by Dave Oliver
“Probably best.” Merrik pushed the door open and glanced around inside. It was a bar. There were people drinking, a bartender, and hideous decor that matched the outside. There were a few people spread out among the tables, all drinking alone. In the rear, there was a large group of young adults gathered around an open area. They were all watching and laughing at a man waving his hands about. He was impeccably dressed and groomed. His pure black hair was neat and subtly styled. His longcoat was the richest of purples lined with gold, matching the rest of the place. Everything down to his shoes were something that would be worn by a Conclave member or patron speaker. Even coming from the Ryten elite, Merrik was impressed. He was even more impressed that this pirate town hadn’t robbed him yet.
He walked closer to the crowd. The man himself was nearly in tears from laughing so hard.
“Grab another round, folks,” he called. “You’ll love this one.”
The barmaid came from the back with a tray of full mugs and started passing them out to everyone. She even gave one to Merrik with a wink. He stared back at her. She was ridiculously attractive for someone working as a barmaid in a shit hole. Without thinking, Merrik took a sip of the beer. He quickly remembered he hated beer and that he’d likely spend the whole evening hugging the toilet for touching his lips to the mug.
Once the girl had finished serving the beer, the flashy man shushed everyone. He then inclined his chin, raised one hand straight ahead while raising another just to his side, and waved two fingers in an arc toward the barmaid. In an instant, the barmaid became completely invisible. The tray floated in the air and the invisible barmaid screamed, though it sounded remarkably fake and rehearsed. The crowd laughed and cheered.
This had to be him. This was the man who had come out of that portal. Merrik pressed through the crowd to get closer to him, but the man was getting ready to leave. He waved his hands downward as if to reassure everyone before reaching behind him to take one last swig of his own beer.
“Don’t you all worry. I’ll be back early tomorrow for my next show.” He flashed a charming smile. “I’ve got plenty of new tricks to show you.” He started for the door.
“Hey, Merveille,” the barkeep called. “You got a tab.”
The man stopped and walked back to the bar. “Ah, yes,” he said. “You know, for how much business I bring this place, my beer should really be free. How much do I owe?”
“For all of today’s beer? Forty-six plats.”
“Hmm,” Merveille said, as if lost in thought. “That is a problem, because I don’t have a coin to my name.”
The barkeep rolled his eyes.
“But perhaps…,” Merveille continued. He looked up toward the ceiling, and everyone else followed his gaze. He raised his right hand and pulled at the air with three of his fingers before immediately opening his palm. Out of thin air, twenty or so coins fell right into his hand. Some of them were single-plat pieces, but most looked like ten-plat and twenty-five-plat coins. “This should be enough.” He spilled the coins on the bar. “Keep the change, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” With that, he swept his purple coat about him and headed out of the door.
Merrik followed him outside as quick as he could. He started to call out to him but tripped and fell face-first into a pile of this town’s namesake. He picked himself up and wiped what he could from his face. Alregon exited the bar as well and helped him up.
“I’d say we found our man,” Alregon said.
“That we did. Get us the best room you can. I’ll catch him tomorrow when he comes back to the tavern.”
Alregon started to head back in to talk to the bartender when Merrik stopped him.
“And ask about a doctor. Along with everything else, I’m going to need some sort of restorative to ward off whatever the beer and this pile of shit may have started within me.”
***
Later that night, Merrik lay in bed. He thought about how he might get into the mage’s good graces. He had a fairly large group to infiltrate, but they were all just barflies. Surely he could make himself more interesting than some run-of-the-mill lush. He seemed powerful too, making those coins appear and that woman disappear. It was quite impressive.
Alregon entered the room and locked the door behind him.
“Bish and Puma are next door. They said they’ll be on alert if we need them. Also, I spoke to the doctor again, and he said he has even more elixirs should we require any. For everything from headaches to infections.”
“That sounds handy. I hope this myriad of potions will be enough for now. How could a doctor in such a shitty town be so well supplied?”
“It’s a pirate town. I’m sure all of his supplies were lifted from wealthy traders.”
“Oh, right.” He looked out the window, where he had a great view of the tavern across the square. “Any news or rumors about our magic friend?”
“Not really. He came strolling into town about a month ago and only started showing off his tricks in the last few weeks. Sounds like he looked a lot poorer when he got here, but now he seems impossibly wealthy.”
“Doesn’t surprise me, considering he can make money from nothing.” Merrik hobbled back over to his bed and lay down. “Tomorrow I’ll try to earn his trust or friendship. Then I can get some information from him. If we’re lucky, he’ll just use his magic to strengthen my pathetic body and we can head home.” His thoughts turned to Asra.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Casselle stood from her bed and stretched tall. Her muscles were still contracting uncomfortably when she lay down too long, but at least she was able to finish her recovery at home. Her hip gave her the most trouble, tightening so much it needed a massage every now and then to keep her entire leg from locking in place. Once she was up and going, she was fine. The mornings were the worst really.
“Good morning,” Ragna called as she entered the room, gripping a tray in one hand and her crutch in the other. “Already up? I made you some breakfast.”
“You’re too good to me.”
“I know.” Ragna winked and set the tray down on the bed.
She really had been great through all this. Aside from doing things like this for Casselle, Ragna had also done well at keeping her spirits up. Having someone who’d been bedridden with limb loss before really kept things in perspective. Casselle sat on the bed and started nibbling at a piece of toast while watching Ragna get some clothes out of the closet.
“You don’t have to dress me anymore,” Casselle said with her mouth still full of bread. “I can do it myself now.”
“Bah, I’ve been having fun dressing you up like a big squishy doll. Humor me.”
Casselle smiled and had a small bite of sausage. Her eyes rolled back at the flavor. Ragna was too good a cook, especially when it came to breakfast food. If she stayed off work much longer, she’d get huge!
An urgent pounding at the front door spoiled the moment. Ragna rushed out of the bedroom to deal with it. Casselle walked over to the closet, her legs still screaming with soreness. She quickly threw on her officer’s doublet and sat on the edge of the bed to pull on her pants and boots. It felt good to wear something besides smallclothes again.
Elress appeared in the bedroom doorway, out of breath. “Lieutenant!”
Casselle stood and started buttoning her doublet. “Elress? What’s going on?”
“Bad news. We need to get out of here.”
“Just calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
“We’ve been painted. There’s a group of syndicate people coming to collect us.”
Ragna leaned into the doorway. “Painted? What’s that mean?”
Elress turned to address both of them. “It’s a term from their smuggling days. Their dockworkers would paint certain crates with a small daub to mark them for pickup by syndicate agents. Nowadays, people use it to describe people that are marked to be kidnapped.”
“And we’ve been marked like that?” Casselle asked as she laced up her boots.
> Elress nodded. “A group of agents is marching up here right now.”
“Why don’t we just head into the field then? They’re marching right into the Ward’s barracks.”
“Nobody out there. The king and the army are finally returning from Peona, without any notice, so everyone is busy getting the port ready.”
Casselle’s eyes widened, and she stared at Ragna.
Ragna shrugged. “First I’m hearing about it too.”
“It just happened,” Elress said. “The syndicate must’ve been waiting for a moment like this to come collect us. Now that you’re all caught up, we need to get out of—”
Someone knocked on their door to the tune of the Ildian anthem.
“It’s too late. That’s them.” Elress looked around the room quickly. “Do you have somewhere for your wife to hide?”
“I got a trapdoor in my workshop in the back room, but I’m not going anywhere. If we’re fighting—”
Elress raised her hand. “We’re not fighting. If we’re painted, then they’ve sent their hunters after us. We wouldn’t be able to fight them even if we were all at our best.”
“So what are we doing?” Casselle asked.
“Your wife hides, and we give ourselves up. Better to find a way to escape after they take us where we’re going.”
Casselle stared her in the eyes for a moment while there was another knock on the front door. “Okay.” She reached into the closet and grabbed her weapon belt. “But I’m not going unarmed.” She clasped it on and loosened the sheath of her rapier.
Ragna hobbled into the back room and locked herself in the storage area under the trapdoor. Casselle and Elress headed to the front door and opened it.
Five people with ceramic half masks and form-fitting leathers stood staring at them. The front one smiled. “Ladies Casselle and Elress! We’d feared you weren’t home. That would’ve made our job much more difficult, and we don’t like difficult work.”
“Save it,” Elress said. “We know what you’re here for. Lead the way.”
The man in front cocked his head. “No resistance? That’s new. I like it though.”
The woman on the far left with two sickles hanging from her belt leaned in and said softly, “Smart of you to get in our good graces.”
“Well, let’s go then.” The front man waved his arm and they all headed south.
A large carriage was waiting for them down the main ramp from the August Quarter. It was dark black with no windows and made of the thickest wood Casselle had ever seen used for a carriage. The largest of the hunters opened the door for them to get in.
Casselle looked around nervously, but the streets were deserted. She couldn’t tell if that was because of the army’s return drawing people to the port, or if people were that scared of the hunters’ carriage. She climbed in. Three of the hunters joined them while the other two climbed on the driver’s bench. With a whip of the reins, they were on their way to a destination unknown.
***
The ride felt like it went on forever, but they finally stopped and the door opened. The hunters exited first and helped Casselle and Elress get out too. The sunlight hurt as they were rushed from the carriage toward a large iron door, but from what Casselle could see of the buildings, they were still in the city. That much was a relief.
The hunters shoved them quickly to the iron door, which opened as they neared. The inside was ill lit and very red. The carpets and tapestries were all a dark crimson, and the sconces were intricate weavings of metal. It looked like the set from a bad play about vampires.
“Bring ‘em over,” a voice called from further in.
The hunters picked them up and set them on a couple of chairs in the middle of a wide open area. Casselle’s muscles throbbed as she was moved around like a mannequin, but she kept herself from making any pained noises. In front of them sat an immense man. Even sitting down, he was tall. He must’ve been nearly seven feet tall when standing. His arms were thick with muscle and carpeted with dense hair. He leaned in and stared at the two of them.
“So you’re the ones that took my amberarm.” His voice was almost humorously deep. Casselle could feel it in her chest as he spoke.
“That’s right,” Elress said.
“Which one of you killed my people in the jail?”
Casselle swallowed hard. “That was me.”
“You want to explain that? Nobody was supposed to be there. I wanted a clean job, and now I got three agents dead or captured.”
“I was talking to the prisoner from the docks. I wanted to know more about this org—about my father. Your people attacked when I was talking to him, and I defended myself.”
The large man chewed on the inside of his cheek as he looked at Casselle. His eyes were intense, and his face was twisted in hostility. Then, just like that, his expression lifted and he looked at peace. He sat back in his seat and let out a sigh.
“I suppose introductions are in order. I’m Peltik Romm, and I lead Cressian’s Company. I think you Wardens generically call it a syndicate to distance yourselves from Rieger Cressian.”
“Can you blame us?” Casselle said with a sting.
“Guess not. Anyway, I want to ask you some questions.”
“Why would we answer anything for you?”
Elress hissed and gave her a sharp look.
“You don’t have to, but I’m thinking you will.” He waved to one of his agents and they brought over a decanter that held a thick crimson liquid. He took a long drink from it and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “What are our defense plans in case of a siege?”
“A siege? Why?”
“Our army has just returned from their campaign to the west. Since they weren’t able to get any messages back to Ildia for the entire year they were gone, I suspect the fighting must’ve been pretty rough. If they were battered so bad by the Holy City, when would be the best time for the Amalgam to attack us?”
Casselle narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. “The Amalgam? We haven’t interacted with them or any other nations in Provenance for generations.”
“You may have forgotten them, but they haven’t forgotten you. They still talk about spilling blood in the Commonwealth, and they look at Ildia like it’s a shining jewel waiting to be plucked.”
“How do you know that? Do you have spies in their Steel Presidio?”
Peltik swished his drink around a bit before taking another gulp. “I was born there. I was a slave until I was in my twenties. But yes, I also have spies there.”
“An Amalgam slave? How could you possibly escape? The Steel Presidio completely closes off their lands.”
“Boat. Your father tried making some kind of trade deal down there, and shit got real bad real quick. I saw the opportunity, so I helped the Ildian traders escape with the help of some of my comrades in shackles.” He glanced over at the group of hunters standing by the wall. They all gave him a slight nod.
“So you sailed back to Ildia and we just let you stay?”
Peltik shook his head and took another drink. “Your immigration people never knew about us. Ship captain pretended we were his crew, and he took us straight to Rieger. He was impressed by our strength, so he hired us on. That was the beginning.”
“The syndicate…”
Peltik stood and walked over closer to the two Wardens. “If it makes you feel any better, your father had good intentions when we first started this thing. He always felt like the Amalgam were the biggest threat we’d ever face, no matter what bullshittery the Holy City was up to. He tried trading and making peace with them. When that didn’t work, he sabotaged them.”
“That doesn’t explain the extortion schemes and bribes here at home.”
“Doesn’t it? Do you think the Amalgam doesn’t have spies of their own among us? It takes a little brute force—going around the law a tad—to root them out.”
Elress shook her head rapidly. “Wait a minute. You’re saying that the entire purpose of Cres
sian’s Company is to weed out the Amalgam presence and protect Ildia from them?”
“That’s the heart of it, yeah.”
“I don’t buy it either,” Casselle said.
“Well, no,” Elress said. “That actually does make sense. All we really know about them is that they’re always into shady activities and skirting around the law. We always just assumed it was about money or power.”
Casselle gave her an incredulous look. “Are you kidding? Underground organizations are never that altruistic. It’s always about money or power.”
Peltik grunted. “She’s not wrong. Our goal is to protect Ildia from the Amalgam, but we also want our just rewards when we save the day against their inevitable siege. Now, about those siege plans.”
“I’m not privy to those until an actual emergency. My captain would have clearance for that.”
Peltik looked up to his hunter. “Well then.”
“No,” Casselle snapped. “I’ll talk to him. Just don’t go after him.” A dark ball of disappointment writhed in her gut. She’d spent most of her life hating this criminal group, and here she was making a deal with them. Was this how they’d gently get her under their thumb? Was anything Peltik had just told her true? She’d never felt so disgusted with herself.
There was a loud pounding on the iron door they’d come through earlier. An agent rushed over and opened it. A young woman in a Warden uniform hurried in and worked on catching her breath. As she lifted her head to speak with Peltik, she saw Casselle, and her expression dropped. Pursing her lips, she pushed that aside for now.
“We got problems. Something’s wrong at the docks. The army… It’s different.”
“What do you mean ‘different’?” Peltik asked.
“They’re…all bright white and unmoving. We lowered the ramps for them, but none of them have moved at all. They’re just standing still and staring toward the keep.”
Peltik turned to his hunters. “Gather the rest and go check it out. If something happens, I want everyone in position.”