Bargain

by Riley S. Keene

  “Come on,” Athala said, a teasing grin plastered across her face in a mischievous twist. “I’ve seen the way you look at her. You don’t even bother to stop staring when someone is looking right at you.”

  “I’m sorry that I stop to take the time to appreciate a beautiful woman,” Elise said with a sniff, but quickly waved her hands dismissively.

  “Who’s beautiful?” Ermolt said, finally looking up as he finished his food. “Elise?”

  “No, Merylle.” Athala said. “Well, I mean, Elise also, but Merylle is who we were talking about.”

  “Ah.” Ermolt furrowed his brow for a moment. “You might be right. Women love the tall, dark, and handsome look. And she has enough confidence to attract our little Conscript, too.”

  “That’s not important!” Elise threw her hands up in frustration. “It’s not like that. I feel...” She paused. What did she feel? Her stomach twisted. “I sort of pity her.”

  “Pity?” Athala asked as she leaned in closer to Elise. “That wasn’t pity I saw.”

  Elise glared at Athala. The wizard just leaned away, laughing. “I mean it. It’s her story about Teis.” Elise tapped a thumbnail against her front teeth as she thought. “She’s so bitter and, you know, sad about what happened. And I can see where she went wrong. She viewed her relationship with Teis as just that, a relationship. The Gods see us as tools, and she was so close with Him she thought her value to Him was as a companion instead.” She shrugged and sank down slightly in her seat. “I fear that sort of thing could happen if I listen only to Ydia’s words instead of paying attention to Her intent.”

  “You mean you might stop being useful?” Ermolt asked.

  “I mean that Meodryt demonstrated in Khule that they—and by extension, Ydia—can’t be patient forever.” Elise looked from Ermolt to Athala. “They may call us Dragonslayers and Bringers of the Age of Mortals, but if we think we have real value in those roles—that we are unique—we will be replaced as soon as they can find someone more useful, the same as Merylle was.” Elise shivered and looked to the ceiling. Tears pricked the backs of her eyes, but she willed herself to hold the tears back. “Even when she smiles, there’s anger in her eyes, and whenever she leaves a room, I think to myself ‘there but for the grace of Ydia go I.’”

  Athala and Ermolt fell quiet. Elise crossed her arms over her chest, much as Merylle always did.

  She feared the words she spoke. They were treason. Or worse yet, they were blasphemous, if Meodryt or Ydia were listening. And yet she felt the truth to them, in her heart of hearts. She knew they were playthings to be replaced once worn down, and yet she didn’t know how to stop from being used.

  Eventually Athala put a hand to her shoulder. Elise looked up at the wizard who gave her arm a slight squeeze. “It’ll be okay,” Athala said. “We’ll figure this all out.” A bit of the pressure in Elise’s chest released and she found herself smiling more freely. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you were just staring at her butt.”

  It took a moment for Athala’s words to sink in. Elise gaped at her friend as the wizard laughed. Even Ermolt joined in. Elise swatted the wizard’s shoulder. “Rude!”

  “What?” Athala grabbed her arm as if injured, laughing even louder. “There’s no shame in it! I mean, I know I was.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  After cleaning up their mess, Elise had told Ermolt and Athala to find an excuse to hang around the Overseer’s Keep while she met with Merylle. Partially it was in case there was some funny business afoot, but really it was because she didn’t know how much she could trust the two of them to make it back to the inn safe without her. Athala offered to show the barbarian the devices she and Anton had been working on. Elise thought that sounded like a bad idea. She would have to trust Anton to keep the two of them from blowing the place up.

  Elise strode through the Overseer’s Keep with a purpose. No one stopped her. There were new guards posted at regular intervals, and to Elise’s surprised they would bow or nod at her in respect as she passed. It was amazing the difference a few days made.

  When she found Merylle in her office just after nineteenth bell, the woman was ready for more than a single drink. Merylle held up a stout bottle of something dark and strong, and a pair of clay mugs for them to enjoy it with.

  “My office gets stuffy in the evenings,” Merylle said as Elise entered. She gestured to the window. “It’s wonderful in the mornings, but once it starts getting direct sunlight in the afternoon it becomes unbearable. Even with the sun being down for nearly a bell, it hasn’t cooled off yet.” Elise didn’t feel that uncomfortable, but the Overseer didn’t look like she wanted to discuss it. She carried the drink and mugs out of the office and gestured for Elise to follow. “I know a nice place where we won’t be disturbed.”

  Elise followed the Overseer out of the Keep and around to the cliffside. The view of the harbor and city on the eastern side of the Keep was breathtaking. There were enough lamps and torches throughout the city to illuminate Jalova as if it were a field of lightning bugs. The Temple of Teis stood, gently lit by its dome. It was as if the structure stored the day’s sunlight and then used it throughout the twilight hours.

  She looked away quickly. The sight of the Temple unnerved her. There was still so much to do, and the longer they waited the more things could go wrong.

  Up ahead, Merylle had kept walking, ignoring the fact that Elise had stopped. Further and further up the cliff she walked, into the encroaching darkness.

  Elise followed, rushing to catch up. Surely the Overseer knew the area surrounding the Keep well, but the bluff was steep and Merylle was walking with purpose.

  To the north of the Keep was a sea of endless black expanse. Even as Elise’s eyes adjusted to the moonlight, she couldn’t make out details past the bluff. Elise and Merylle stopped at the edge of the cliff. There was the sound of crashing waves far below them. Looking straight down showed nothing but darkness moving against darker darkness.

  The two women took a seat there, with their feet hanging out over the edge as if daring a strong wind to tip them into the abyss. Merylle carefully poured each of them a few fingers of the liquor she’d brought up and Elise groped for the clay mug.

  In the darkness, her fingers brushed across Merylle’s.

  Her instinct was to jerk her hand away as if she’d touched something dangerous. Merylle watched her with a blank expression. It was as if the Overseer expected her to pull away as well. Instead, Elise slid her hand down to the bottom of the mug and drew the cup from Merylle’s hand.

  The two women sat in silence. Elise’s eyes adjusted to the darkness slowly, and then all at once. Behind them the city glowed with an unnatural light, but here, in this quiet little place so far above it, they were alone.

  “I’m worried,” Merylle said at last. There was a sorrow in her voice that Elise hadn’t expected. “This assault on the dome... It’s what I’ve wanted for years. It’s why I joined the Overseers in the first place. It’s why I fought my way to the top. But it’s just too perfect to finally have this big impossible mission coming together.”

  “I know the feeling,” Elise said, taking a small sip of her drink. It was a strong whiskey. The kick of flavor almost made her choke, but swallowing the liquid allowed a heavy warmth to expand across her being. “I may not have as much of a build-up as you have, but it feels like it’s all coming together a little too easily.”

  “Yes, and that’s why I’m worried.” The Overseer took a sip from her own glass and sighed. “I am excited to finally have my revenge in reach, but plans are supposed to go wrong, and if they’re not going wrong here and now, I can only imagine how wrong they’ll go once we begin.”

  “It sounds to me like the planning itself hasn’t been going perfectly up until today’s lucky break,” Elise said. “Speaking of which, I am curious about this acquaintance and his crew you mentioned.”

  Merylle took a deeper drink of her whiskey and looked out over the ocean. “His he
lp will cost me, but it will be worth it. Since I left the Temple, I have lived for this revenge. I’ll pay it back for the rest of my life if I have to, if only I can make Him hurt like He hurt me.”

  “This might sound silly,” Elise said, feeling unsure about her words, but needing to say them. “But have you ever considered letting go? I know you loved Teis—truly loved Him—but it’s obvious He didn’t deserve you. Anyone who deserves such a deep devotion would never respond to it as He did.” Elise looked away, out over the dark ocean. She ran a finger against the rim of her mug. “I don’t think He deserves your hate. Not that He was right, but that He doesn’t deserve any of your thoughts anymore. Losing you should have been hurt enough for Him, even if He doesn’t realize it.”

  Merylle said nothing for a long while. Elise turned to find the Overseer staring at her.

  Color rose to Elise’s cheeks and she thanked the Gods for the darkness that enveloped them. Had she said something wrong? The Overseer was as volatile as one of Anton’s devices. Perhaps she’d said too much. She’d only known Merylle for a handful of days and she obviously didn’t understand the full situation.

  But instead of scolding her, the older woman lifted her drink to her lips again. Elise could see a tremor in her hand. She tipped the mug back quickly, throwing the cup’s contents directly down her throat in one large gulp. She coughed once and slowly wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

  “I have considered it,” Merylle said at last, a rasp in her voice from the liquor. “People have always told me the best revenge is living well, but when He cast me out he left a hole in my heart. A hole the size of a God. Nothing I’ve tried has ever satisfied me. No addiction, no obsession, no lover.”

  The Overseer’s voice grew thick, and Elise could hear a barely-contained sob in her breath. “No amount of drink or gold or sex has made me feel anything but emptier. I can’t live well. Without revenge to fill some of the space, I can’t expect anyone to fill my heart.” Her eyes flicked over Elise’s face, dipping below her chin for a moment before darting back up to meet her eyes. “Even a Conscript from another city with arms like braided steel cord, who will vanish as fast as she arrived once her mysterious ‘patron’ is appeased.”

  Elise froze in the darkness. She blinked and opened her mouth to speak but suddenly Merylle was there. The woman’s mouth tasted of whiskey and tears.

  The warmth of the kiss went straight to Elise’s head. Her eyes rolled closed and she leaned into the kiss with a soft sound. She was distantly aware of her mug hitting the ground and spilling liquor into the dirt before she felt the thick curls of Merylle’s hair under her palm.

  They were just as soft as they looked.

  Merylle made an urgent sound in her throat and she moved closer. The Overseer’s mug was knocked away absentmindedly. Over the bluff. Into the darkness. Its shattering was lost to the roar of the waves upon the rocks.

  A moment of clarity lanced from somewhere in Elise’s chest into her brain, and she pulled away sharply from those inviting lips. It was a little too sharply. Merylle made a mewling sound and leaned in more before she straightened up almost as if struck.

  “I’m sorry,” Merylle said, turning away. “I shouldn’t have been so forward. I just...”

  “It’s fine,” Elise said quickly, putting a reassuring hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “And it wasn’t unwelcome. It has been, ah, some time. But I just don’t think we should get... involved. Right now. It could be a distraction, and with what we’re planning, a distraction could be fatal.”

  “We’re grown women,” Merylle said in a cool tone. She turned to meet Elise’s eyes. There was a slight flush of color to the woman’s cheeks and Elise found herself hoping it was from the kiss more than the alcohol. The woman leaned in close once more, slowly, as if testing the waters. “I’m sure we can keep our heads clear even if we—”

  Elise licked her lips in anticipation of another kiss. She leaned forward and met the Overseer half way. She tumbled into the kiss like Merylle’s mug off the cliff. There was no hesitation. She wanted this. Needed this.

  Merylle whispered something against Elise’s lips. She wasn’t sure what the wordless plea was, but she had a pretty good idea. Her hand returned to the Overseer’s hair, fingers wrapped in along the curls.

  There was a shout. Far away. Elise didn’t care.

  They lost themselves in the darkness.

  Elise barely remembered to breathe. It wasn’t until the second shout of alarm and the clattering of the old bell by the gate that she realized something was wrong.

  She pushed away from Merylle. Both women looked back towards the Keep as the ringing faded. A clash of metal on metal arched through the air.

  The Keep. The Keep was under attack.

  As one, both women scrambled to their feet. There were no words as they broke into a run towards the Keep, leaving behind the empty mug and most of a bottle of whiskey.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The two women sped down the hill. Elise pulled ahead of Merylle, frustration fueling her to outrun the taller woman. At first she thought it could have been a ploy, but the sounds of combat grew louder as she approached.

  The sounds of Overseers dying.

  As she rounded the eastern side of the building, Merylle’s long fingers roped around her upper arm and the Overseer drew her back to hide behind the corner. Elise began to protest but Merylle only drew her lips together firmly and motioned toward the front yard.

  Together they peeked around the corner to look at the front gate.

  A wave of vertigo washed over Elise.

  How many days had it last been since she saw a Temple host? Not nearly enough. And while Hern’s group had been itching for a fight, Teis’s host was aiming for slaughter.

  The host was made up of mostly Conscripts and Clerics, from what Elise could see. Missing where the heavy mail suits and squared shields of the Temple Guard. But even so they had already overrun the front gate and their numbers were pushing up the ramp to the keep’s interior. There was the sound of fighting inside.

  “Elise,” Merylle whispered through clenched teeth. The Overseer’s fingers dug painfully into Elise’s arm. “You must help me. Them. Please. We can’t let them take the Keep. My people are in there. Anton alone is worth—”

  Elise touched the woman’s grasping hand. The fingers eased immediately. “Relax,” Elise said as she gave Merylle a reassuring smile. “You don’t even need to ask. I didn’t get ‘arms like braided steel cord’ by spinning Ydia’s prayer wheels, you know.” Merylle turned away, color rising to her cheeks.

  At any rate, Merylle or no Merylle, plans or no plans, Elise would need to get into the Keep. She would need to stop the Temple. Because if nothing else, Athala and Ermolt were still inside as well. And if Anton were worth more than every other Overseer to Merylle, Athala and Ermolt were worth a thousand Antons to Elise.

  “What’s your plan?” Merylle said after a moment. “I can’t stand here and listen to them slaughter my family.”

  “Boss,” came a voice from nearby, making Elise jolt. She looked down and found a man who had appeared out of nowhere, crouched low in shadows she had paid no mind to. “We heard the racket and came running. What’s going on?”

  “The Temple is attacking the keep,” Merylle said, her voice as sharp as if it were made of stone. “We don’t know anything else.” Merylle rested her hands on the hilts of her weapons and then stilled. She looked to Elise, then the host’s tail end that was thinning out as the Clerics and Conscripts entered her home. “And we don’t need to. Get together as many as you have. We’re going to crush them between ourselves and our men in the keep.”

  A surge of pride filled Elise’s being. This was no pitiable creature. Merylle had looked so lost at the onset of this assault, but within a breath she had gone from wringing her hands to taking charge. This was a woman who knew what she wanted, and who’s confidence rang a thousand times louder than the clashing swords inside. />
  Barely a dozen shadows resolved themselves from the darkness at Merylle’s command. Elise’s heart sank slightly, but Merylle led them on anyway.

  As a group they moved, slipping from shadow to shadow along the front of the building. Elise struggled to follow, even with all of her years of sneaking around as an urchin. It was clear that the Overseers’ lack of combat training was due to a focus on this sort of skill. And they were amazing. Elise had to squint into the darkness to remind herself that she wasn’t alone as they approached the front gate of the keep and the back lines of the Temple’s host.

  With two fingers raised to the air, Merylle halted their small group. Everyone ducked down against the side of the ramp that lead into the front of the Keep. “Clerics first,” Merylle said in a breath barely audible in the night air. “We need them down if we don’t want to be fighting the same Conscripts over and over again.” Merylle looked calmly at each person there, causing Elise to do the same. Some were nervous, while others looked positively terrified. But they were all here together. Elise would do her best to make sure each of them survived this evening’s work. “After they fall, just don’t take stupid risks. They have the advantage in numbers. We need to cut our way in, meet up with our remaining forces inside, and then force the Temple forces out.” She looked to Elise with a hardened expression. It was the look of a woman who wasn’t ready to die. “Ready?”

  Elise drew the short sword she had been using for training. It was not her preferred weapon, but it was good enough. The practice of it was fresh in her mind, and Ermolt had even managed to teach her a few new tricks.

  The others drew their weapons as well. It was a sea of daggers with swords interspersed in between like a deadly surprise.

  “Go!” Merylle shouted, all pretense of sneaking gone. As one, the Overseers leapt up onto the ramp and charged the back of the host’s lines.

  Even with the shout to warm their foes, the Overseers made barely a sound until they collided, and then it was more muffled cries and strangled gasps than the sound of true combat. Elise felt a stab of guilt at the brutal deaths of the Clerics bringing up the rear of the host. Clerics were rarely ever a bloodthirsty bunch. But the feeling was quickly muted once she saw the dead bodies of the guards who had been manning the gates of the Keep.