"I will find her body."
"Do. Otherwise, I may doubt how much you wish to see this revolution."
Dripping water was the only sound.
"What will you do about the rumors?"
"So long as we lay a body to rest in three days time, the rumors will stop. Then we can move on with my plan."
The urge to charge in and put them both to the sword was strong. How dare they plot against her? Leviana's hand tightened. Warden touched her shoulder and pulled her away.
"Until then, anyone claiming to be her must be killed on sight to protect our interests."
Against them both, she might come away alive, but then she stood every chance of being murdered by her own guards. Even she could not hope to best them all. She let Warden lead her away.
"What's the quickest way out of here?" he asked.
"Down the servant's stairway and into the kitchen. They have a direct route out for when they go to market. Straight down the mountain and into the city."
"Then we'll go that way. You lead."
The gruff way he almost commanded her brought up her ire, but she said nothing. They needed to leave. She knew the way. She would lead. However, there was one thing she wanted to do. Going over to beside her bed, she pulled out a box. The carving along the top was deep and old. She fitted her fingers into a portion of the relief and the top popped open. Inside, nestled against a cloth background lay the seal of the Black King. She took it from its place and hung it around her neck. She heard Warden close by huffing.
"Now we can go," she said. She left the box open.
They came down the staircase into the kitchen area and Latanya came around the corner. She stopped and dropped to her knees.
"Immortal. I knew it wasn't true."
"Latanya, get up and tell no one you saw me. There is treachery." Warden slipped past and went further into the kitchen, looking for others. A distance away, a cook snored lightly.
"We need to go," he said. "Hurry."
"Immortal, what are we to do?"
"Do as you're told. Tell no one you have seen me. No one."
"Of course." She got up. "Versa asked for wine to be brought. I thought it a bit strange that she would order something meant for celebration."
The cook snuffled and shifted. Warden hissed.
"Come on." He took Leviana by the arm and pulled her away.
"Be well."
"May Ancel favor you."
She led the way through the kitchen to the cart ramp cut into side of the mountain. A cart stood there waiting.
"Can we take this?" he asked.
"It will be faster than walking down, but others may chase us." Warden must have thought better of it, he went around to the horse then past it. Leviana followed him and they went out the chute together and down the mountainside. They stayed on the trail that wound its way down and back into the city.
"You would have tried to kill them?"
"Succeeded," she said as they wound away from the palace complex. "They would be dead."
"And so would you," he said. They slipped away from a pair coming in their direction by moving into an alleyway. "You, no matter how good you are could take on all the soldiers you trained."
"How do you know I trained my guard?"
"It's an easy thing to consider. You are said to be the best swordsman in the empire. To have them taught by anyone else would be folly."
"I suppose so."
The nearby lamps were low, forcing them to rely on the moonlight. That was perhaps for the best. They needed to get out of the city without causing another ruckus. Already one man would carry the punishment for letting them escape.
Skulking through the streets, they kept out of sight as best they could. A few times they had to avoid the guards as they moved along. Silence reigned between them.
Warden stopped a few streets from the wall. "We should part ways here. I have no interest in the affairs of the empire. With no reward, you have nothing for me."
"We should stay together. We can help one another."
"I work better alone." Brushing one hand over his short clipped hair, he met her eyes. "You have a problem to deal with here. I want no part of it."
Leviana did not try to convince him further. Instead, she settled into a shadow near a building wall and waited for him to make his move.
With the moon hung high, Warden watched the woman he had spent much of the last few days with. Her beauty was strong, that much was certain. That was not enough to keep him tethered to her. Treachery stalked the empire. It sought to bring an end to an era. Her rule, what he knew of it, had been marked by war and strife, but poverty was not widespread and the people did not seem overly oppressed.
Those things did not concern him, however. She needed to deal with those things. He needed to be going. She stalked away and he turned once more the wall. Escape lay before him if he could slip past those who manned the gate.
He kept his footsteps light as he made his way up the street away from her and he felt it again.
When he had run away from her hours previous, it had stunned him. Now, going much slower, he had a chance to feel it coming. First came the pain running through his limbs, like fire building up in his veins. The feeling gathered at the base of his skull and stayed. He stopped, the throbbing took up the beat of his heart. He turned to look back. She had not moved. He narrowed his eyes.
What had she done?
He pressed forward but his steps became heavier. Less than a hundred yards apart, he felt his heart speed up. Each thud hurt. Turning his back, he continued forward. His legs grew leaden and his knees buckled. He dropped to the ground and put his hands forward to crawl. His heart thundered, then paused. Blackness edged his vision. Breath labored, he snarled.
What had she done?
Unconsciousness flashed past. Warden rolled over on his back and sat up. His skull seemed as if it would split. Pulling himself to standing, he turned back. With uneasy steps, he came back to her and as he did, the symptoms slowed. When they stopped, he stopped. He saw her clearly despite her place in the dark. Taking a deep breath, he put forward a shaky hand.
"What did you do to me?" he asked.
"I don't know what you mean," she said though she moved into the space between them and put her hand out to him. He pulled back.
"What have you done?" he asked again. "I cannot leave you."
Her brow furrowed and she drew her hand back.
She flattened against the wall when someone came walking past and he joined her.
"I have no answers for you," she said. "But I know where we might be able to find some."
"Where?"
"I will take you there. If you will stay with me."
"I do not trust you."
"Trust me or don't. I only seek to answer the question you seem to have."
"If we escape from here, I will go with you."
"Good. Then let us escape."
At the gate, three men waited. They talked in loud voices as if they wished to warn others away by their presence. Warden knew, if they went this way, he could not avoid them. How quickly could he go against three men?
"Are you prepared to kill your own men to escape?" he asked.
"If they stand between me and my goal, then they are dead."
Her response did not give him good feelings, but he could do nothing but accept it. Readying his blade, he stalked toward the group. Beside him, Leviana drew her weapon.
"No survivors," she whispered. The two of them set upon the three. The first died without a sound, Warden's blade in his throat. Another attempted to draw his sword, but Leviana was on him like a lioness. The third broke away attempting to go for reinforcements. Warden dropped the first man and leapt the distance to grab the third and sink his blade into his neck. Less than a minute and three men lay dead in the gate yard.
"Come on, let's go," Warden said as he pulled the long board securing the gate. Leviana helped him and then they opened the gate. Once they were
out, they closed the gate back. It was unsecured, but until someone discovered the bodies, no one would know. They had a long way to go before they were found.
Leading the way in the moonlight, Leviana pulled her cloak tight around herself. Warden was close at hand, but silent. She felt his questions bubbling in the air between them. What did she dare tell him?
She slid her eyes to him. Slim rather than built. A fighter, of a sort. He was not Vadian. Yet he was. How did one explain that? Had Vadian explained it to the woman she had been? Leviana did not remember. If he had, would she have run away as he said she had done? It meant telling him might well do no good.
"What are you thinking?" he asked.
"It has been a long time since I have needed somewhere to lay my head."
"I suppose it has been." He moved closer. "Where are we going?"
"First to Denden. From there, we can travel out of the bay and to Larki and then overland to our destination."
"Which is?"
"Backaran."
He stiffened.
"No one goes there who does not seek madness."
"I have been there twice. I am not mad."
"Perhaps not."
"Besides, the answers you seek can only be found there."
"How do you know?"
"Because what is between us began there."
"What is between us?"
"I cannot explain. You will have to trust me that we are going where we must go."
Against the Daughters of Curcula
The port city of Denden sprawled along the edge of the bay like the carcass of an octopus. Dominating the bay of Bercell, the city was the doorstep to the islands of Xernia.
Leviana remembered Regalina, the daughter of Xernia. When it became clear that the wives of the Black King would not be spared Leviana's wrath at her lover's death, she chose to drown. Her body was found in a bathing room. Leviana burned her with little ceremony and took the gems from her jewelry to make things for herself. Now she reached Denden, where she had come only a few times before, with the intention of going into Xernian waters because going overland to Backaran would take longer. On the cobblestone streets and among the squat buildings of the port city, she strode confidently. Warden a few steps back, his own eyes roving over the people and buildings of the city.
"We will need money," she said.
"And how exactly are we to get it?" he asked.
"Thievery is a rusty skill, but one I have."
"Rob someone?"
"Before I was a queen, I was a warrior. At times, stealing is the only thing you can do."
He said nothing.
"We'll wait until nightfall and then relieve a few men of their monies."
"If you say so."
They wandered the city until sunset when much of the traffic seemed to concentrate in the bars nearer to the water. Leviana chose a tavern, the Ravening Shark, based on those who went inside. When she found prosperous enough looking patrons, she led the way inside. They found a table not far from the door. Inside, the tavern seemed very clean for a waterfront establishment. The floors, though occasionally wet appeared to have been swept that very day. The bar hosted hand-blown glassware. Several men looked up as they entered, one even going so far as to get up and approach. He had not made it to the table before Warden locked him down with a grimace. He considered his options and chose to go elsewhere.
The pair had been in the tavern only a few minutes when the waitress approached them.
"What can I get for you?" she asked.
"Nothing. We were just looking for a place to pass the time until our ship sails."
"I see," she said. "You might want to find somewhere else then. The keep doesn't care for non-paying patrons."
"Oh," Leviana said. Then she proceeded to ignore the woman. Warden shrugged. The woman went away after a few moments.
"So do you intend to ignore her until the barkeep comes over here?"
"When he does, then we will deal with that. Otherwise I fully intend to ignore it completely."
"That will draw attention."
"No more than our getting up and leaving would. I don't want us to be tagged as patrons who cannot pay."
"You have an aversion to slinking away, don't you?" he said.
"Perhaps."
They were there for another half hour before the keep made an appearance at their table. He was a tall gruff man with a long beard and a scar under one eye. He looked the pair of them over with an appraising eye and then sat down with them.
"What's this I hear about you not buying anything?"
"I don't see where that's any business of yours," Leviana said. "There are other tables where paying patrons can sit. We are simply passing the time."
"I don't hold with those who don't pay for their time in a tavern. If you're not going to buy anything, then perhaps you should find your way to another establishment?"
"We are quite comfortable here," she said, putting her hands on the table. She meant it as a gesture against aggression, but the broad man made a dismissive gesture.
"Get comfortable somewhere else," he said. Then he got up and pulled Leviana's chair out. "I don't think you'll be very comfortable here for much longer."
When he was done, she scooted her chair back under the table and looked up at him with her very blue eyes.
"I said I had no intention of going anywhere. If you wish to have us removed, then attempt to do so. Otherwise, we will remain here."
The barkeep looked down the length of his long nose at her and then put his hand on her shoulder.
"I'll threw you out myself," he said. His grip wrinkled the dirty shirt Leviana wore and she narrowed her eyes. Grabbing the offending hand, she removed it from her person by snatching the fingers back. He had a moment to consider what she was doing before she twisted those same fingers into a braid and yanked on his arm hard enough to drag him down to her shoulder. She stood up, driving her shoulder into the space beneath his chin.
Several others started from their chairs and one came to the aid of the barkeep who stood dazed in Leviana's grip. Warden warned him off with a violent gesture. He had not drawn a weapon, but they were only a moment from it.
"Leave us be," Leviana said to the barkeep. "And we will leave you be." Then she turned him loose. He stumbled back a step or two, sharp eyes narrowed and feral in his face. She cocked her head to one side and watched him as he retreated.
Behind the bar again, he looked at them with looks that spoke kindly of death, but held his piece. Just after the altercation, several men left the bar.
"I think you may have just sent several running for the guard."
"The guard in Denden has little interest in tavern altercations," Leviana said. "It doesn't help them to get involved with every little scuffle the sailors see fit to have."
"That may be true, but this isn't a small sailor scuffle. You just threatened the leader of an establishment."
"I didn't threaten him. I simply showed him the error of his ways in dealing with us."
"Perhaps that is how you see it, but I doubt everyone sees it the same way," Warden said. He relaxed back in his chair with the alertness of one looking for trouble, however. Leviana crossed her legs at the ankle and waited for something else to happen. The waitress skirted their table several times in the commission of her duties, but didn't stop to speak. Apparently she had seen what went on as well and thought better of dealing with them. As far as Leviana was concerned, that was for the best.
Time ticked on. The sun settled low on the horizon and then Leviana stood up.
"Time to go," she said.
"Of course," came Warden's reply. The streets were becoming less crowded but the quality of person changed. It went from the innocent to the waterfront tough. They swaggered and swore as they moved through the streets. Leviana blended into the crowd with her hood up. Warden did the same. They were out of sight of the Ravening Shark when the first attack came from a side alley.
A tough thrust o
ut a short sword toward Leviana who whirled away from the attack and returned with a swipe of her own. Warden appeared at her side and they both moved against the man in the alley. As they did, another quick stepped up from behind and stuck a dagger in Warden's back.
"This way, if you please," he said. Warden pushed forward and he and Leviana were trapped between the two men. A third joined them.
"We thought it would be best to have a word with you, Immortal," the third said. He kept his face covered and stayed out of reach of their weapons.
"Oh really," she said. "And what could you possibly have to say to me?"
"That you should have had the good grace to die at the tomb."
In the narrow alleyway, their numbers meant little. There was a man in front and two men behind. Leviana slide past the sword of the one in front and smashed her fist into his face. He reeled back and she pressed the attack. Warden, meanwhile, went after the man behind him as best he could. The man attempted to swing, only to have his movement interrupted by the closeness of the walls. Instead of swinging, Warden stabbed at the stranger and caught him in the collarbone. The metal chipped the bone and tore the skin without doing much damage. He stabbed again and this time he ran the short blade through the man's throat. As he fell, dropping his sword and putting his hands to his throat, he blocked the path to the third man who turned to flee.
Stepping over the dying man, Warden chased him.
Two steps behind him, Leviana followed.
On the cobblestone street, they watched him make his way toward the street corner. Together they made after him. Rounding the corner, they came skittered to a stop. Five men stood ready with long cannons pointed at them. Leviana grabbed Warden and spun him to the side as the first shots went up. Three came toward them. A fourth exploded in the face of the shooter. The fifth went wild. The first shot hit Warden high in the chest and pierced deep. He went to his knees. Leviana went down beside him.
A man screamed. Warden heard him with the distance of one caught in their own pain. The searing in his chest drew all of his attention. Beside him, he felt Leviana.
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