by Tom Lloyd
‘And now ?’ Sheven asked, looking up at the gallery.
Narin glanced around, automatically guilty at having witnessed such a scene though he knew they had all been aware of his presence. From his position, Narin could see the gallery was clear and gave Sheven a nod to confirm they were alone.
‘Now I must go,’ Rhe said evenly. ‘I have prisoners to see to.’
‘Is there nothing I can do ?’
Rhe’s grey eyes levelled at the Law Master. ‘Pray our suspicions do not come true – but even that, I fear, will do no good.’
Narin trotted down the stair that led to the ground floor of the Palace of Law. He emerged into a busy corridor that ran all the way around the circular council chamber and for a moment watched the flow of humanity. Men and women of all ages crossed his path, unmindful of the graceful vaulting and ornate clerestory windows above their heads. Stone carvings of a sun with four golden rays extending from it were all around. The iconography of Imperial service that could be seen through this district was nowhere more heavily repeated than here.
The Palace of Law contained several distinct wings, including a large walled-off section that housed courtrooms and a small corps of Imperial-sanctioned lawyers, bolstered by a contingent from the Great Houses. That lay to the east of the Hall of the Vanguard, with the gaol and execution ground toward the shore of the island, facing the high towers of House Eagle across the waters of the Crescent.
As he started off down the corridor, Narin found himself glancing out towards the great open doorway at the Noble Courts. They were a pair of square buildings four storeys high and surrounded by flying buttresses in the alternating shapes of four Gods ; Lord Lawbringer, Lady Magistrate, Lady Pity and Lord Monk, all presided over by a towering statue of the God-Empress.
Despite the time he had spent here over the years, Narin had never lost that slight thrill of the grandeur of these white stone buildings. The temple-like courts and chambers that demanded quiet reverence, the statues and carvings throughout – all in the unearthly presence of the Imperial Palace, as imposing and unchanging as a mountain. Today, however, Narin found himself hunching his shoulders, the presence of all the Gods more than he wished to bear. He felt them watch him with hawk-like scrutiny and wondered – how long any man could endure the attention of Gods ?
Passing through a hall lined with Imperial flags, he was woken from his thoughts by an unexpected yank on his arm. Narin flinched, half-reaching for his stave, before he realised who had caught hold of his arm – Diman, his neighbour at the compound.
‘There you are !’ the younger man gasped, ‘I’ve been looking all over for you.’
‘What’s wrong ?’
‘Nothing,’ Diman said hurriedly. ‘Quite the opposite I’d guess. Got you another visitor, and not a bad-looking one either !’
Narin scowled at the Investigator and the young man’s face fell. ‘Right, yes. Anyways, she’s waiting at the shrine on the second floor – under escort of course.’
Narin felt a flood of relief. ‘Gods, Kesh’s mother !’
He clapped a hand of thanks on Diman’s shoulder and broke into a run for the stairs. Wide stone staircases flanked a central block at the heart of the palace wing that looked out over Lawbringer’s Square. Broad enough for seven men to ascend together, the staircases led from opposing directions onto the first floor hall and similarly grand steps took him up to the upper floor ; a less public area of the palace where half of the city’s Lawbringers shared offices.
He skidded around a pair of clerks and almost collided with a tall Lawbringer, drawing a cut-off curse from the woman as Narin clipped his ankle on the steel-shod end of her scabbard. Half-limping, he called an apology as he turned the corner and continued on towards the shrine to Lord Lawbringer that stood at the end of the upper hall. Three arched doorways separated off the space, but it was all open to the traffic of passing Lawbringers and Investigators as they went about their daily duties.
Ahead of him Narin saw a pair of elderly Lawbringers bow respectfully to the statue of Lord Lawbringer facing down the hallway towards him. At the sight he clattered to a halt, remembering the level of respect required for the shrine, whether or not it occupied a through-route for all the offices on the south face of the palace. He paused at the arched doorways, bowing to Lord Lawbringer then scouting around for his new visitor among the dozen or so people within the shrine’s bounds.
For a moment he didn’t see her, but then a figure in a dark blue dress stepped out from behind one of six stone tablets that bore the Lawbringers’ oaths. From her stance as much as anything, Narin recognised the woman as Kesh’s mother – hands clasped anxiously, but back straight and face rigid in defiance of the world. He hurried over and fear flashed across the woman’s face until he bowed to her and spoke.
‘Mistress Hinar ?’ Narin inquired as gently as he could. ‘Teike Hinar ?’
A wave of relief seemed to break across her face. ‘Merciful Gods. It’s true – my daughter’s here ? She told you to expect me ?’
‘She did – your daughter’s safe,’ Narin said as calmly as he could.
‘Take me to her !’ Teike demanded. ‘Please, I must see her !’
‘Mistress, please, we must talk first.’
‘What ? What about ?’
Without warning the woman took a step forward and looked about to grab Narin by the throat as bristling indignation took her over. Behind her, a novice assigned to attend her drifted forward, anticipating a confrontation, but Narin gave him a look and he backed off, retiring to a discreet distance.
‘Mistress Hinar,’ Narin continued, ‘matters are not so simple – please, trust me and spare me some time first.’
‘Are you a bloody fool ?’ Teike snapped. ‘I’ve just spent the night in hiding – one of my daughters has been murdered ! You expect me to wait and listen to you ? I want my daughter, right now – I need to know she’s safe. Kesh said there were people looking for us, that they’d killed Emari and were looking for us too !’
She took a deep breath, one that threatened to shake loose the tears of grief and fear that threatened beneath the surface.
‘I don’t know what’s happening,’ Teike continued quietly. ‘The message gave no details, but right now I do not care. Do you hear me ? I came here thinking I would be murdered in the street ; I almost didn’t come at all. Whatever’s going on, whatever’s happened, I don’t care. The city can burn for all I give a damn until I see my girl’s safe and well.’
‘She’s safe,’ Narin insisted, ‘under guard by a friend of mine, but I can’t take you to her.’
‘Why in Jester’s name not ?’ she snapped, almost shouting directly into his face. ‘What’s going on ?’
‘Please – lower your voice,’ Narin said stonily, well aware of the looks they would be receiving from every Lawbringer nearby. ‘I am trying to help you, but my power to help Kesh is dependent on my position here and creating a disturbance in the shrine of Lord Lawbringer hampers that.’
Teike flushed with rage and glared around her, but managed to get control of her emotions and nodded.
‘Very well,’ she said, and allowed him to guide her past the shrine towards the long bank of thin windows beyond, where the sill running all along the wall was deep enough to sit.
‘Now first – I don’t believe you are in any danger now, but your daughter still is,’ Narin said in a quiet voice. ‘I cannot take you to where she is hiding because almost certainly it is being watched and once inside you will not be able to leave again. She’ll be vulnerable out on the street. There is a band of professional killers after her.’
‘Why ? What in Pity’s name could she have done to deserve that ?’
‘Nothing,’ Narin said with feeling. ‘It was just bad … terrible luck, for Emari and then for her.’
‘What happened ? How did Emari die ?’ Teike gasped, doubling over all of a sudden as though Narin had punched her. ‘How did my little girl die ? Where is her bod
y ?’
‘I don’t know,’ Narin admitted, ‘but I will tell you everything I can. Now, do you remember your guest who went missing ? Master Tokene Shadow ?’
Behind the tears, her face hardened. It was no different to the look he’d seen on Kesh’s face the previous night – just as she stabbed a man in the throat. Narin took a long breath and began to recount her daughter’s story.
*
The big man sidled down the street towards her, a long battered coat down to his knees. He squinted and frowned at the ground as he went, chancing only brief glances up to navigate before lowering his head once more to let greasy strands of hair hang across his face. It only accentuated the stoop Kodeh often seemed to walk with, burdened by the weight of his massive arms and fists the size of hams.
The black-skinned Dragon drew no curious glances here in Tale, but still the man felt vulnerable, Synter could see. Without armour or mask, without most of his usual weapons or the cover of night, Kodeh clearly felt exposed within the foot-traffic of the Fett Canal towpath.
Too stupid to realise his clothes are his protection, Synter joked to herself, scanning his appearance to ensure there was nothing that would give him away. A grubby black neckerchief was tied around his bull neck, almost invisible against the man’s dark skin, while on his feet Kodeh wore hempen sandals rather than his usual heavy boots.
At least he remembers his roots well enough, she thought, smiling inwardly. I don’t have to worry about him being too proud to look peasant caste and get noticed by some observant Lawbringer.
Overhead, a pair of seagulls resumed the screaming calls she’d had to put up with all morning. Synter glanced up and scowled, resisting the urge to fetch a crossbow and put a bolt through each bird’s tiny brain. Instead, she shifted in her seat and continued to work her knife over the carcass before her while the seagulls peered down at the bloody mess on the table.
‘Needed to get your hands bloody today ?’ Kodeh commented as he joined her. To one side of Synter was a battered brass samovar, polished as lovingly as any temple effigy, and he helped himself to a tall cup of black tea.
‘I can’t sit out here all day without something to do,’ Synter replied, putting the slim knife down a moment to re-roll one sleeve up again. ‘The cook’s not much of a butcher anyway.’
Kodeh looked past her, through the open window into the empty eatery beyond. It wasn’t open for business yet so they were safe to talk.
‘We all use our Blessings in different ways, I guess,’ Kodeh muttered, wrinkling his nose at the half-dismembered pig carcass.
They were considered low-caste beasts, pigs, and not fit for any noble table, but that was one detail the low-born Synter was glad to put up with. Kodeh drained his cup and set it down before sitting with his back against the wall so he could look both ways down the canal with minimal effort.
‘Good news, I take it ?’ she said.
Kodeh nodded with a grunt. ‘Building’s intact, guards still there – your watchers likewise. If it’s under surveillance, it’s by someone better’n me.’
‘Or more unnatural,’ Synter muttered. ‘And that’s saying something, so the whores of Arbold tell.’
Kodeh grinned wolfishly. ‘Never trust a whore,’ was his only reply.
‘Uttir was here not long ago, said Father Pallasane reported the same,’ Synter commented. ‘Though what that truly means, buggered if I know.’
‘That stunted fuck’s about as unnatural as I ever saw,’ Kodeh said, ‘including the soldier-demon we took down a few nights back. Not much’ll slip past his paranoia.’
‘So it’s time to commit – throw the bones and see what happens.’
‘Aye, sir,’ Kodeh confirmed, gaze still roving up and down the late-morning passersby. ‘Waiting on your order.’
The weather had become overcast since morning, a chill in the air that hadn’t been there earlier. It came from the mountains to the north-east, Synter knew – she’d lived in this city long enough to taste the cold air off House Eagle’s icy heart. A promise of heavy fog to come, she guessed.
‘A good omen, for them who believe in ’em,’ she said, tilting her nose up to the sky. ‘Cold air coming in.’
‘Aye, fog tonight – thick enough for Mischief Night itself,’ Kodeh agreed. ‘What tricks do you fancy playing on our betters, then ?’
‘Quiet ones,’ she warned. ‘The An-Goshe just claimed last night was an isolated incident. We don’t want to contradict that if we can help it.’
‘When the fuck do they order us around ?’
She shook her head. ‘They don’t – they got their orders just as we got ours. Too many eyes on what we do right now, it’s not our way.’
‘Nor was being betrayed by our own,’ Kodeh growled, fingers tightening into a fist. ‘What do we do about him ?’
‘We’ve got a handful of slaved minds left from the Moon District Shure – only three, but enough to justify the An-Goshe sending a message to the Lawbringers later today. If they’re warned a few remaining rogues are out for Irato’s blood, we mebbe get another throw of the bones before they realise we’re cheating.’
‘You think they’ll get to him ?’ Kodeh hawked and spat noisily on the cobbled ground beyond the eatery’s decking. ‘Nah, you’d need dozens to kill Irato now.’
‘Mebbe they get lucky, mebbe it’s cover for us to act instead.’ She shrugged and finished her work, casting one final glance at the seagulls in case they risked grabbing a piece. ‘Either way, he’s not given away our locations yet. He’s no fool, seems he’s playing his own game and buying us time. Mebbe forcing us to act – Father Jehq’s been worrying like an old woman this past year, bad as the rest of them.’
‘Time to push new blood through ?’ Kodeh said with a gleam in his startling eyes. ‘Give the old blood a bit of an airing ?’
Synter put her knife down and dragged over a bucket to scrub the blood from her forearms and hands. ‘Don’t underestimate them,’ she said, ‘they gave us the Blessings – you can bet they held some back for themselves.’
‘Then what ?’
‘We lead them. None of us have the knowledge to perform the ritual, but they’re too timid to do anything ’less we force the issue. Might be I could turn some to our side, but you want to risk getting it wrong ?’ She shook her head. ‘No, for the moment the Detenii remain the sharp end we’re meant to be. Be as the seagulls,’ she added with a theatrical flourish.
‘Eh ? Seagulls ?’ Kodeh glanced upward where the gulls watched the bloody remains with hungry eyes. ‘What about ’em ?’
Synter smiled. ‘Too spiteful even for demons to try and possess, so the stories go ; and bold enough to snatch food out o’ your hand if you’re not paying attention, but these two haven’t moved. They’re watching me sure, but they’re not stupid enough to risk it and nor should we be. Enough blood’ll be spilled before this is over, but I’ve got other work planned. So track down the team leaders. I want them all here at dusk for orders.’
‘You’re the commander,’ Kodeh said with a note of scepticism as he heaved himself up out of his seat. ‘You’re the one the teams are loyal to, though, so when you give me the word …’ He let the suggestion of treachery and murder hang unspoken.
She nodded. ‘I know. We’re just not there yet.’
‘And the artefact ?’
‘We keep watching. Send someone into the building come nightfall ; they go in and report back to somewhere neutral. If there’s a higher order in this game, we need to know. Someone expendable, though. I don’t know about you, but I don’t fancy having my soul ripped out through my eyes and flayed by some demon-prince with a grudge.’
When Narin was finished, Teike remained silent and very still. He watched her process his words, unsure what else to say and painfully aware he’d been of little comfort. He’d been careful not to tell her everything, not to share Enchei’s secrets or anything else that could only prove dangerous for all concerned, but she still knew more than the L
ord Martial of the Lawbringers now.
‘What now ? Fanatics, demons, poisons that steal a man’s mind … What now for Kesh ?’
Narin didn’t speak at first. She looked up, unashamed of the tears lingering on her cheeks, and waited for a response. Her scarf hung loose around her neck, the length of white cotton a mark of her caste as much as something to tie her hair up with.
‘Now we find a way to get her to safety,’ he said and tentatively reached out to put a hand on her arm. ‘I’ll protect her with my life,’ he added with conviction. ‘That is my oath.’
He pointed at the standing tablets around the statue of Lord Lawbringer, arranged in the shape of the God’s constellation – points on the stone floor connected by a groove that described the pattern of the stars.
‘“Protect the innocent”,’ he read from the first of the tablets, ‘“punish the guilty”. That is what my life’s devoted to. Lawbringer Rhe’s too, and he will be beside me in all I do.’
‘“Weigh in judgement the souls of the accused”,’ Teike said in response, pointing at another tablet. ‘Do these goshe even have souls ? Are they no better than demons – worse indeed, worse than those fox-spirits who seem to have a claim on my daughter ?’
‘“Seek truth in all things”,’ a new voice declared, prompting them both to flinch and look up to where Rhe had silently approached. ‘“Fear nothing bar failure”. “Embrace pain as the price of service”. “Carry the Emperor’s light into dark places”. Soulless or not, Madam, they will be held to account.’
Rhe stopped and fixed Teike with his stern, unblinking steel gaze. ‘Mistress Hinar – you have my sympathies for the loss of your daughter.’
‘Thank you, Lord Lawbringer,’ Teike said in a choked voice, even her proud bearing affected by the man’s regard. ‘But sympathy won’t bring Emari back,’ she added, ‘and I don’t even have a body to bury. See my other daughter safe, Lawbringer. Stop these murderers and see Kesh safe.’
Her last words were spoken as nothing more than a whisper, but Narin felt them drive home like icy needles into his heart. If Rhe was similarly affected he gave no sign, but the Lawbringer bowed to her in response.