by Tom Lloyd
Orphaned towards the end of his childhood, Narin had been an outsider among the novices when he’d entered their dormitories – caught at an age between foundlings and those high-castes who’d chosen the calling as they came of age. Being half a step out of place was an old and familiar coat for him, the fact that he might die unremembered by all a long-feared thought.
Unexpectedly, his strength seemed to abandon him and Narin sank to his knees. A sudden chill ran through his body and he wrapped his arms around his belly.
‘Lord Shield,’ he whispered, too quietly to be heard in the other room, ‘do you know you’ve entrusted this to a fraud ?’
Narin bowed his head, not praying exactly but for once hoping fervently the Gods were listening to him.
‘I don’t have the strength for this ; I can’t even fall in love without screwing it up. How am I supposed to claim I’m a hero now ? How am I supposed to uphold the law and oaths when my whole life is a lie ?’
He knelt there a dozen heartbeats or more before the mantle of despondency lifted slightly. Narin looked up at the faint trace of starlight creeping through the boards over the window. His thoughts went inexorably to Kine, the flash of white teeth when she smiled – as secret as the starlight through those boards, for Wyvern women would always hide a smile from their prideful menfolk.
We argued about it once, Narin recalled. That first time I realised I loved her. She smiled and turned away, hid her mouth. I could hear her laugh and I wanted to see her smile. I took her hand to pull it away and in that first touch I knew.
He looked around at the room again. Now it was just a room to him, familiar perhaps but it told nothing of who he was, of the life he led. The realisation gave him strength again – these meagre possessions couldn’t sum up a life. Perhaps some lord or merchant prince could see their life in their estates and goods, but it was not the Lawbringer way.
I am my oaths and the love I bear, he declared in the privacy of his mind, those I protect by my duty whether or not I ever know of them. No one can take that from me. If I could leave all this behind, have my memory cursed for the liar I am but run away with Kine, would I ? He nodded.
The merchant warrants across the sea, the trader towns and trade corridors where no Great House ruled – someone there would value his training and not care about scandal. There he could still serve the Emperor’s law and build a life of his own.
‘But until then,’ Narin declared, rising and swiftly removing his jacket as he went to retrieve a cleaner one, ‘I have a duty still ; to my friend, to Lord Shield – and to Kesh and a little girl who deserved better.’
Chapter 10
The Ten Day War saw House Dragon troops assault the Imperial Palace itself and ended when the Gods themselves incarnated to face the attackers down. Many have suggested they were unwilling to interfere at all, but were forced to by the ensuing chaos. Without the sanctification of the Imperial line, the Houses looked ready to fight to the death before permitting their rivals to take over. Given the weapons at their disposal, the possibility remains chilling.
From A History by Ayel Sorote
Narin hurried back outside and down into the courtyard. Half the Lawbringers had left, he discovered ; most likely the older ones to their beds, the younger to command the guards on the gate. Rhe remained with Law Master Sheven, both men now holding lanterns from the courtyard wall.
‘Investigator Narin, please join us,’ the Law Master intoned in deep, sonorous voice. ‘We were just admiring your work.’
He was a burly man with red-tinted skin and a gentle twinkle in his rusty-brown eyes. Like Rhe, he had elected to join the Lawbringers as a young man, but for Sheven it had been a case of being unsuited to life in the religious caste. Narin had only spoken to him once before, but with his unusual background, wrestler’s build and warm sense of humour, Sheven was one of the better-known Law Masters. Stories of men such as him were told year after year to an awestruck audience in every novice dormitory.
‘It wasn’t my work alone, Law Master,’ Narin said, glancing at Rhe’s impassive face as he spoke. ‘I would never have survived without help.’
‘Impressive none the less,’ Sheven said. ‘Eight dead assassins surpasses your previous feat of arms.’
‘That was luck alone,’ Narin blurted out, ‘Lawbringer Rhe knows my skill with a stave is unremarkable by his standards. I was lucky that other night, and tonight was more good planning than heroism.’
‘You forced them to come one by one,’ Rhe said levelly, ‘that is good planning. Killing each one rather more so.’
‘I did not kill them all, not even most,’ he protested, feeling Rhe’s cold aristocratic stare like ice on his skin. ‘Enchei served a term in his army, the goshe prisoner too, and Kesh is no helpless girl.’
‘That is where it gets interesting,’ Sheven said with sudden intent. ‘The prisoner fought at your side against his own ? Forgive me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that unusual ?’
Narin ducked his head. ‘He, ah, is not strictly a prisoner. He cannot remember what side he was on. The … the circumstances in which I found him have affected his memory – it’s unlikely he will ever remember the man he was before.’
‘But still he fought and killed his own ?’ Before Narin could reply Sheven raised his hand and made a dismissive gesture. ‘No. I don’t want to know the details, explain no more.’
‘You don’t ?’
The Law Master’s face hardened. ‘This was an attack on a Lawbringer compound – such a thing is unprecedented in itself, but Lawbringer Rhe has raised a worrying possibility.’
‘I make no accusations, Law Master,’ Rhe said in his usual stern manner. ‘Nor could I accuse anyone at present – I wish to be clear on that.’
Narin looked from one man to the other in puzzlement. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I don’t understand.’
‘Narin, how sure can you be that you weren’t followed here ? Given the story Mistress Kesh told us, how certain can you be ?’
‘I, ah,’ Narin hesitated, noting the lack of detail in Rhe’s words. ‘Given what she said, I suppose I cannot be certain.’
‘But if someone like the goshe who attacked her – Perel, I believe ? What if one like him had seen where you’d gone ?’
Narin shook his head. ‘They’d have dealt with me easily enough,’ he said, thinking it through. ‘Kesh was attacked in broad daylight – the man had little fear of acting alone, but to attack a low-caste woman in a quiet street is one thing, assaulting a Lawbringer compound something different entirely.’
‘Agreed,’ Rhe conceded, ‘but coming to your door would not be so great a risk when most here would be out working or asleep.’
‘I still don’t understand,’ Narin said.
‘An alternative remains,’ Sheven interjected, lips pursed with distaste. ‘As much as I hate to admit it, Lawbringer Rhe has made a sensible case. That you were followed is possible, but as I understand it this man Perel was a highly skilled veteran. Why then did they wait hours to attack and send younger goshe to finish the job ?’
He pointed down to the bodies and Rhe crouched beside one to better show Narin what they meant.
‘Gods above, I hadn’t noticed that,’ Narin breathed as Rhe removed the mask of the nearest. Pale in death and throat gaping with an angled cut that had severed the jugular, the goshe was less than twenty years old.
‘Kesh described Perel as a seasoned fighter,’ Narin muttered, a sickened feeling filling his gut as he realised quite how young the dead goshe was. ‘Irato’s certainly older than me. This one’s little more than a child.’
He tilted his head to look at the tattoos on the youth’s shoulder. It told him little. The man came from House Rain peasant stock, a major state within the domain of Moon, but aside from that he bore only the goshe’s small glyph.
‘They are all young,’ Rhe said, ‘bar one I’d expect to be the leader, who was still younger than you. All from House Moon’s district – tattoos for Rain, Moon and
Shadow.’
‘So most likely not an elite team, just goshe who attend the same Shure sent on a mission ?’
‘The implications of that alone will cause chaos,’ Sheven said. ‘Evidence that the goshe send out their own as assassins ; this is enough to warrant a full-scale investigation of their entire hierarchy. I must now speak to the Vanguard Council and ask them to decide how we approach the matter.’
‘But right now we’re more concerned with the other implication,’ Rhe added. ‘The question of how they found out where you lived – how they even knew to look for you.’
‘You suspect our own ?’ Narin gasped and shook his head. ‘Surely not ?’
Rhe inclined his head. ‘We must not ignore the possibility. You put the word out that matters involving the goshe should be referred to you, and Kesh’s entrance to the Palace of Law was hardly clandestine. If the goshe have agents inside the Palace, they could pass your name without needing to do anything suspicious.’
‘The idea is abhorrent,’ Law Master Sheven declared, ‘but we cannot be sure. Lawbringer Rhe asks that I order him to take charge of the investigation – given that you are at the heart of this, it is a natural choice. However, this investigation shall be closed by my name – the details kept secret even from our own and I will not ask Rhe to report until he is satisfied. No Lawbringer can order him to break a Law Master’s order and we may be able to lure out the spy as a result.’
Sheven patted the hilt of his sword as he spoke, a large scimitar in the style of House Salamander, his homeland. Though his long beard and what hair remained on his head were both light grey, Sheven still looked a fearsome fighter to Narin’s eyes.
Definitely not suited to his caste, Narin thought as he saw the flash in Sheven’s eyes. Let’s hope he remembers we need answers before he kills anyone asking questions.
‘First of all,’ Sheven continued, glancing at Rhe, ‘I must speak to my peers. If we’re to act against the goshe and investigate the hiring-out of assassins, it will need to happen quickly.’ He inclined his head to both of them. ‘Lawbringer, Investigator.’
Both Rhe and Narin bowed as the Law Master swept away, a pair of Investigators detaching themselves from the guards outside to follow in his wake.
Once Sheven had gone, Narin took the opportunity to properly look at the guards standing on the rooftops of the compound. In grey robes made pale by a haze of lamp-tinted fog, they looked like avatars of the Gods. Narin felt a prickle on his neck as he remembered Lord Shield’s stern, unyielding presence and could well imagine them to be that God’s emissaries.
No such luck, Narin thought with sour humour. Even if his order counts as some holy charge, it was a bloody cryptic one. I’ll be standing here a while before Shield sends his avatars to protect me.
He looked up. The Order of Knight was half-obscured by cloud and only two of the six constellations that turned around Knight’s own were visible. Lady Pity was gradually moving towards ascendancy, when she would lead the charge across the night sky for her allotted ten days – while Lord Lawbringer himself, his week of ascendancy over for another year, trailed well behind.
‘If you’ve finished praying ?’
Narin flinched and realised Lawbringer Rhe was staring at him. ‘Eh ? Praying ?’
‘You were staring at the Gods,’ Rhe pointed out, ‘so either you were praying or preparing yourself to tell me the truth. I am prepared to accept either.’
‘The truth ?’ Narin spluttered, a cold feeling building in the pit of his stomach. ‘What do you mean ?’
Rhe didn’t speak immediately, he simply stared directly at Narin with his usual dispassionate intensity. ‘Do not take me for a fool, Narin,’ he said quietly. ‘As befits an Investigator perhaps, your skill at lying is poor.’
He raised a hand to cut Narin off as the Investigator opened his mouth to defend himself.
‘Wait, do not speak. Untruths are part of our world – we hunt criminals after all – but tell me an outright lie now and I will think less of you. Please wait until I am finished.’
Narin hesitated then closed his mouth and nodded, brow furrowed in confusion.
‘Thank you.’ Rhe looked down at the bodies at their feet, each one with the sleeve of their right arm torn to reveal the tattoos on their shoulder. ‘We have known each other for almost two years. I have observed and trained you to the best of my ability, I know you better than you perhaps realise. I have taken a number of details on trust – ones that I would consider outlandish coming from another person – but I know I am not being told everything.’
There was a long pause. Narin looked down at the bodies and shook his head. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Start by telling me this – are you, by whatever means or compulsion, in the service of another master ?’
Narin’s eyes widened, his thoughts immediately turning to his strange encounter with Prince Sorote. Gods, how could he … ? No, that’s not what he’s talking about – and anyway, he’s asked me to do nothing as yet.
‘No, I’m not – why would you ask ?’
‘I have seen you fight and I have been in both formal duels and street-fights. If these truly are goshe-trained assassins you should not have survived and certainly your little group would have taken casualties. I cannot believe they would send out novices and all of these could have been attending a goshe Shure for five years or more.’
‘I … I cannot say,’ Narin began. ‘You know my skills better than anyone else – I know this just as I know I have a duty to you and the Lawbringers. But such secrets I have are not mine alone.’
Rhe gave a curt nod. Without warning, he started off towards the wooden stair that led towards Narin’s rooms. The Investigator blinked in surprise, but had no choice other than follow Rhe up the steps to his front door. The Lawbringer entered without announcing himself and past his shoulder Narin saw a flicker of surprise cross Enchei’s face as the tattooist glanced up from his repairs.
In one fluid movement Rhe drew his white stave and whipped it around at Enchei’s face. The tattoist threw his head back and the weapon’s snub tip flashed past his cheek, but Rhe wasn’t satisfied and swung again.
Narin raced forward, but couldn’t reach the Lawbringer in time. With no more space to retreat into, Enchei could only raise his arm to defend his face. A resounding crack echoed out around the room, a moment before Narin reached Rhe and shoved the man away.
‘What in Jester’s name are you doing ?’ he yelled at Rhe. ‘Have you gone mad ?’
Rhe lowered his stave and fixed Narin with his usual cold statue-stare. The sight was chilling, even to Narin, who’d seen it before – Rhe’s ability to fight with shocking speed but return to emotionless and near-motionless in a heartbeat.
‘I have not.’ Rhe said as he turned toward Enchei. The aging tattooist cradled his forearm, grimacing. ‘I wished to test a theory.’
‘By breaking the man’s arm ?’
Rhe shook his head. Before Narin could say anything more the Lawbringer started abruptly forward, feinting to one side of Narin then buffeting past as Narin reacted to the movement. Off-balance, Narin couldn’t stop the bigger man as Rhe drove past him and brought his stave down on Enchei a second time – striking at the very same spot, one that could kill a man unable to defend himself.
Again the tempered wood thwacked down into Enchei’s forearm loud enough to make Narin flinch, but this time Rhe kept his arm outstretched and the weapon remained pressing down on Enchei’s raised arm.
The two men matched gazes for a moment then Enchei twisted his hand around the stave and moved it away from his face. ‘You’ve made your point,’ he said sourly. ‘That does still hurt.’
‘What’s going on ?’ Kesh demanded from behind Narin. He turned towards her, as bewildered as her for the time being, but they were both ignored by Rhe.
‘Why are you still here ?’ Rhe demanded. Enchei frowned then released the stave and Rhe smoothly returned it to the loop behind his ba
ck. ‘You should have left by now.’
‘Would’ve looked suspicious if I’d run off,’ Enchei said, returning to his sewing with one final rub on his forearm. Narin gaped – either one of those blows could have broken his arm.
‘Last thing I needed was a reason to make a bunch of Lawbringers suspicious – or be chased through the streets by Investigators who’ve seen me go. We didn’t get them all and the last one that runs, in my experience, is the bugger who gets shot.’
Rhe turned abruptly and sought out Irato. ‘What about you ? Are you … changed ?’
Irato blinked back in confusion, but Enchei replied for him. ‘Aye, he is – doesn’t remember it, but he’s no natural.’
‘Am I going to have a covert war on my hands ?’
‘With the goshe ?’ Enchei sniffed. ‘Not by my doing. I ain’t here under orders.’
‘What the fuck’re you both on about ?’ Kesh snapped, almost shoving Narin out of the way as she stormed up to Lawbringer Rhe. ‘Why did you hit him ? I thought you had rules about attacking unarmed men ?’
Rhe inclined his head. ‘I doubt he can ever be considered unarmed,’ he said by way of explanation, ‘but you should have guessed the half of it already. You saw him fight, correct ?’
Kesh hesitated. ‘I did.’
‘Then you must be able to draw some conclusions.’
‘Mebbe,’ Kesh said with more than a little reluctance. ‘What’s that got to do with anything ?’
Rhe leaned forward, almost close enough to kiss her, and at last Kesh seemed to remember the man’s reputation. She took an involuntary step back.
‘It has everything to do with it. The Lawbringers are charged with upholding the Emperor’s law. I have a crime to investigate – several, in fact, and the presence of Astaren affects everything. Witnesses are harder to interview when they’ve all been kidnapped and imprisoned in some secret dungeon, criminals harder to catch when they can walk through walls or erase a man’s mind.’
At the mention of Astaren, Kesh paled. Whatever she’d guessed, Narin knew that voicing the word changed things. Even he, Enchei’s friend and confidant, had felt a frisson at the very mention of the name : Astaren – the elite warrior-mages of the Great Houses.