Mend laughed.
Sera startled back.“You are awake!”
“So, Lora’s an imposture? How could that be? She’s so nice.” Mend hoped the sarcasm in his voice wasn’t too obvious.
She grimaced, crossing her arms. “Why were you pretending to be asleep?”
He shrugged. “I told the emperor why I was here,” he explained. “Thought you might be angry with me.”
“No, I’m not. I should have realized he would have just read it off your mind. It was my fault, but Sig’s not the problem. Not for you, anyway.”
“Yea, I know. My problem is surviving the wonderful hospitality of your nurses.”
Sera shook her head. “She’s not one of ours. Listen, Glen. We think she’s going to try to harm you.”
Mend chuckled. Tell me something I don’t know.
“You’re happy about that?”
“No, it’s just that really had me fooled. I found her to be such a ‘caring’ person.”
Sera paced to the window, looking out. “She’s not. We don’t know who she really is, but we think we know what she wants.”
“Oh! I can guess what she wants.” Mend would gladly tell Sera everything. How Josie worked for the Shadows. How they got more than what they thought when they contracted with Roe. How she was really after Sig’s burning blue remedy. Maybe if Josie had been nicer to him, he’d be nicer to her, but somewhere between the second and third needle in his neck, Mend decided it would be fair to make her life more difficult.
Sera turned over her shoulder, an expectant look on her.
“She wants whatever medicine you’re giving me.”
Sera turned back to the window and nodded. Not as much of a reaction as Mend expected. She must have already suspected. Damn, didn’t make Josie’s life any harder after all.
“She’s made a few friends here in the hospital,” Sera continued. Of course, she did. “And, we need to know who she’s working for. So, we’re planning to continue her game a little longer. Doctor Yah’v is setting up interviews with her. About her past, her loyalties, her future plans. Afterwards, she’s supposed to see Sig to learn about the serum we use for exposers. He’ll probe her mind. That’s when we’ll have her and—”
“Wait,” Mend’s swallowed hard. “Have her as in…”
“Execute her,” she answered, matter-a-factly. “But not yet. First, we’ll need to know everything she does first.”
“Oh torture, well that’s certainly better.” Mend sank into his bed, feeling sick. Making her life more difficult was definitely not the same as making her life end…horribly.
Sera turned back, walking up beside his bed. She placed her hand on his arm. “I’m telling you this, Glen, so you can watch out for her. She seems clever, but if she lets it slip that she knows we’re planning to catch her, she might just kill you and take pieces of you with her. The serum’s in your blood now until your body metabolizes it.”
Mend cupped his mouth, feeling nauseated. “Yea…I would rather not have nice Nurse Lora cut my legs off and tote my along in a bag.” But he wasn’t really worried about himself. Josie wouldn’t do that; she’d most likely disappear and leave him behind. And if she didn’t…. But she deserves to get caught! Well, no, she doesn’t.
Sera chuckled, her expression softening. “You have an odd sense of humor, Glen. I can see why my brother hired you.” Her hand relaxed on his arm as her pupils dilated widely, appearing as if she saw past him. She was recalling a memory, Mend could tell. He knew how engrossing that could be, like being there again. By the tightness around her eyes and tight frown tugging her lips, it wasn’t a very good memory. “It’s been, Beast, maybe 10 years now since I saw him and Ed. We didn’t even…. They say twins are some of the luckiest people. Friends from birth, friends for life. We got through some very trying times together. This place could use some of his wit and Ed’s…principles.” She blinked, wiping a stray tear before refocusing her attention back on him. “How’s he doing? Did you meet my brother?”
“Uh….” Don’t complicate things. Don’t complicate things. Mend, for the love of the Almighty, don’t complicate this. “Fine,” he said. Good. Simple. That wasn’t very hard.
“Can’t tell me much, huh?”
“Sorry, no. My job doesn’t work like that. Only sent here to see if you were fine. And here you are. Mission accomplished,” he smiled as warmly as possible, trying to comfort her. Despite Josie’s description of him, he wasn’t heartless. At least he’d like to think he wasn’t. “When I get back to him, I’m sure he’ll like that news.”
She closed her eyes tightly, resting her closed hand against her lips. “I just wish there was someway I could make those two understand why I’m here. Why I’m doing all of this.” She turned her eyes on him. “Huh,” she let out, but Mend didn’t like the sound of it. Something was brewing in her mind and he wanted no part of it! Mend sunk lower into his bed. Please don’t— “I want you to bring them a message for me. I’ll write it.” No, no, Mend screamed in his mind. Stupid Mend, why did you say you were going back to him!
“Uh, well. No, I can’t really—”
“You’re going back to him you said.” I lied!
“Yes, I…guess I did…but! The emperor. That’s right. He told me he has another job for me. You know. I have to eat.”
She raised an eyebrow. “How will you send word to Glen that I’m doing well if you’re not going back to him?”
Mend groaned, rolling his eyes. Just one more lie. “Alright. OK. A piece of paper. Not a book! I’ll…get…it to him.”
She nodded, determination and eagerness written all over her face. How terrible was Mend going to feel having to rip that letter up when he got home? Awfully terrible. He’d need enough dreamy sailor to drawn a galleon of sailors. “Any idea what the emperor wants from me? That job?”
She shrugged, her shoulders appearing lighter as she hurried back to the door with a brisk walk. She had to be quick; she had to write that letter no one was going to read. At least his lie made her feel better. “It’s hard to tell with Sig,” she answered after a brief thought. “He gets plenty of ideas and forgets most of them. I wouldn’t worry. He doesn’t trust you enough for anything important…but you did save his empire.”
“Please, stop mentioning that,” Mend groaned.
“Can’t be good for your line of work, huh,” she laughed. “I’ll try to get you out of here. One way or another, back to Ladress.” She opened the door. “Oh, and you’ll have a new nurse this afternoon. Lora will be having her interviews. Watch yourself. Don’t know yet if she has other friends here.” And with that, she left, closing the door behind her and leaving Mend with more of a whirlwind to deal with. Josie was right, he was born under a whole constellations of bad stars.
“Mend, what are you doing,” he whispered to himself. “Taking her letter? Getting Josie in more trouble?” She deserved it for how she treated him. Mend wasn’t an idiot. He wouldn’t have interfered with her ‘gloriouss’ mission in the first place if she she hadn’t pushed him. Not that it made any difference. They were already onto her. “Not my problem.” But Josie planned to get him out of here despite her love-affair with getting Sig’s serum. She was already risking herself and her mission for him. “She’s only doing it because she owes Roach. Sure, Mend, you don’t have give the empire any more clues about her, but neither should you tell Josie she’s in trouble. She’s a ‘perfect professional Shadow Agent’ after all.” Mend gritted his teeth. Was he really going to just let her get caught…and—”
Josie burst into the room, dressed in all ways to exaggerate her lithe curves, even smelling of lavender, chamomile and cinnamon. Old trick, those scents were known to relax people off their guard. She even painted her lips red; knowing her, it was probably some kind of paralyzing poison. Mend watched for hidden knives, but with just how tightly the dress hugged her body, he didn’t want to carry on that thought.
“A little early for wearing that, isn’t it,”
he asked.
“What did she want,” she growled, stalking over to him like a beast about to pounce. In any other person, Mend would have found the contrast between her sensual femininity and murderous rage quite jarring. But for Josie, that kind of psychotic was like a fish in water.
“You look lovely,” he said. “You plan on playing with your food before you eat ‘em this time?”
“Cut the crap, Mend. Tell me what she wanted. Now,” she said with worry escaping along with her usual threat. A Shadow Agent losing control? Could such a thing happen? Maybe she suspected her cover was blowing away like the dye in her hair. No. She wasn’t very nice to Mend. He wouldn’t tell her.
“Nothing important,” he answered, lifting his chin. “Just wanted to see how I was doing.”
“She picked a lock this early in the morning just to see how you were doing?”
“Apparently the emperor doesn’t trust me. That part she said too. He’s got a job for me, but she didn’t know what. Unlike someone I know, she’s happy to see me doing well.”
“I am too,” Josie replied, her hands going to her hips. “So I won’t have to carry you when we leave. Things might be wrapping up for me more quickly than I thought. We might have to go before Roe gets back. I guess it was just wishful thinking we could meet up here.”
Mend lifted his right foot as far as high as he could, about as high as his knee. “I still can’t walk.”
Josie walked behind him, probably fixing his medicine with a double dose of more suffering. “Yea…, no more sedatives for you. I’m fixing your medicine with them. I’ll be gone today, but someone else will help you move around and get your muscles working.”
She appeared beside him with a cup of that blueberry concoction. She lifted his head and helped him drink it down. Not so bad this time. A bit on the dry side, but the taste was refreshing in a cleansing-the-throat-with-pure-hell-fire kind of way. Mend coughed, spitting some out. “Drink all of it. And I want you to really work on your rehabilitation. If you can’t walk. I can’t take you with me alone. Understand?”
Mend smiled in between coughing fits; his throat burned too much to talk.
“Idiot.” She let his head drop on the pillow before making her way to the door. “I’ll come by tonight to see how your day went. Cooperate. Please. Get stronger,” she urged as if just yelling at his muscles would make them heal faster. “Why do I have to be the one to save your ass,” she muttered, before slamming the door behind her.
Mend sighed, laying there as the medicine warmed his stomach up to somewhere between red coals and molten lava. Or was the sigh from something else? Sera promised to get him out too, so it didn’t really matter if Josie couldn’t take him with her. Was that it? Was that why his stomach churned at the thought of leaving her behind. Betrayal? Was that what he felt? “That’s dumb.” It didn’t matter to him that Josie was caught and torture…and killed. It wasn’t as if he was the one who handed her over to them. Her hair did that. Besides, Sera would still get him out of here. So what of Josie? Live by the Shadow’s Oaths, die by the Shadow’s Oaths. Wasn’t that what they believed? Josie would have killed him out right if it wasn’t for some old debt with Roach. For her precious mission. “Mend,” he told himself. “Stop caring. You don’t care. Don’t get yourself into more trouble.” Mend closed his eyes and tried settling himself to go to sleep. Maybe he could still get an hour’s sleep before dawn and that nagging feeling would be gone by then…maybe. …He shot his eyes open and stared up at the ceiling. Shit.
For the rest of the day, he tried to come up with a way to warn Josie without screwing him over with his lies to Sera and the emperor. A new nurse came, a pudgy mage who was old enough to Mend’s father. They walked around his small little ‘palace.’ Every time one of his muscles cramped, the mage would ice and warm the knot until it relaxed. Mend wasn’t really paying much attention, just going through boring exercise after boring exercise, but he did feel stronger. By the time the mage left, he hobbled along on two crutches, but his mind couldn’t let go of his problem. Just how was he going to warn Josie without himself getting caught. Knowing her, just hinting something was off would spike her paranoia to full psychotic devil. She couldn’t have made a mistake; oh no, of course not. Shadows don’t make mistakes, ever, do they? And he wasn’t exactly able to outrun her if she got the bright idea that he was the one who tipped the empire off to her. A knife in the back for his good deed. The end of the great Mendeleyev Von Mendevoch because of he felt guilty. It was a stupid idea; trying to be nice was stupid. Besides, they were professionals as they always like to remind him. She should know how to handle herself.
Food came, and it was especially tasty. He had ‘graduated’ to solid food and his stomach didn’t complain at all. Now with a belly full of meats, breads, and some weird green drink they called ‘genshia’ that tasted like a pound of sugar in a splash of warm milk, he waited, sitting in a chair instead of lying in bed. He waited for Josie. The sun slowly set outside his window, bright reds turning duller with darker blues floating down upon the city landscape. Soon night came and the rising, waning moon appeared. And still Josie hadn’t come.
Another nurse, an older grandmotherly woman, came in to check on him. She changed his beddings and refreshed a pitcher of water. He asked about Lora, but she was no help. Apparently, being as career-minded as Josie was, it didn’t make her popular around here. What a surprise. After deciding he had waiting long enough, he went to bed. Sleep didn’t come easily.
***
“Reid,” Roe screamed on her hands and knees, peering over the edge of sloping pit where her brother stood, an enormous boulder perched on his hunched shoulders. Roe couldn’t see his face or his hands, but even for him, that boulder had to be too much. If he gave, it would crush him. She felt chains pull her back from her wrists, but she kept on pushing forward, trying to getting closer.
“I know, not as strong as I had hoped,” Count Salvador Von Sago yawned from behind her. “So you must be little Rowena? Not so little I suppose, almost a good age. Have you any abilities you might like to share—”
“Please, please, let him go,” she pleaded. How long had he been down there? How much longer could he hold that boulder up? “Let my brother go.”
“Roe,” grunted a voice from the pit, haggard and strained. The boulder shifted on his shoulders. “What are you—” He coughed and the boulder sagged lower.
“Yes, yes, it’s me!” She shouted. Flanked by the Count’s hooded bodyguards and the local Commissioner, Count Sago chewed on his nails. “Please let him go. He can do more work for you out there, back home.”
He spit out a nail. “I have a job to do, little Rowena,” he said, “I’ve asked you here because I need to know if your presence will strengthen your brother’s abilities. Oh, but I share your distress; the One-King wants results from me and he always gets what he wants.”
She spun back to her brother down in the pit. “What…what can I do,” she whispered.
“You’re already doing it.”
“What does he have to do?”
“Nothing incredible. Climb high enough until he can safely release the boulder behind him,” Sago answered, walking up beside her and leaning into the pit. He frowned. “He hasn’t made any progress even with you here.”
“Help him.” She tried kneeling before Sago, but her chains whipped her to the ground instead. “Get that boulder off of him.”
“I can’t. None of us can,” he answered, working another nail with his teeth. “I do hope he doesn’t die. Finding someone with his abilities in this country is so rare, and the One-King entrusted him to me. I hope he does carry the blood of a Champion.”
“Roe,” her brother called and she scrambled to edge of the slope. The boulder shook above him and sagged lower. “Don’t…do anything stupid.” Stupid? What could he mean by that? He never saw her use her blessings, did he? But, she’d be a fool to use them here. That’s what these monsters wanted, to find people blessed
by the Shards of the Almighty and do this to them!
Count Sago waved his arm between her and her brother. “Go on, little Rowena. It’s why you’re here. See if you can’t get him to climb up.”
“I won’t do anything stupid,” she cried out to her brother. “Can…can come to me?”
He didn’t answer right away. “I…should have gone with those friends of mine,” he stammered out. “But father and mother—”
“Is he becoming delirious,” Sago asked. “Commissioner, time and day?”
“Four days and three hours,” came the reply. Four days! He was down there for four days? Her trip here took almost a week.
“Reid,” she called out. “Please, can you just lower the rock to one side?”
“Tsk, tsk tsk,” Sago sounded. “If he did that, the boulder would roll and crush him.”
“No,” Reid grunted. “I can’t. Roe…I…can’t hold on—”
“Yes, you can!”
“Don’t,” Reid gasped. “Don’t…listen to our parents. I wanted to join them, but they said no. I’ve seen you. When it’s your turn, don’t make my mistake.”
Count Sago turned to her, lifting an eyebrow. “What does he mean, ‘he’s seen you?’” She knew exactly what Reid meant, her gifts from the Veiled Goddess. So he did know; that meant others back home must seen her too. She’d have to be more careful. How they would recognize her using them, she didn’t know, but suspected they had ways of finding out. So Roe resisted using her gifts now, not that she had full control over them. They usually came reflexively, and only recently had see been able to command some of them by will. All she could do was try her best to empty her mind of them.
Still, her hearing, at least, sharpened despite her efforts as her heart thundered in her chest, the hearts of those around her coming to her ears too: the Count’s quick pattering, the Commissioner’s slow bored beats, and the tentative rhythm of the two hooded bodyguards. Another set reached her ears too, a jumble mess of hard beats, out of rhythm, yet softening from down in the pit. “Well, little Rowena?”
Call of the Chosen- Broken Kingdoms Page 48