‘Sand?’ she asked me. ‘Taram was sent men and then to find you.’
‘Sand died,’ I told her. ‘This amulet did not work. We were ambushed by the White Brother.’
‘I am sorry,’ she said softly. ‘I knew he would be in danger eventually. He was not really useful for the plan, other than to keep you in check. And he felt left out, no doubt. You were showered with promises, he was forgotten.’
‘Yes,’ I whispered. ‘It is my fault.’
She saw I was heartbroken. Distraught, hurt. Terrified of the scene and the murdering things before me. She stood there, swaying for a long time, wondering, thinking and finally, she sighed. ‘Go to Balan. It will be all right. In the end, all will be well. Even Sand. I promise you this.’
‘You cannot speak for Hel,’ I told her.
‘I can try,’ she grinned.
‘Shaduril?’ I called out.
She waved her hand at me. She turned to look at me. There was despair in her eyes, but also a desire. And she voiced the desire. ‘I really want to see you die, Maskan, painfully. Just to make you feel what I feel right now.’
‘But—’
‘Go away, Maskan,’ Lith said with a whisper. ‘It’s over.’
I cursed and walked away. I went out and saw Taram sitting on his horse. I hesitated. I should run, I thought. But I would not. They are all mad, evil. Taram winked. ‘I did not have to show you this, did I? But I wanted to. Grows you up. It is over. There was nothing real with Lith and you. And now there is nothing with Shaduril.’
I spat at his feet. ‘Truly you cannot hurt me any worse.’
He hesitated. ‘I can’t? Let me think about it for a moment. ‘ His face twitched and his eyes gleamed dangerously. I walked past him for the Crimson Apex. He turned to ride before me. He rode ahead of me the whole way, not saying anything. When we arrived at the Crimson Apex, I stared at the old keep, but it looked dead. As dead as Shaduril had. The bastard Taram. The fool Maskan.
Balan met us at the doorway. He was scowling at Taram and then pointed a finger at me. ‘You killed a guard.’
‘He killed himself,’ I told him, feeling sorry for the man. ‘And you killed a village.’
‘What?’ he breathed. ‘Who—’
‘Taram took me to visit the village in question,’ I grimaced as I stared at the man.
He nodded, rubbing his face. ‘It has to be a secret Crec and Gal died. You see? The villagers would know.’
‘No,’ I said spitefully.
‘And you took my book,’ he accused me with a quivering voice. ‘Why?’
I laughed. ‘And that’s it for the village? Why? You kill left, you kill right, and you promise away family and friends and allies so fast you probably cannot even remember what you have agreed and with whom. That book is filled with shit I can burn you with. Or anyone,’ I told him bitterly. ‘I’ll never return it. I’ll use it to make sure you will not become a ruler of the land. Oh, we will kill the royals, but that book is mine now.’
Balan’s eyes turned to Taram, who smiled smugly. ‘I knew you were a mistake,’ Balan told him. ‘You are mad.’
‘I am,’ Taram agreed. ‘But I will help you now. Want me to kill him?’
Balan cursed us both softly. ‘No. I don’t like this.’
‘I don’t like many things,’ I told him. ‘You are one manipulative bastard. Who will be the king? Not you.’
‘We will find a king, boy,’ he told me softly. ‘Crec has a son, I think. He might grow into our man. But you? You are risking our endeavor. You are ruining us. You stole our most excellent book, the ancient bit of history. You were very nearly caught …’ he said. ‘Get clear, boy,’ he told Taram, who bowed stiffly.
We heard a rumbling noise.
‘Come inside,’ he hissed and pulled at me. I poked a finger at him and pushed him back. I turned to look at the old keep. From it, an army emerged. There were dozens, then hundreds of well-armored men marching out. Hundreds. Spear points bristled, shields clanked and cowled men looked ahead in the dark. There was one leading them, larger than the others were, and he was not cowled. ‘Valkai?’ I whispered.
‘Valkai,’ Balan agreed. ‘He did not die of the hanging. We spared his life. He is impossible to kill. I have armed all my own men and bought hundreds of others, lots, and lots, and Valkai there will lead the last of them to Dagnar for the day of reckoning. There are ways in and he knows them all. He knows the Old City. There are a thousand there already, and these will make a formidable army.’
‘Shaduril is in much worse danger now,’ I said darkly. ‘You expect me to fill in the shoes of those two men?’
Balan turned me around. The blacks in his eyes were tiny, his face drawn. ‘Grec and Gal betrayed me. They would have disposed of me. And you. And Shaduril. The whole family. The Mad Watch would have blamed us for the crime and off to hang we would have gone while they enjoy the fruits of our work and sacrifices. No. You will take Gal’s place after the queen dies. We will use Valkai’s tunnels of the Old City to hide the men and sneak them near the Thin Way. You will get them in. It will be messy. But it will be done.’
‘I see,’ I told him. ‘And when Crec and Gal won’t return home?’
‘I will send letters signed by them to the families,’ he said with a small, ferret-like grin. I have their seals as well. They are busy and out of town for a week. Don’t worry about the details. Soon, things will be back to normal. What you will need to do, Maskan, is to kill the queen, and then meet the new lord of the mint wearing Gal’s face. You will lead them in. Later, you will be Crec and command the troops to purge the enemy from the city.’
I looked at the marching, ominous army. They would take the route to the city and stage an assault into the Tower of the Temple. People would die. There were a thousand of them now, some were not armored but apparently peasants. Others were young, others old.
‘I’m taking all my people to war,’ Balan said softly.
‘Fine.’
He scowled and hesitated. ‘Fine. I am sorry for your friend. I am. But I am not happy about the theft.’
‘Behead me, Lord,’ I told him.
‘Funny,’ he whispered. Balan looked at the figure of Taram. ‘For good or for bad, he is now in.’
‘He was going to kill me,’ I told him. ‘And Sand.’
‘I cannot guard you against him. Be careful. I will have Lith with you until the business is concluded. Taram is unstable.’
‘I’d rather not—’
He laughed but then looked sober and sad. ‘I see. She broke you and Shaduril, then. Perhaps for the better. Think of your dead family, Maskan. Think of the glory of nobility and Gal’s house. Your father’s house. Go and do us proud. Later on? Who knows if things will change for the better for you and her.’
‘Who knows?’ I echoed him. ‘As for you. You will give me another letter.’
‘I—’
I pushed him, and he stared at me in astonishment. ‘In that letter, you will confess the murder of the village. I have the book. I want this as well. You will not be the king.’
He hesitated and shuddered with indecision. Then, after a long while, he nodded. ‘You will have it,’ he said and went in. I hesitated and followed him, and I noticed Illastria was not in her usual spot at the end of the main hall. Her desk had been cleared.
Our room was silent and empty. So was the keep. All the men and even the servants had marched off.
BOOK 4: QUEEN’S BANE
‘I despise him too much. And he did dare me. He said I cannot hurt him any worse than I did. I think I can.’
Taram to Lith.
CHAPTER 13
It was the day before the Yule feast. Something akin to snow was falling from the sky in a wet, freezing drizzle. We were standing in the shadows of an alley near House Tenginell, where the queen was supposed to make an entrance. The alley held no warmth, and the wind was blowing through it. Lord Balan was on a horse. The Lord of the Harbor was dead, and I was unsure how it
would play out when the king had to fall. They had men, yes, hidden in the city, but likely not enough to take the wall of the Tower of the Temple and should they get in through the mint with me leading as Gal, perhaps the Brothers would fight very well. I had not seen Shaduril after that evening, but I knew she hated me. Sand was dead.
And I was about to begin my part in the show.
The Tenginell house was located in the Third Ring, not far from the mint or the Affront, in fact, and it was a very well guarded affair. There was a dark gray wall and then a gatehouse built of white and pinkish stones. The stones were lined with very green moss. The house itself had seen better times I decided while I shivered with the damned weather. I stared at the strange circular main building with four stories and a crenelated roof with the house flags. There was a red snowflake on a white field on the flag, a delicate symbol and strangely peaceful. Tenginell was the Ninth House, not an overly powerful house.
But they had the queen.
‘When will she appear?’ a man whispered.
‘They will be here,’ Lith whispered from the shadows, not far. ‘Patience, dolts. Patience. And keep alert.’
‘What if they use some underground tunnel,’ I asked her. ‘The city is full of them, as you know.’
‘That is her,’ a hulking soldier told us and nodded towards the mouth of a smaller street some hundreds of yards away. ‘I’m sure of it.’ There was movement there, indeed. A procession of savage armored men on horses surrounded a tall figure, riding on a sleek, white horse. There were seven Brothers riding before them.
‘Hardly subtle. Didn’t they say they would be subtle as she visits her house?’ I asked. ‘That she would sneak to her family? That is as secretive as a dozen roaring drunk sailors trying to attend a wedding.’
‘Shh,’ Lith said happily. ‘Perhaps the late events have made them value security over everything else. Does not matter. That is her.’ She nodded at the tall figure, and I saw it was she. Her face was covered with dark clothing, leaving her hair and eyes free, and those eyes were brilliant blue as she was nodding at the men around her. The gate to the Tenginell house was opened, and a slight man peeked out of it, then nodded back inside and they filed in. Balan guided his horse near us and sat there in silence with us as the parade came closer.
‘Falg is the one at the end of the procession,’ he whispered. Indeed, there rode a wide-shouldered man with thick, braided hair, and a sword and an ax on his silvery belt. ‘Take a good look at him.’ And I did. Most of all, his eyes were grim and cold, dull and full of life’s misery. He was a slave, a warrior, and a man who lived his life serving until death. He had no love in his soul, no fear, no hope.
‘Why would they have someone like that serving the queen?’ I whispered. ‘He looks homicidal.’
‘He is from the Shadowed Mountains,’ Lith whispered. ‘They swear a life oath if captured. They are wonderfully loyal, get by with very little, and no matter what they think about their masters, they will fight for them until their oaths are fulfilled. He, like any man, hopes to see home one day, but he won’t.’
‘I see,’ I told her and eyed the wealthy procession trotting inside the gates and to the yard. There were neighs beyond the gates, orders were barked, and some laughter could be heard.
‘The pale queen,’ Lith said spitefully. ‘Very pale, very dangerous. But soon, much more white.’
I nodded, unhappy with my doubts. They were criminals. Deadly, dangerous killers. Our royals should die, indeed. It was my oath with Sand. Balan said they wanted to destroy the world of Red Midgard. He was right, was he not? Rumors of war were everywhere. And the king had killed my family. He had ordered them hung. Sand had died to them.
But I did not know the queen. And I would poison her. How could I?
‘Do you have the poison?’ Balan asked me as if he had read my thoughts.
I patted my chest. There, on a yellow bottle were three pebbles of gray color right next to Balan’s two letters. ‘Yes. I have them.’
‘Good,’ he said. ‘I know this is hard. But think of your mother and your family, your father even. They hung. They begged, cried, perhaps, and paid the ultimate price. No matter how much you distrust me, this will be good for the people. Do not hesitate. Never hesitate. Or you will die. And so shall we.’
‘I will do my best,’ I told him morosely, afraid. He was glowering at me, and I scowled at him. ‘I will do more than my best? I will exceed all expectations, even.’
‘You had better, thief,’ he said. ‘The Dark Sands event begins in a few hours. Falg will likely leave very soon to prepare for it. The queen will eat in a bit, and perhaps an hour from now, we shall move.’
‘Yes, Lord,’ I told him.
‘For Shaduril, do not fail,’ he added. ‘I know Lith made her wretched, but she is still there. I don’t want you in the family, Maskan, but I don’t want to see her unhappy either.’
‘We will see,’ I whispered, avoiding Lith’s long looks. ‘And if I get her back, you won’t get the letter back, nor the book.’
He hesitated at that and shook his head slowly, his eyes resentful. He nodded at his daughter. ‘Lith will tell you where to go after the killing. We must go to the mint, as soon as we can, so please hurry. Shaduril’s life depends on it. Gal’s treachery cost us time, at least. Follow her instructions, then and later. All of them. To the dot,’ he said and rode away.
‘In there,’ Lith said, and nodded at a house in the corner to the alley. There was a door, we entered it and found a former tavern. Men remained in the streets to look at the Tenginell house. Lith walked the shadows to sit by the window and showed me a seat across from her. She nodded at some of her men, who disappeared. She was beautiful, her smile wide, if nervous, and she was mad enough to think I’d let her back into my life, for she lifted her foot on my lap as soon as I sat down. I resisted the urge to break it. She saw my face and sighed. ‘Come now! It was Taram who hurt you. Not I. I only made both of us happy, briefly, and I am not even done with you. I would and will get you later, for Shaduril is a sad, dull specimen, and no man could love such a morose girl forever. Am I not desirable? Worth your time?’
‘I do not deny,’ I told her morosely, ‘that you are beautiful. But so is a poisonous flower. Fine. You kept your promise to keep our … mistake a secret. But I love her. And I do not find her boring. I have seen her whooping in the surf, happy as the sun.’
She hesitated at that and rubbed her forehead as if fighting a memory. ‘She was happy once. I remember that as well. But we loved the same man, and she has not been the same after. I loved the boy. I won. Now? It’s all happening again. Except you claim you love her over me!’ she cursed. ‘It is beyond my understanding. You don’t know the first damned thing about love. Massage. Calf.’
I hesitated. She kicked my shin. I cursed and pulled her foot up and removed her short, fur lined boot and massaged the leg, as instructed. Her skin was cold, but then, we were all freezing. She moaned in pleasure, and I looked away. ‘This good?’ I asked her. ‘Better than in the tub?’
‘It is excellent, Maskan,’ she groaned. ‘I knew you would get the hang of it. You took Father’s book,’ she murmured.
‘I did,’ I said. ‘He’ll not rule. That book will make sure of it.’
‘He will need it back,’ she said softly, eyeing me.
‘Why?’ I asked spitefully. ‘A murderer like him won’t dictate anything to me. There will be a king, and I’ll make sure it won’t be someone he controls. No.’
‘He won’t,’ she agreed. ‘Crec returns.’
‘Huh?’
She smiled. ‘Perhaps you will keep Crec’s face and live your life as him? Gal will die off, and you will be the king. Then I’d have you! I’ll be the queen. And you can let him have the book back. You have his letter, no? Surely enough?’
‘What?’ I asked, still distracted by her suggestion.
‘It’s possible,’ she said, and I shuddered with anger. ‘Crec’s son cannot wipe hi
s rear on his own, little less rule the other houses. Won’t do. But you can.’
‘You seem very sure you can slay Falg,’ I stated, my mind whirling with her words. King? Living as Crec? Never. ‘He looks like a capable fighter. And he had a partner as well, no?’
‘We can kill one or two men, yes, no matter their worth. We have these men here, and you saw the army yesterday. Some will be at hand,’ she grinned and poked me with her other foot, demanding I employ a more vigorous approach to her toes, and I did my best.
‘What,’ I asked her, ‘is her name? The queen’s?’
‘Name?’ she said, staring at me with exasperation. ‘You people of the Bad Man’s. Don’t even know the names of your royals. It is fine, perhaps. Don’t ask the name of someone you aim to kill. We call her the Pale Lady.’
‘Very well,’ I said miserably. ‘But I’m not like you. I will do this only once. And try to live with it on my conscience.’
She stared at me in astonishment. ‘Didn’t you kill our guard? Pray, tell me what I am like?’
I regretted saying anything but shrugged away my apprehensions. ‘Vivacious. Beautiful. But I don’t think you care about anything. Except a foot rub, of course,’ I added to take away the edge of my claim. But I could not. I looked away from her. ‘You are murderers. Did you help kill those villagers?’
She sighed. ‘Really? Did I? Yes. It’s war, Maskan. And I used to care,’ she said with a soft voice. Yet, her eyes were hard as stone as she yanked her leg off my lap. ‘You know nothing of my hardships. And I care for many things. You as well.’
‘I don’t think I will ever be as casual about it as you are. Or … Shaduril.’
‘It’s in my nature, Maskan, to enjoy occasional bloodshed, same as Shaduril, but you need not worry. You’ll perform just fine. Just do this one deed and then play Gal and Crec. Imagine it is sugar you pour on her dinner and then go.’
The Beast of the North Page 25