easier. I may have to keep you here overnight."
"I would prefer not to put you in that position."
"I would prefer not to be in that position, but if I cannot get you safe passage, I cannot get you passage," Calinn shrugged. "Are you amenable to remaining at least through tonight?"
"If you have access to a surgeon, I would like to see him. I have a wound along my back that may need seeing to."
"Did not make a clean getaway?"
"The Trusted nearly skewered me."
"She is hunting for you."
"Then may she never find me."
"I will get you a surgeon and see about getting you out of the city," Calinn said. "For now, I'll show you to a guest room and give you a change of clothes while you tell me the whole truth of what happened."
The Trip to the Tomb
The stab wound was in an odd position. It went through her back just at her waist making it hard to turn or lie down without making it throb. Leviana was not amused. Even less amusing, that her dreams had been anything but quiet the night before.
After the surgeon finished with her, she had gone to bed with a bowl of bone broth to help her with the blood loss. The first hour, perhaps, had been uneventful, just swirls of recollections of times passed. None of them stuck out at peculiar angles so she let them pass unmarked. Then came the dream she ruminated on in the morning light. She stood in a black stone field like those that ringed Arathum and watched as a black dragon descended from the sky. It dropped into the space between her and the man whose eyes she had seen. The dragon, the essence of her lost beloved, stalked and then became the man, drawing up inside of him as breath. She remembered reaching out to him.
"Vadian."
Not the name oft used for the Black King, but the name she knew him by. Vad'Alvarn had been his name as king. Before his kingship, he had been Vadian, a warrior, a general, a man. He had been her lover.
"Come back to me, Vadian," she said and the man nodded to her as if he understood. Suddenly they were parted as the veil of sleep lifted under the light of day. Her back hurt, yet she rose and pulled on a robe. What did this mean? The seer's words returned to her. An old lover. Her hope had been that it would be Vadian, but in the body of the one who tried to kill her? Could Fate be more of a trickster? Once she had been born the daughter of a mortal enemy, now he was her killer. She scoffed at it.
The Trusted entered to find her already awake and partly dressed.
"How do you feel?"
"Ready the horses. I want to be gone after breakfast."
"The city's in lockdown," the Trusted said. "We cannot go."
"No one will tell me where I can and cannot go. Find the Voice and bring him to me."
While she waited for the Voice to present himself, she also sent for another bowl of bone broth. It would help to counteract the dizziness she felt on the edge of her senses. Food and rest would certainly take care of it, but she had no time to rest. The trip must be made today. Tradition dictated it.
Some time later, the Voice entered her chambers with the Trusted following close behind.
"Why is the city in lockdown?" Leviana asked with an edge to her voice.
"I thought it would be better to catch the one who attempted to kill you. Certainly you want him caught. That was your command."
"I want him caught; however, I do not want you standing in the way of my going to the tomb of the Black King today."
"Surely the trip can wait. He is dead. He is not standing over you evaluating your loyalty to his memory."
The servant with the bone broth appeared at the door and brought the tray in on level hands. Leviana snatched the bowl from the tray with both hands. The heat stung, but did little more. She took a sip.
"I will go today and you will insure that I may go. Otherwise, you may find yourself without any authority beneath me."
The Voice looked at her steadily. Then shook his head.
"I am arguing with a wall. You hear nothing I say."
"You have said nothing worth hearing. You offer me an excuse. If you want to catch my murderer, then you will do so with the city going about its own way. I will go. The Trusted will go with me." She sipped from the bowl as the servant waited off to one side. Kendrick took a deep breath.
"I will insure that you may go, Immortal. Though I think it for the better that you stay here and rest a few days before you truly do fall prey to your injuries."
"One injury," Leviana said. "That is all. I will be fine. Now see to the preparations. I wish to leave immediately so that I may be back before nightfall."
"As you wish. Trusted," Kendrick said. "See to the Immortal's demands. I will speak with the guard about a proper retinue."
"No, I will take the Trusted and no one else. I do not need an escort for a trip so short."
"Last night you were nearly killed--"
"I am not dead. You will do as I say."
Words dropped between them and the Trusted looked first at one then the other to see who would break the silence first. Neither chose to. So she shrugged and left the room to see about the horses. Kendrick and Leviana stared at one another across the carpet.
"Why do you have to be so difficult?" Kendrick asked.
"I am used to having my way. You'll get used to it."
Then he stalked out.
Leviana finished her bowl and set it back on the tray.
"Have them send up the rest of breakfast. I will enjoy it before I leave."
Two hours later, saddled and ready were two horses. Though she had refused the idea of having guards following her about, she had entrusted her protection to her
Trusted. Swinging into the saddle, Leviana looked at the other woman and then down at Kendrick who stood nearby.
"Are you certain I cannot compel you to stay?" he asked. He put his hand on the neck on the black horse the Queen rode.
"This will happen today. I will be back before nightfall. I will expect dinner when I return." She kicked her horse into a trot across the gravel of the yard putting distance between herself and the Trusted who stopped beside Kendrick for a moment. They spoke. Then the Trusted rode up to join her. The pair went past the wall together. They rode through the city in unidentifiable cloaks keeping their weapons, each made personally for them, hidden.
In the streets, people parted for them avoiding the hooves of the horses and Leviana led the way. When they reached the gate, they gave a letter signed by the Voice with the Queen's seal to the guardsman who looked it over carefully, called another over to verify what the seals meant, and then let them through. Others, waiting to be let out of the gate, protested, but they were held back at sword point. Then they were on the dusty roads outside of Arathum jogging along.
"What did you wish to speak with Kendrick about?"
"I merely assured him that I would not fail you twice. No assassin would have a chance against me while we are together."
"I doubt that gave him any great assurance," Leviana said, clucking her horse forward.
"It assures me," the Trusted said.
"Then I suppose it does enough." The two women rode in silence.
Several miles away, they reached the first of the tombs, a large mound structure with a fitted door
inset with precious stones. Soon they would pass the tomb of Farnum, the last Voice, who had died in his sleep of a wasting sickness. Beyond that, the tomb of the Black King, larger and more ornate than the others sat. To it, Leviana went. Behind her, the Trusted kept pace.
The trail leading up to his tomb had been swept clean, leaving no doubt of which tomb they traveled toward. Their horses were the first to leave hoof prints in the dust. Leviana dismounted near the tomb face and pressed her hand to the ornate door leading down into the mound. Once upon a time, she might have opened it and went inside, but she did not.
Even the act of raising her arm made her side ache. The over an hour long ride had stiffened her considerably. She wanted nothing more than to kneel and pray, but getting down meant possibly not getting back up without assistance. It would mean showing weakness. She despised weakness.
The Trusted withdrew, still sitting on her horse. Her presence was not wanted right then. This much she knew from previous years. The Queen would call her back when she was ready to leave. No sooner.
Leviana dropped to her knees before the door of the tomb and opened her arms as if to embrace it. Her breath hitched in her chest. The first touch of tears sprang to her eyes. No matter what her dreams may have said, she had not seen evidence of him in the world so Vadian must have still been far from her. As much as her side ached, her soul ached as well with the separation. Their curse bound them together without mercy. Each felt the loss of the other like a knife's edge in the heart.
"Vadian. I dream of you," she said. "And I long for you." In those words, she made her heart clear. A tear dragged down her cheek. She sought to take a deep breath and it was denied by the sharpness in her side. Then sudden as unforeseen lightning, a bullet buried itself in the tomb door dislodging one of the rubies that decorated it. Leviana jumped to her feet and leaned to one side as the fire at her waist flared up. Four riders rode hard toward them, each armed with a long cannon. Whipping around, she brought her blade out and waited for them to come closer. They picked spots a distance away. The Trusted rode toward them and managed to cut down one of their number while he was in the midst of reloading. The others frantically waved at the smoke developing in their face from the explosive powder. Leviana went for her horse, spooked by the sound but not running yet.
One of the men took a bead on the Trusted and fired. She spun in the saddle and was thrown from her horse. Another took aim at Leviana who crouched as low as she could across the neck of her horse before kicking the beast into a charge. On the ground, the Trusted stood up, holding her right shoulder. The charging horse ran full tilt into the body of another and knocked the rider loose because he had his hands on his weapon and not on his saddle. In the scuffle, the horse stepped on him causing him to cry out as his foot broke. Wheeling her horse, Leviana went after a third, but the third and fourth backed away and leveled their long cannons at her. She rode straight through them and put her hand out for the Trusted.
Grabbing the other woman sent a bolt through her side, but Leviana held on and dragged the Trusted onto the horse behind her. Then summoning all the strength she had, she pushed the horse to go faster as the other two took up pursuit.
She would never make it to the city. It was too far. Their horses were lighter, each carrying only one, while hers carried two. They couldn't escape by running.
"Let me slow them down so that you can escape," the Trusted said as they thundered along.
"They'll cut you down and be after me in minutes with those weapons." Leviana urged the horse to go faster but the creature was already going as quick as it could. They clattered out of the tombs and onto the main road. Shots zinged past them while their pursuit tried to shoot and ride.
A cart trundled down the road ahead of them. Leviana drew up alongside it.
"Jump."
"No."
"Do as I say."
"I won't leave you."
Then they were past it. Two shots struck the driver who fell dead in the driver's seat. The ox pulling the cart bellowed and shivered, coming to a complete stop. Leviana spared a glance back and shook her head. One of the shooters pulled up close and attempted to hit her with the butt of the long cannon. She jerked away just in time for him to overextend. Though he didn't fall off his horse, he did fall behind. On the other side, the final gunman tried to shoot her but missed. Leviana's ears rung with the sound. Behind her the Trusted grabbed the long cannon with her good arm. She managed to jerk it free and dropped it on the ground.
Leviana snatched her sword out of its place and skewered the man on the other side, the horse ran away with the dying rider. Finally, they came to a stop. The third rider turned tail and ran when he realized he had no weapon and he was alone. As much as she would have liked to grab the long cannon off the ground and use it on them, she didn't have the necessary to reload it or even know how. Instead, she brought her horse to a stop and let the Trusted dismount.
"We still have a long way to go from here."
"Yes, we do."
They had been walking for twenty minutes when another rider rode toward them. The lone rider stopped and dismounted.
For a moment, Leviana felt the presence wash over her. She didn't have to see him to feel him, but the sight of him dragged at her. Stopping, she put her hand out to the Trusted.
"Go. Go to the city. Tell them I live."
Escaping Arathum
With Master Calinn gone to see about getting him out of the city, Warden waited for the surgeon. Sitting in the guest room with his shirt off, he tried to explore the edges of his wound with his fingers, but he couldn't quite reach all the way along it. It felt shallow which was good. He could have survived a deep cut, but he didn't want to. Better it be shallow and easily patched.
The young woman who had opened the door for him came in. Following her came an older man with a set of pouches arranged around his waist.
"Here he is," she said before ducking back out of the room.
The surgeon nodded to him.
"I am Charden. Master Calinn has asked that I see to your wounds."
"There is only one along my back." Warden shifted so that Charden could see it. The surgeon looked at it for a long moment.
"A long albeit shallow wound. It won't even need stitches."
"Good, then it won't take you long."
"No." The surgeon got a stool sitting over in front of the window and placed it before the bed. "Sit on the stool if you would."
Doing as he was told, Warden kept a wary eye on the person he offered his back to. He did not relish the idea of being stabbed in the back and it wouldn't be the first time that an assassin had posed as a surgeon in order to get at a target. He had done it himself a few times. It made a perfect time to finish the job while the person was injured and distracted.
Taking a vial from his pouch, Charden poured some of it on the cloth he produced from another pouch.
"First we'll clean it. Of course this will sting."
Perhaps no more than receiving the wound itself. Warden felt the cool touch of the liquid against his skin along with the slight burn where it wiped away the blood. After a few strokes, the cloth was taken away.
"It may well scar, I warn you."
"I don't care," Warden said. It would not be his first scar or his last if he should survive for any length of time. Scars told the story of how one lived even after they died. He consoled himself with the idea he would be able to tell the story of getting the scar at some point later in his life. So long as he made it out of the city before those who wanted his life could take it.
"Raise your arms," Charden said. Warden brought his arms up to the height of his shoulders and held them there as Charden wound a long stretch of unbleached cloth around his upper chest and over the wound. It stood out against his brown skin.
"This is merely to keep the dirt out of it. You won't need it very long. You'll start to heal within a few days." Charden's explanation might as well have been for his benefit with how much Ward
en actually listened to it. He would take the bandage off as soon as it became inconvenient be that in a day's time or longer. Either way, it wouldn't last. "You can put your shirt back on."
Slipping the shirt over his head, Warden pricked up his ears to hear any movement. Now would be the perfect time to attack.
A sharp knock on the door sent him turning, hands going for weapons he wasn't wearing. The maid entered.
"A message for you, Charden," she said.
"What is it?" he said. "I was just finishing."
"Your boy came to say a woman has come to your shop to see you about a baby."
"Not Alvana again. That child is not sick."
"I don't know. The boy didn't say," the woman said putting her fisted hands on her hips. "I suggest you find your way back to your shingle before she comes here looking for you."
"Master Calinn will see me about payment for my services presently, won't he?"
"That's the Master's decision, not mine, but I have no doubt you will see your money."
"Good. Then I will be going."
Charden ducked his head to his patient and then headed out of the room. The woman stayed a moment longer, looking him up and down in silence before departing herself for her own duties. The curiosity struck Warden as odd, but he didn't chase her down to ask her what it was she saw. Women he didn't understand or try. Better to simply stay out of their way. He sat back down on the bed and put his feet up on the stool. Without being able to tell how long he would be waiting, he did not dare going to sleep. The few uncomfortable hours he had gotten on the tavern floor had fled him as the day wore on. Now he found his eyelids feeling heavy. Blinking the tiredness away, he concentrated on what he knew.
The Daughters of Curcula were his employers and they would certainly hunt him for some time for his failure to bring about the death of the Queen. Red Falcon needed his head. The Trusted had let him escape, but why? She could have run him through rather than slashing him. Was there something there he could use? Probably not. Better to quit thinking about it now. Only useful thoughts, he told himself, only things he could act on. Master Calinn would keep him safe, at least for a time. However, he wouldn't take sides if someone came for him either. Masters were not meant to get in the middle of disputes. Thus he needed to be gone with all quickness.
Blades of Fate Page 3