by Sarah Hawke
“So do you want to tell me anything about this guy before we meet him?” I asked, crossing my arms and studying the nearby buildings. Charisse knew this part of the city much better than I did—she was still sent on patrols in this district regularly, whereas I’d barely set foot here in the past year.
“His name is Qellek, and he’s a Gosarn,” she said. “That’s really all you need to know.”
“Okay. How do you want to handle this?”
“He’ll run if he sees us coming, so we’ll need to be quick.”
I frowned. “I thought you said you had a relationship with him?”
“I do—he’s scared shitless of me.” Her mask kept shifting back and forth as if she were looking for something in particular. “He’s a snake. A useful and pathetic snake, but he’s still a snake.”
“What do you want me to do, exactly?”
“Just follow my lead and let me do the talking. If he tries anything crazy, feel free to terrorize him.”
“I can handle that much.”
“I’m counting on it.” She paused and nodded after a moment. “Well, at least we know he’s still here.”
“How can you tell? I don’t hear anything.”
She pointed at the chimney. “See the tiny puffs of green smoke? It’s a signal to his contacts. It means he has room for another shipment. He probably stuffed a bunch of refugees onto a ship and sent them off a few hours ago.”
“How do you—? Never mind, I don’t even want to know.”
“You’re right about that.”
I shook my head in wonder. I hadn’t seen Charisse on duty in so long I sometimes forgot she wasn’t always the flirty, insatiable glutton I’d spent all night with. She could be as clever as any of our other sisters when she wanted to be.
“You want to smash in through the roof?”
“Too loud—we don’t want to make a scene,” she said. “There’s a hidden entrance off the scaffolding over there. We’ll drop in and hope he’s not entertaining any guests.”
Nodding, I approached the nearby ladder and climbed up onto the wooden scaffolding festooned around the eastern and southern sides of the warehouse. We crept along the planks as quietly as we could manage, and every few steps I furtively glanced down into the street to make certain we hadn’t attracted any unwanted attention. Dragon Brides had the authority to go anywhere we wanted, obviously, but I still didn’t want to raise suspicion. Ideally, none of our sisters would ever know we’d been here.
Charisse stopped in front of a section of the wall that looked indistinguishable from the rest of the building. She ran her fingertips along a gap between a pair of wooden planks, then pushed the panel and triggered a mechanism inside. The panel popped up and slid open, revealing a hole just large enough for us to walk through.
The noise was probably enough to alert anyone inside, so Charisse immediately charged through the gap. I followed her lead, thankful as always for my ability to see clearly in the dark. The warehouse interior was even more shocking than I’d expected—I spotted plenty of barrels, crates, and other storage containers scattered across the lower level, but there were also a half dozen cages with iron bars. All of them were open and empty at the moment, but judging from the bed rolls and open ration containers it was obvious they had been filled with people not long ago.
“He’s making a break for it,” Charisse hissed. She broke into a flat sprint and leapt down from the elevated platform onto the main floor below. It was at least a thirty foot drop, but she used her powers to dampen the fall and land on her feet. It was only then that I spotted our target dashing through a row of crates towards the rear entrance.
I leapt down in the opposite direction to try and cut him off, but I needn’t have bothered. Charisse grabbed the man in a telekinetic grip and slammed him against the wall before he got anywhere close to escaping.
“Come on, Qellek,” she said, striding menacingly towards him with her hand outstretched and her tattoos glowing. “You know better than to try and run from me.”
“Lady Charisse,” he croaked. “I didn’t know—”
“You know now,” she interrupted. “Does that mean you’re going to behave?”
He turned and eyed me warily. Like all Gosarn, his mixed parentage was obvious. His skin was a paler shade of red than the average Basarn, and his forehead ridges were considerably less pronounced. His eyes were brown instead of yellow or orange, though he was probably still able to see as well in the darkness as Charisse or I could.
“She’s with me, but she’s not going to hurt you,” Charisse assured him. “Unless you don’t answer my questions, of course. Trust me: she’s a lot less patient than I am.”
I didn’t glower or cross my arms or even draw my sword. I just stood stiffly in place and allowed sparks of electricity to crackle at my dangling fingertips.
“I don’t understand,” he blurted out. “I haven’t done anything! I thought we had a deal!”
“We do, and I’m not here to arrest you,” Charisse soothed. “I just need answers to a few questions.”
His eyes flicked between us so rapidly I was a little surprised he didn’t soil himself. He eventually nodded, and Charisse slowly released her grip and lowered him to the ground.
“You don’t have to worry about any of your girls,” Qellek said, keeping his arms raised defensively while he regained his balance. “I sent them all off on a ship this morning. They’ll reach the Deadlands by the end of the week.”
I resisted the urge to shoot a quizzical glare at Charisse. She never said she was involved with this in any way…
“I appreciate it,” she said. “But right now I’m more interested in what’s going on in Last Hope.”
Qellek frowned. “You know I don’t do business with Garaad anymore.”
“That’s good, because he’s dead,” I said, searching his face for a reaction.
He blinked. “You’re certain?”
“We’re certain,” Charisse confirmed. “You didn’t know?”
“I’ve heard whispers but that’s all!” Qellek insisted. “Like I said, I don’t do business there anymore.”
“Nothing you’d tell me about, anyway.” Charisse took a menacing step forward. The tattoos on her arm were still glowing, and I could feel the master’s power coursing through her. “Here’s the deal: one of my sisters was in Last Hope about a week ago. She was pursuing a Vin Aetheri rebel, and they somehow knew she was coming.”
Qellek swallowed nervously. “Perhaps they followed her. They have operatives scattered all across the Reach.”
“Maybe,” Charisse said, casually placing her hand on his shoulder. “Or maybe someone tipped them off—someone here in Thalamar.”
His eyes bulged wide. “I didn’t do anything! I would never—”
“Calm down, I’m not blaming you,” she soothed. “If I honestly believed that you had placed one of my sisters in jeopardy, I would have already strung you up and cut off your balls.” She let him stare at the glowing latticework on her hand for a moment before she smiled. “Still, I bet you know something you’re not telling us.”
Qellek shook his head. “I don’t know anything, I swear!”
“You’re lying,” I said, allowing another spark of electricity to leap between my fingers.
“I’m not! I just…” He swallowed again and visibly braced himself. “I don’t know anything about an ambush, but it doesn’t surprise me. Like I said, the Vin Aetheri have spies all over Narthil.”
“I’m sure they do, but this is different,” Charisse pressed. “This mission was a secret. No one knew about it until the last moment.”
“Someone in the palace did,” he murmured as he visibly braced himself. “Look, I can’t give you any names, but I do know that the rebels have been receiving aid from someone in Thalamar for a long time now. I’m talking years.”
I frowned. “What kind of aid are you talking about?”
“Everything,” he said. “Food, weapons, healing
poultices…enough to supply an entire army.”
“That’s impossible,” Charisse breathed. “I check most of the cargo manifests on this dock myself. There’s no way in the void someone could have stolen an army’s worth of supplies without anyone noticing.”
“I don’t think they’re stolen, at least not from here. They’re mostly foreign goods smuggled into Narthil and routed through Last Hope.”
I turned and faced Charisse. “Who is paying for all this?”
“I have no idea,” Qellek lamented. “Like I said, I don’t know any details and I don’t work with those people anymore. I just hear…chatter.”
“Maybe you should listen a little harder,” Charisse suggested. She paused for a moment then removed her hand from his arm. “If you can get me specifics—anything—I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”
The Gosarn paused for a few moments before he finally nodded. “Your generosity has always been appreciated, my lady, but what you ask is impossible. It’s too dangerous.”
“You’re a smuggler in the capital of Narthil,” I pointed out. “Danger doesn’t seem to bother you.”
“This is different,” Qellek said. “Taking risks to help my people escape is one thing. Taking risks to help your Emperor…that is quite another.”
I tried to step forward and loom over him, but Charisse held me back with her forearm. “You want the rebels to win?”
“No matter who wins a civil war, the poor and the weak are the ones who will lose,” Qellek said. “I do not trust the Vin Aetheri or their Conduit, but I know the price for crossing them. Their magic is every bit as powerful as yours.”
I scoffed. “You’re delusional if you believe that anyone can stand before the might of the Dragon God.”
“Just do what you can and remember my offer,” Charisse said. “If things get any worse around here, you’ll be grateful for my friendship.”
“I already am, my lady.”
Charisse grunted and gestured towards the main entrance. I followed her out, a hundred different questions rattling through my mind. I couldn’t decide if I actually wanted answers to them or not.
“Well, at least that wasn’t a complete waste of time,” she said once we were back outside. “Assuming he’s telling the truth, anyway.”
“Do you trust him?” I asked.
She snorted. “Of course not. I don’t think he’s actually lying, but that doesn’t mean he couldn’t be misinformed. If someone in the palace really is supplying the rebels…”
“Let’s assume he’s right for a moment,” I suggested. “Hiring foreign smugglers, paying for food and weapons and poultices—only a handful of families in the entire city could afford something like that.”
“But it would explain how the Vin Aetheri are still around after all these years,” Charisse murmured. “The trouble is, none of those families knew anything about your trip to Last Hope.”
“Someone could have told them.”
“By someone you mean the Council of Wives. You know how insane that sounds, right?”
I nodded solemnly. “When I was with him the other night, His Majesty warned me not to trust my sisters. He’s already suspicious.”
“That’s a harrowing thought,” Charisse murmured. “Dragon’s blood, what have you gotten us into this time?”
I turned and studied her silhouette as we walked. “I could ask you the same thing. Qellek’s not just an underworld contact for you. What did he mean when he said ‘you don’t have to worry about any of your girls?’”
She sighed and came to a halt as we reached the middle of the bridge. “It’s nothing bad,” she assured me. “I’ve just…well, I’ve been helping him find urchin girls around the city. Retharri mostly, but some Gosarn too.”
“Finding them for what?”
“They don’t have a future in this city, Asha,” she told me. “At best, they end up working on their backs for someone like Jirrah. At worst…”
I swallowed and shook my head. “You’re helping him? Charisse, if anyone found out they’d—”
“Have me drawn and quartered in the city square,” she finished. “I know, believe me. But the truth is that half-breeds have no place here. At least in the Deadlands they’ll have a fighting chance. The tribes don’t care what color your skin is or whether or not your eyes glow.”
“They also don’t care if you join the Vin Aetheri!” I snapped. “You could be feeding them recruits!”
“Keep your voice down,” Charisse scolded. The bridge was mostly empty, but she was right to be concerned. “Look, they’re little girls, Asha. Seven, ten, maybe twelve at the oldest. They’re exactly where we would be if our parents hadn’t given us to the Academy.”
“We’re human.”
“Yeah, so imagine how much worse it must be for them.” She snorted and shook her head. “If not for the Brides, you’d probably be tilling a farm trying to get some rich boy to marry you. I’d probably be sucking cocks for Jirrah. It’s not fair.”
I glared at her for a long moment, trying to decide I should be enraged or proud. I’d always known she was a sap—her empathy had nearly gotten her killed at the Academy a dozen times over—but sometimes I forgot just how stupid she could be too.
Stupid…and brave.
“Yell at me if you want, but try and get it out of your system before we get back to the palace,” she said. “I’m not in the mood to argue.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going to yell.”
“So what, then? Just glower judgmentally?”
“Actually, I was thinking about how much I want to kiss you.”
She blinked. “What?”
“We have a lot to figure out about what’s going on,” I said, touching her arm. “But I’m going to spend the next few hours licking you until you scream.”
I could feel her grin even if I couldn’t see it beneath her mask. “So you’re not mad.”
“I’m mad enough that it will be extra fun,” I said. “Does that count?”
“At times like this I remember exactly why I love you,” Charisse said. “Come on, we better get to the Shadow while I’m still wet…”
She turned to dash across the bridge. I glanced up, and it was only then that I saw the wall of heavily-armored men approaching our position from the other side. Their resplendent golden armor and purple tabards clearly identified them as the Emperor’s Wyrmguard.
“Oh, shit,” Charisse murmured.
I nodded gravely. Where the Dragon Brides were the Emperor’s enforcers and spies, the Wyrmguard were his personal guardians. They rarely left the bowels of the palace outside of the rare occasions when their master made a public appearance—or when, like today, they were escorting Crown Prince Jorel instead.
“What do you think he wants?” Charisse asked. “He’s coming right for us.”
“He could be heading into the docks for all we know,” I said, wishing it were true. “If he bothers us, just let me do the talking.”
“He hates you, Asha.”
“He hates almost everyone, but he knows he has to respect me. It will be all right.”
We were halfway across the bridge when Jorel raised his hand for us to stop. He sauntered a few paces ahead of his guards before he signaled for two of them to scatter the remaining bystanders and give us some privacy.
“And here I thought I’d find the two of you in a whorehouse with a retharri cunt-licker between your legs,” he spat. “What are you doing here?”
“We are Dragon Brides, my prince,” I reminded him. “We go where we please, when we please.”
“Only if I allow it,” he said. “Or have you forgotten your place already?”
“Our place is at your father’s side, now and forever.”
I made certain to keep my back straight and my eyes locked on his. I couldn’t intimidate him, obviously, but he wasn’t my intended audience. His men could hear us just fine, and they needed to understand their master’s limitations. Namely, that even tho
ugh he technically outranked us, the Brides were not afraid of him or his power.
“My mother would be disappointed that you’re not busy reviewing the scrolls she gave you,” Jorel said after a moment. “Almost as if you’re not taking your new assignment seriously.”
“Your mother has full confidence in my abilities. And more importantly, so does your father. Perhaps you should bring your concerns to him.”
A dark smile tugged at his lips. “I will, don’t worry. But in the meantime, I’m actually more interested in your friend here. You’ve been off duty for hours, yet here you are back on patrol again. Why?”
“Merely ensuring the district’s stability, my prince,” Charisse told him. “There were several skirmishes earlier today. I wanted to make certain that none of the cartels attempted to take advantage of the darkness.”
“I see,” Jorel murmured. “I heard about one of your confrontations, actually. Bride Marvina said you personally chased down and incapacitated a well-known lotus smuggler.”
“I did, my prince. He was no match for the Dragon God’s power.”
“The Dragon God’s power requires a worthy vessel. You performed well and should be rewarded for your efforts.”
Charisse paused for a moment. “My prince?”
“My father always rewards his Brides for their excellent service,” Jorel went on, his dark smile returning. “Unfortunately, he’s been rather preoccupied with your friend of late. I suppose I shall have to start rewarding your sisters in his stead.”
A cold tingle shuddered down my spine when I finally realized where this was going. He wasn’t here to confront us about Qellek or the Velvet Shadow—he was here to try and humiliate me in the only way he could.
Namely, by humiliating Charisse instead.
“Your honor me, my prince,” Charisse said. Her voice hadn’t changed, but I could see her hands twitch anxiously at her sides. “Once we return to the palace, I would be happy to—”