by Jack Conner
When he could, he raised his face to see the soldiers glancing away. They looked sad for him and embarrassed to be witnessing this. He wanted to ask more follow-up questions, but his mind was hideously, repulsively blank. He couldn’t put two thoughts together to save his life.
Tossing the troops aside, Janx and Hildra stormed in.
“Damn, Doc,” Janx said, wrapping an arm around Avery’s shoulder. “I can’t believe it.”
Hildra shooed the soldiers out of the bedroom and slammed the door in their faces. “They wouldn’t let us come in earlier. Bastards. Did they tell you?”
Numbly, Avery nodded. He still couldn’t speak.
Hildra dug out a cigarette and stuck it between his lips, having to put the pack away before she could fetch her lighter. Her new hook had been confiscated upon entering the palace.
“Fuck it, Frank,” Hildra said. “You don’t know shit. She could still be alive. All we know is the palace got blown to bits. Sorry,” she added when he winced.
She lit the stick for him, and he inhaled gratefully. He didn’t smoke often, but he realized he needed one now. Thank Hildra for seeing that.
“They think Sheridan did it,” Janx said. “Why? She wouldn’t hurt Ani.”
“Unless she’s still working for Octung,” Hildra mused. “I mean, they wouldn’t want us to be the ones to wake up the Sleeper. If they knew that was about to happen, they might do anything to stop it.”
Avery summoned his wits. “No,” he said, and his voice was thick and barely audible. Louder, he said, “No.”
“Why?”
“If they did that ... assassinated the royal family … they may never be able to open the Tomb.”
“Surely Ani ain’t the only one that could open it,” Janx said.
Avery took a breath. “She is. She’s ...” He cleared his throat. “She’s the Chosen One.”
They stared at him as he took another drag on his cigarette, his mind snapping back into focus. “Uthua told me. Only the Chosen One can open the Tomb.”
“Why do you think that’s Ani?”
“She’s called the Pocked One. The Chosen One is.”
“Pocked ...”
“Like Ani’s scars,” Hildra nodded. “Yeah. Could be. And she’s so strong ...”
Janx found some clothes and tossed them at Avery. Awkwardly, as he was still smoking, Avery began to dress. His movements were mindless and mechanical.
“Sheridan didn’t know,” he said. “I never told her.”
“What, that little Ani’s the Chosen One?” Janx said.
“That’s right.”
“I don’t know about all this ‘Chosen One’ shit,” Hildra said. “I mean, what does that even mean, Chosen? Chosen by who?”
“I don’t know,” Avery said. “I don’t understand any of this. I ... I wish Layanna were here.”
“Hell with that,” Hildra said. “I’m glad to be rid of her.”
“Besides,” Janx said darkly. “She’s changed. After you ... and her ... well, Doc, I don’t think she considers herself human anymore. If she ever did. And now she’s got herself her own religion, well ...”
By the time Avery finished dressing, his head was pounding.
“Give me a few minutes to brush my teeth and get ready, and we’ll go find Issia.”
Twenty minutes later, the Empress-Regent admitted them into her solar, a large room filled with exotic plants and bathed in what light her alchemically-treated windows could coax out of the day, which wasn’t much. She sat on a bench near the wall, telephone nearby. It rang every few minutes, and she would talk into it breathlessly, then slam it down. Runners came and went. She was the queen bee of the hive, and even though it had been stirred up she was still running the show, trying to instill some order in the bedlam.
Avery, Janx and Hildra kept her company for hours while news slowly trickled in. Issia had a television set wheeled into the fragrant room, and they watched various reporters read the latest reports, both in Ysstran and Ghenisan. The Empress-Regent often had more recent news, as she was in touch with Prime Minister Denaris, but the Prime Minister was having her own problems and was not as responsive as she might have been. Denaris and King Idris had been at each other’s throats since his coronation, and it was widely known how much she hated the whole idea of sharing power with the Voryses. She’d fought for democracy her whole life and some Ghenisans were floating the idea that she had had the Royal Family assassinated so as to protect the form of government she so loved. She and her staff were spending great deals of energy dismissing these rumors.
At the scene of the attack, police and emergency crews had gathered to quell the flames and comb the ruins for survivors. Citizens had already drawn to the site in large numbers, laying flowers and wax dolls around the perimeter (or as close as the police would allow them to get), and singing songs of mourning and perseverance. Various cults were trying to recruit new members and/or proclaiming that this was one more sign of the end times. Little did they know how right they were.
Avery waited tensely for word, smoking one cigarette after another. When Hildra’s pack ran out, the Empress-Regent let him smoke hers. She only smoked a few cigarettes a day, and she had plenty. And of course she could order as many more as she liked, any time of the day.
Word came around noon from Denaris. Last night a retainer of the royal family had drugged Ani and stolen her away, obviously with help, though who else was implicated in the kidnapping could not be said at this time. The retainer was seen when she dropped Ani off at the house of one of the Voryses’ supporters, one of those families who had helped them (and especially Lord Idris) endure the times before their reemergence. Ani had been unconscious and the butler who had answered the door had taken her immediately to the family matriarch, who had not known what to do with Ani and indeed had not known whom Ani was exactly until the girl awoke. By then the palace had exploded and there was so much chaos that getting word to Prime Minister Denaris had been problematic. When she was aware of what had happened, Denaris sent for Ani personally and had her delivered to the Parliament Building, where she was now staying with the Prime Minister’s family, if only temporarily.
When Avery heard the news, he nearly melted. He instantly began crying and could not stop for a long time. Janx clapped him on the back and made him drink a couple of glasses of whiskey, which helped.
Avery had the Empress-Regent place the call, and for a long time he and Ani spoke together, both of them sobbing and babbling, only half-coherent, while Janx, Hildra and the Empress-Regent gave them space, watching the latest news reports on the television at the other end of the room.
“Papa!” Ani said. “They’re all dead! Uncle Id, Aunt Oris, they’re dead, all dead!”
“I know, honey,” Avery said, as he had many times before. “I know. But you’re alive and that’s all that matters at the moment. You’re alive, and you’re safe. I’m having Aunt Gwen send you to me immediately.”
“But ... Papa ... I can’t leave.”
“Why not?”
Her voice grew strange. “Because, Papa, I’m ... I’m the Queen.”
There it was, out in the open. Anissa was indeed the Queen of Ghenisa, or would be as soon as a ceremony could take place. Sheridan had murdered everyone between her and the crown.
Avery gulped down a breath. “That’s right, darling. But you need to be with me right now, and I need to be with you.”
“Can’t you come here?”
I wish it were that easy. “You have to come to me,” he said.
“But why?”
“Because you just do.”
“I don’t want to. The people need me,” she said.
“Aunt Gwen can lead them just fine without you, honey.”
“But—”
“Ani, no—”
“But I’m queen and I don’t want to.”
Despite everything, he hid a smile. Something warm rose inside him. “Yes, honey, but that means I’m ...” He cle
ared his throat, suddenly dizzy with the implications. “That means I’m King-Regent, and you’re only the queen-in-waiting until you turn eighteen ... and I’m telling you to come to me.”
She sulked for a bit, but in the end she seemed to want to see him, and she agreed. Avery hung up to see Janx and the others coming over.
“I heard what you said,” the Empress-Regent said. “I was trying not to listen, but that part cut through the chatter. I apologize.”
“Well?” Avery asked. “Was I wrong?”
The Empress-Regent extended her hand. Wonderingly, he took it, and they shook.
“Well met, King of Ghenisa.”
Avery swayed. This is surreal.
Hildra stared at him with wide eyes. “Holy fuckin’ shit! Really?”
“So it is,” Issia said.
Janx grinned around his cigar. “Guess that makes me a cabinet member, then, eh? Or duke or somethin’. I’ll take my castle now, if ya don’t mind.”
Avery didn’t feel so cavalier. His cheeks were still tacky with tears. “She’s coming. Denaris should deliver her after the coronation tomorrow morning. She’ll be here by tomorrow night.” He paused. To the Empress-Regent, he said, “About Sheridan ...”
Issia’s tone was cold. “She is a traitor and an assassin.”
“You can’t prove that.”
“I just received word, actually. The Vorys family retainer that kidnapped Anissa—the butler who received her was able to provide a sketch of the man she was with, the one driving the car, and that sketch matches one of Admiral Haggarty’s known confederates.”
“He’s still around?” Hildra said.
The Empress-Regent inclined her head. “In hiding. Likely living in the sewers of Hissig with his faithful followers. And he is a direct pawn of your creature Sheridan, so Lord Avery tells me. It was Haggarty she called last night, or one of his people, it must be. How they had someone in place in the royal family I can’t guess, but these are not novices we’re dealing with.”
Avery swallowed. “She ... had a good reason for what she did. I know it was abhorrent, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it enabled Ani to become queen. Without what Sheridan did, we would never have received this chance to open the Tomb.”
All three stared at him in shock.
“Gods, Doc,” Janx said. He took out his cigar, watched its glowing tip, and replaced it in his mouth. He did it all slowly, thoughtfully, almost dream-like.
Hildra was more blunt. “Fuck that, bones. That bitch deserves to die. She blew up—what’s the final count so far?”
“Twenty-nine people,” the Empress-Regent said.
“She murdered twenty-nine people. Fuck her. She can go sit on a thresher and let it spin. Fuck. That. Bitch.”
“My sentiments exactly,” the Empress-Regent said. “I don’t know how she escaped the grounds, or where she is, but she will be found. And dealt with.” She said this last in a lower tone of voice, her eyes fixed on Avery’s. “Accordingly.”
Avery poured himself another drink, hands shaking. Be swift, Jess, he thought. On the heels of that, he thought, What have I become? How can I forgive her so easily? A wave of shame came over him, but he knocked back a sip and it retreated.
The Grand Vizier entered. He was a short, thin man, and looked upset.
“What news do you bring?” the Empress-Regent said.
“Your Highness, there has been a murder in the Palace.” He dabbed at his forehead with a cloth. “Several, in fact.”
Avery felt cold. “Was it … Sheridan?”
“I don’t think so, sir. The bodies … no human could have done that.”
* * *
“You say you’ve seen murders like this?” the Grand Vizier asked Avery. Avery’s group accompanied him and his troops while the Empress-Regent, under heavy guard, remained in the solar, having summoned her son to her.
“I haven’t seen the bodies yet, so I can’t say for sure,” Avery said. “But if they are as I suspect, then yes. Can you tell us anything more of their condition?”
“I haven’t seen them yet. All I’ve been told is what the captain of the guard reported. They were torn apart.”
“You know what did this?” Janx said to Avery, as they started down an elaborate stairwell.
“Maybe. I’d been wondering when they would show up.”
“You think it’s these invisible creatures? The mystery party?”
“We’ll see.”
The group passed down a series of halls, all filled with soldiers peeking into every corner, and at last reached a room overflowing with activity. Avery coughed at the stench of ammonia even before he crossed the threshold, but once across it was overwhelming.
“Damn,” Hildra said.
Body parts were strewn across the room, which was filled with broken, overturned furniture. Pools of blood were still drying into the carpet. The reek of split intestines proved almost as strong as the ammonia. Workers picked through the wreckage with masks over their faces and Avery wished he’d been offered one. The room was a barracks chamber, he saw, but a handsome one, and a small number of stately bunk beds filled it. Or had filled it. They were in pieces now, along with their former occupants.
A burly woman in uniform approached the Grand Vizier. By her epaulets Avery saw she was the captain of the guard.
“Five dead, sir,” she said. “No survivors. No witnesses.”
“What could have caused this?” the Grand Vizier said, staring around with wide eyes. He looked ill, and Avery realized he was about to vomit. Indeed, just moments later the man staggered into a corner and voided his stomach.
“Hell of a mess,” Janx said, surveying the room. By his side, Hildra seemed about ready to join the Grand Vizier. She had her stump arm half-raised in a defensive gesture, as if she had forgotten the hook was missing.
To the captain of the guard, Avery said, “These soldiers—were they assigned to guard the Codex?”
The captain studied him but said nothing. When the Grand Vizier returned to them, wiping his mouth, he said, “Answer the man’s question, Captain.”
“They were,” the guard captain said. “They’d just gotten off-shift.”
“Then I advise moving the Codex immediately,” Avery said. “It should be taken to the Ghenisan Embassy here in town. I’ll speak with the ambassador and make sure it’s secured.”
The Grand Vizier looked uncertain. “I’m not sure if ...”
“I’m the King-Regent of Ghenisa, that Codex is my property, it’s not safe here, and it belongs on Ghenisan soil. Move it at once.”
The Grand Vizier blinked. To the guard captain, he said, “Have the item relocated to the embassy. The lord is correct. It’s clearly at risk here.”
“Have the runner that delivers the news go under heavy guard,” Avery said. “Those who did this could be listening in on us even now.”
The Grand Vizier’s eyes darted around.
“You’re learning fast,” Janx told Avery.
“Just what do you know about the killers, my lord?” the Grand Vizier asked.
“Not much,” Avery admitted. “I call them the mystery party. They can make themselves invisible, or perhaps they always are, I’m not sure. They have tentacles that can harm the Collossum. They’re after the Codex. Other than the fact that they’re allied with the pirates who are even now occupying Maryss Island, that’s all I know.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“Yes. I ran into them in Xlatleb, and they did the same thing there. They found the guards that had discovered the Codex and tortured them into finding out how to get access to it. Or they tried to, anyway. There’s no telling how much information they got out of your people. It’s only amazing no one heard their ... interrogation. Then again, they seem experts at that sort of thing.”
The Grand Vizier balled his fists at his side. “Don’t worry about the pirates on Maryss Island, my lord. They’ve been able to repel our fleet so far, but we’ve only been a
ble to assault them with the most local of our forces. We have our main fleet massing even now. It will take a few days for them to gather, as they’re so spread out, but there is no way a band of untrained cutthroats can withstand them.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I hope we have a few days,” Janx said. “If Segrul’s really in charge of ‘em, I doubt he’d give you the time to gather your full strength, Grand Vizier. He’d strike when he knew you were vulnerable.”
“You know this pirate’s tactics?” the Grand Vizier said.
“That surprise you?”
The Grand Vizier looked Janx up and down. “No. I suppose not.” Then, to Avery: “Interesting company you keep, my lord.”
“I’d have none other. Let me know if anything else develops. It’s possible I might be able to shed light on it. In the meantime, I think my friends and I should retire. It’s been a tiring morning.”
The Grand Vizier held up a finger, staying their departure. “If these invisible beings are running about the palace, my lord, it’s possible they may mean you an injury. If they are after the Codex, they’re no friends of yours.”
“He’s right, bones,” Hildra said. “I don’t fancy us being the next ones to get that treatment.” She hiked her thumb toward the bodies.
“I’ll assign some troops to you,” the Grand Vizier said, and saw to it. The troops had to be summoned from elsewhere in the building, but soon Avery, Janx and Hildra had a company of soldiers escorting them back to their chambers. Now that Avery was King-Regent, the Grand Vizier had offered him a bedroom known as the Chamber of Norvas, but Avery had declined. If Sheridan wanted to contact him, she would find him in their old room. And he would not be parted from Janx and Hildra, who had been given a room next door.
The two kept him company in his suite, and he poured them all a drink. He’d rarely needed one so badly. Rain slapped against the windows on the other side of the drapes, and he realized the sound was starting to drive him crazy.
“Hell of a thing,” Janx said, sipping. “These invisible people of yours. If people’s what they are.”
“I suppose,” Avery said. “I’ve only seen them as blurs. They have the ability to fight Collossum, so they can’t be human. Or at least not strictly human.”