by Tom Lloyd
‘Any idea where we’re going?’ Kas asked breezily as they filed down the narrow stair to the common room below.
‘None. Anatin likes you more’n me, why would I know?’
‘Ah, but I’ve not caught the eye of our employer,’ Kas said with an exaggerated wink. ‘Least, not in that way. I get the impression she don’t like me playing with her toys. Toil’s not mentioned anything to you?’
‘Not her toy and I’ve barely seen her,’ Lynx replied gruffly. ‘That fun at the festival left her with a few broken bones; she’s been resting when she’s not been about her business.’
‘Which is?’
‘Don’t think I really want to know, to be honest. Reckon she’s got her fingers in more pies than we’ll ever find out – some sanctioned, others not so much. Mebbe it’s a good sign she’s telling us nothing. Believing what we were told the first time round was hardly worthwhile now, was it?’
‘Maybe you could press her for some details in future,’ Kas purred. The woman’s voice was like honey when she wanted it to be, thick and rich even though Lynx couldn’t quite shake the hint of a sting too. ‘We got lucky in Shadows Deep; let’s not see how far we can stretch that, okay? Toil pays well and Anatin usually has his reasons for not sharing, but I’m a scout and I like to see what’s ahead o’ me.’
‘Like I said, I ain’t seen her much and she’s not one for straight answers anyway.’
Kas pursed her lips and glanced away. ‘You find a way to get some,’ she said in a softer voice, ‘or that girl’s gonna chew you up and spit you out.’
‘Yeah, I know.’
‘Aye, that’s the sad thing about it.’
‘Eh?’
‘Never mind.’
They said no more until they reached the bottom and turned the corner out into the almost deserted common room – bar one person, but the sight of her was enough to make Lynx stop dead.
‘Ah, the very woman,’ Kas declared in a slightly forced way, rounding Lynx and giving him a hefty slap on the backside as she passed. ‘I’ve warmed him up for you. Enjoy!’
For good measure Estal gave Lynx a slap as she passed too, then headed for the kitchen, whistling loudly. Momentarily alone and subjected to Toil’s sharp scrutiny, Lynx found himself feeling unaccountably nervous as the seconds ticked silently past.
‘Ah, morning,’ he said at last, unable to stand the quiet.
‘It is,’ Toil acknowledged.
For a moment he thought she was going to say more but the woman fell into silence again. The yellowed stains of bruising were still visible on her face, along with a trace of weariness she’d not had even after days of running from maspid packs through a Duegar city-ruin.
‘Still need the stick?’ Lynx asked, nodding to the walking stick in her hand. It was made of some white wood with no decoration and Lynx couldn’t help but assume there’d be a blade concealed somewhere in it.
‘Means my leg heals faster.’
Toil was dressed in a plain tunic and trousers, high boots and a heavy sheepskin coat – not too different to most of the mercenaries she was employing, just a better cut. True to form she wore no jewellery or decorations, just her distinctive dark red hair tied back with a strip of red ribbon. She was a noticeably muscular woman, but it was the glittering, arresting smile that most people saw first.
‘You, ah, you know Kas was joking, right?’
‘Not my business what you get up to.’
Lynx hesitated. ‘Oh. Okay, right then.’
Toil shook her head and a smile appeared on her face. ‘I know she was joking,’ she admitted, ‘but I never get tired of watching you squirm. How is it you’ve seen so much of this world and still can’t work women out?’
Lynx felt a flush of relief. ‘Hardly think I’m the only one like that round here,’ he muttered.
‘True – most don’t tie themselves up in knots over it, though.’ She cocked her head to one side. ‘Don’t worry, it’s an attractive quality.’
‘Experience tells you might be in a minority there.’
The glittering smile returned like the sun breaking through clouds. ‘Oh, I didn’t mean attractive to me.’
‘Ah. Good.’
‘Toil!’ yelled a voice from the private room behind the bar, where Anatin took most of his meals with his officers. ‘Stop playing with your food, the tide doesn’t wait.’
‘It’ll do so if I bloody tell it to,’ Toil yelled back. ‘See you on the boat, Lynx.’
He raised his eyebrows. ‘Boat to where?’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.’
‘Haven’t you learned I don’t like surprises?’
She laughed and headed back into the dining room. ‘But I like them. This one’s for all of you anyway. I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun of seeing your little faces.’
Given the improving weather, Lynx and Llaith didn’t have their sunny corner to themselves for long. With a plate of sweet buttery pastries inside them and good headway made through a large jug of coffee, they smoked in relative silence as the rest of the company stirred to life around them.
Safir had been called in to eat with Anatin and Toil – along with the other Knights of the company, Payl, Reft and Teshen. There were five suits in the Mercenary Deck, but the Knight of Stars, Olut, was one of those who hadn’t made it through Shadows Deep.
It wasn’t long before Himbel, the company doctor, and Sitain joined Lynx and Llaith. None of them were a ray of sunshine in the morning, so they often started the day together, Sitain ignoring the clouds of smoke in favour of the relative quiet around the table.
‘Said your goodbyes then, Sitain?’ Llaith asked after a while, stretching contentedly.
‘Yup.’
‘Fancy telling us about it in painstaking and lurid detail?’
‘Not even a little.’
Llaith smiled. ‘Fair enough. Anyone got word on where we’re heading to next? Lynx?’
‘Fuck’s sake, you too? No, I don’t know.’
‘Hmm. Anatin just laughed when I asked, which is never good, but Foren was looking pleased which normally means he’s seen what we’re gonna get paid.’
‘Deern’s offering the best odds on Militant Order-controlled cities,’ Himbel said.
‘Which means he don’t know shit and is just trying to scam folk,’ Llaith snorted. ‘Anatin knows his crew and he likes what’s left of his body – he’d not try that. So if no one knows, let’s talk about Lynx’s promotion instead.’
‘What?’ Sitain and Lynx demanded in the same breath.
He shrugged. ‘We’re a Knight down. Anatin won’t want to keep it like that.’
Lynx scowled, not at the idea of promotion, but at the memory of seeing the last Knight of Stars die. He glanced at Sitain and saw a similar expression on her face. Olut had been a big bear-like woman, fierce and fearless, but she’d hardly seen her death coming when a monster in the depths of Shadows Deep had gutted her.
‘I’m not taking Olut’s badge,’ he said slowly. ‘Or any Knight’s. Had my fill of command in the war.’
‘Well you sure as shit can’t take orders, might be you’re better suited to giving them instead.’
‘Still not going to happen.’ Lynx shook his head. ‘Why’d you even think so? I’m new to the company.’
‘Lot’s o’ reasons.’ Llaith grinned. ‘One – most everyone hates you anyway, what with you being a Hanese bastard commando, so being jumped up above them won’t change things on that front. But it also means you’ve seen enough action. Even Braqe couldn’t claim you weren’t fit for the job.’
Lynx looked over to where a woman with dark skin sat on the far side of the courtyard, the Jester of Tempest badge on her jacket. ‘Want to put money on that?’
‘Hah, mebbe not Braqe then, but the rest. Anyway, way I see it Estal’s too broken in the head to lead a suit and I’m too old. Next in the order of cards is Varain, Ulax and you—’
‘There’s me!’ protested Himbe
l. ‘I’m a Diviner too, remember? We’re the same rank!’
Llaith waved his hand dismissively. ‘Yeah, but you’re, well, you.’
‘Fuck’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means you’re a crap soldier and a miserable sod most of the time,’ Llaith laughed. ‘A worse leader I can hardly imagine. You stick to sewing the rest of us up and keeping Deern in his place, my friend. Where was I? Ah yeah, Ulax ain’t cut out for command and Varain – now, Varain’s got a lovely singing voice and the man can fight, but he ain’t much with the thinky stuff.’
‘Reft’s the Knight of Blood and he can’t bloody talk!’ Himbel pointed out.
Llaith raised an eyebrow. ‘Sure, but – well in the same way that you’re you, he’s fucking Reft. Look at the man. You don’t hide a monster like that where no one can see it, let alone not pay him as well as any other merc in the company. Deern does enough talking for the two of them, Reft manages fine.’
‘So that leaves me?’ Lynx scoffed. ‘Anatin’s favourite recruit? Ulfer’s horn, he’d be better off promoting Kas.’
‘But he won’t ’less she asks him to. He likes keeping her out of command. She already does a damn good job holding this collection of fools together. Bet you she gets paid more’n the other Madmen – or you’n Varain too for that matter – but she’s worth it at twice the price to Anatin.’
Even the more recent recruits, Lynx and Sitain, nodded at that. They’d only been part of the Cards for a few months, but Kas’s effect on the rest was plain to see – not least because she had a warm heart and no sharp edges, unlike most mercenaries. She had befriended almost every man and woman there and put this to good use heading off trouble; sometimes smoothing over ruffled feathers, sometimes having a quiet word. Like most mercenary groups, the Cards were only ever a few drinks away from shooting each other, but mostly they didn’t and Kas was a big reason for it.
‘Who does that leave?’
‘Not many, none worth giving the Knight of Stars card to.’
‘Well I ain’t taking it,’ Lynx repeated. ‘It’s not for me.’
If Llaith had anything more to say on the subject he was beaten to the punch by Payl exiting the inn. The woman had her pack and mage-gun slung over her shoulder, while the company quartermaster, Foren, followed close behind her.
‘Finish up, boys and girls,’ she announced. ‘Fetch your kit and muster outside in five. I don’t expect you to be able to march like real soldiers, but anyone not at the Dawn Dock when we’re ready to leave loses any pay owed to them, get me?’
The mercenaries scrambled to obey and Payl stepped aside to let them pour through the door. She gave Llaith a small smile and a nod.
‘You too, old man,’ Payl called over the clatter of feet. ‘You don’t want to miss Toil’s surprises.’
‘Surprises? More than one?’
Her smile widened. ‘Oh, she’s got a couple up her sleeve. Thought you knew that by now?’
Chapter 3
The city of Su Dregir sat on both sides of a hill overlooking a flattened horseshoe bay on the eastern shore of Parthain, one of the continent’s great inland seas. The stepped districts of the shore-side saw none of the morning sun this early so the rooftops and gutters remained edged in frost as Anatin’s Mercenary Deck shambled down the street.
The Dawn Dock was the further corner of Su Dregir bay, a longer walk than anyone wanted but it was the deepest water so there the largest ships docked. A high sea wall extended the line of the bay almost up to the small fortress island that guarded the bay’s inlet and it was clear their path was leading them along the wall’s inner face to a single tall ship. They continued on their winding way down through the dock district and across a humped stone bridge. A long wind-swept avenue ran around the southern edge of the bay, skirted by a shallow pebble beach that tailed away as they reached the sea wall.
The grey flag of Su Dregir flying from the ship’s mast, a lighthouse rising from a crown of green glass, was plain for all to see in the sparkle of morning sun. It told enough of a story to set the mercenaries chattering like excited schoolchildren. Lynx tried to peer over heads to see what was going on at the front, where Anatin and Toil led the company. Everyone carried their own kit so he guessed they weren’t taking their wagons on board to use on the other side.
‘We’re going somewhere on Parthain?’ he said out loud to those near him, the suit of Tempest as usual bringing up the rear in their column.
‘Looks like it,’ Llaith said through a puff of cigarette smoke. ‘More interesting question is, are those flags anything to do with us or are we just making up the space on someone else’s voyage?’
‘Both,’ Teshen, sergeant of the suit, confirmed. ‘You’ll see soon enough.’
Llaith scowled. ‘Are we going to like the answer?’
The Knight looked back, his smile half-hidden by a veil of sandy hair. ‘Put it this way, you won’t hate it as much as some.’
‘Oh great.’
A painted white plaque on the tall ship’s stern proclaimed it Veraimin’s Beacon. No great surprise there, Lynx realised, given the city’s lighthouse emblem and throwing in the Sun God for good measure. Walking down the dock towards the ship, the Cards passed a small procession of robed figures coming the other way – a deputation from the temple of Ulfer, lord of earth and sea.
The priestess led the way; a straight-backed elderly woman in green and white, behind whom trailed half a dozen novices in green. Each novice carried one aspect required for the blessing ceremony that many journeys began with – rushes, a prayer mat, jars of honey and consecrated water, a now-extinguished torch and a thurible still leaking a thin trail of pungent, earthy smoke.
As they reached the ship, Lynx could see that supplies were still being loaded by a dozen shiphands. More interestingly, there was also a carriage to one side of the gangway. Four soldiers in the grey and green uniform of the Archelect’s own Lighthouse Guard waited beside it on horseback. They were a strange mix, Lynx realised, as they came closer – all natives of the city, but not quite so neatly ceremonial as the handsome black horses and maroon carriage, freshly painted and sporting shining hammered brass.
The company shuffled to a halt at Payl’s command and Anatin called out to the nearest of the soldiers, a tall officer with a hawk nose and weak chin. ‘Captain Onerist?’
The captain seemed to puff out his chest as he stepped forward. ‘That I am,’ he replied stiffly. ‘You are Commander Anatin?’
‘At your service.’
‘The Envoy is aboard,’ Onerist announced, ‘speaking to the ship’s captain. I will conduct you to him later. These are …’ The man gestured back at the other soldiers and seemed to hesitate as though needing to remind himself. ‘These are my men. We will be in sole charge of the Envoy’s security unless I direct you otherwise. The rest of the Envoy’s staff and servants are already aboard, have your men keep clear of them. Your company is to accompany us to, ah, to our destination and remain on standby should I require your services.’
The three he seemed unsure about dismounted too, one ambling over with little military precision, while the other two hung back. The bolder man was a big, barrel-chested soldier with thick black curls and an easy smile. Behind him came a thin, awkward and bespectacled man in an ill-fitting uniform, and a small blonde woman who didn’t look much more like a soldier but moved with considerably more grace. The big one was perhaps a little younger than Lynx, the other two almost a decade shy.
‘Very good, sir,’ Anatin replied in a drily obsequious tone which the captain appeared oblivious to.
‘I will fetch the first mate to direct you and inform the Envoy of your arrival. Have your men on board and squared away as fast as you can, captain.’
‘That I will, sir.’
As Captain Onerist headed stiffly up the gangway, Anatin gave a snort and turned his back.
‘Right, you lazy murdering sods,’ he yelled to his assembled troops. ‘First things first, we’re
going on a trip and you’re all going to behave. We’ve been hired as escort for one Senator Ammen of this fair city, who’s off to be an official Envoy of Su Dregir. It’s the usual sort of escort duty, most of you have done it before and it’s easy money so no dicking around, understand? That means no throwing sailors in the sea, Reft, no hanging men by their ankles off the sail, Brols, and no gelding of anyone, Braqe, okay?’
Lynx nodded to himself as a few sniggers and low comments came from the troops. Few cities had significant standing armies and, especially when sending delegations to other city-states, it was not deemed politic to assign them a troop of professional soldiers given the havoc a small number could wreak. Keeping a contingent of mercenaries in the vicinity and on retainer was actually considered less hostile, given few people trusted secret plans to mercs.
‘Second – we’re a Knight short. For the time being Estal’s in charge of Stars, but this is escort duty so we should be all keeping together anyway. Lastly, we’ve a new recruit and any kiddie in the class who don’t make her feel welcome is a damn fool.’
He nodded his head towards Toil who looked briefly around at the company as though daring anyone to comment. Lynx caught a glimpse of a badge pinned to her jacket, but he couldn’t see the details – only that it was a red card, either the suit of Sun or Blood.
Up ahead, though, the mercenaries had a better look and a mutter of surprise soon raced around the company. Several turned towards the hairless white head of Reft, the Knight of Blood, towering over the troops, but the silent mercenary didn’t deign to notice.
Anatin looked over to the ship to see a bald man starting down the gangway, presumably the first mate, so he continued quickly.
‘Nothing changes as far as any of you are concerned so keep your gossipy traps shut, keep out the way of the sailor people, and try not to shoot holes in the bottom of the boat. And don’t win all their money at cards until our destination is close enough to swim to. Any questions, keep ’em to your fucking selves.’
Teshen turned back to his small suit of mercenaries and gave them a cold grin, lingering on Lynx for reasons he didn’t like.