by Tom Lloyd
‘No – and keep away from the window. Last thing we need’s one of them getting lucky and seeing you look out.’
He opened the cupboard and surveyed what was inside. Kesh went to look over his shoulder and made a puzzled sound. A few shirts and trousers hung there, a small bag and heavy pair of boots slung carelessly on the floor.
‘How’s any of that going to help ?’
Enchei pointed to the bed where she’d been sitting. ‘Sit back down ; I just got something to do.’
‘Something you don’t want us to see ?’ Kesh turned to Irato, who was perched on the trunk, behind the open cupboard door.
‘Something I don’t want you to see,’ Enchei confirmed. ‘And something you don’t want to investigate yourself.’
‘Why not ?’ Kesh said as she complied and sat back down, the door obscuring her view.
‘Because I’ve booby-trapped it. You don’t want to die horribly, keep well clear of the cupboard.’
He moved forward until he was half-inside then reached out to run his hand down the right-hand wall. Kesh and Irato both instinctively leaned forward as they heard a click and something thump down inside the wall.
‘A false panel ?’
Enchei paused. ‘You’re pretty inquisitive for someone who’s got caught up in a dangerous conspiracy.’
‘Can you blame me ? What I don’t know has almost got me killed a few times this Ascendancy – I’m not exactly trusting of anyone’s secrets.’
‘Well, keep clear of mine,’ Enchei growled. There was a grating sound and a slight grunt of effort as he pushed something back. ‘Right, you two stay here. I’ve just got to …’
Kesh was already up and halfway to the cupboard. ‘Oh no, we’re going with you. It’s our lives on the line too, remember ?’
He didn’t respond for a moment, just stared at the blank back of the cupboard until seeming to come to a decision. ‘Fine, but you don’t tell anyone what you see here – understand ? Once this is all over, looks like I’m moving home anyway.’
‘Because we’ve seen your cupboard ?’ Kesh said. ‘Most be one hell of a secret compartment.’
Enchei didn’t respond, he just gestured for her to go inside. Kesh peered forward at the space where the right-hand wall had been and saw a narrow corridor, barely big enough for all three of them to fit in.
‘A hiding place ?’
The walls were bare brick, the ceiling and floor thin boards of wood that were warped with age. To her surprise it was relatively clean and free from cobwebs ; smelling faintly of dust and the oily tang of metal.
‘There’s a door at the end. Do not open it until I’ve shut this up behind us, okay ?’
She nodded and entered the tight space, Irato following wordlessly behind. ‘What would happen ?’
‘I told you, you’d die. We’d all die in fact, so just wait until I say.’
They did as they were told and eased themselves inside, waiting for Enchei to pull the cupboard door shut again and replace the cupboard wall panel. Once he’d done so, the hidden corridor was plunged into darkness and Kesh felt her heart quicken. She could feel Irato at her side and the big fighter’s presence was suddenly oppressive in such a confined space.
He can see in the dark, she thought to herself, they both can. He could kill me now and I’d never even see it coming.
Kesh swallowed her apprehension. After all this, she wasn’t going to let herself succumb to foolish thoughts – there was more than enough to fear outside on the city streets without her imagining more.
‘Now what ?’ she said in a quiet voice.
‘Reach out your right hand,’ Enchei said from somewhere past Irato. ‘There’s a door latch at waist-height. Lift it and hold it up a moment, then open the door.’
She did as instructed, her heartbeat sounding loud in her chest as she held her breath. As the door opened and light once more enveloped her, she breathed out with relief and stepped out into the room beyond.
Kesh looked around. It wasn’t much different to the room she’d been in, just bigger and a little more comfortably furnished. ‘This is your secret ?’ she said sceptically, ‘a few rugs and a bigger bed ?’
She nudged the rug with her toe. It was of decent quality, an intricate geometric pattern woven into it, but hardly anything remarkable. Crossing the room she went to the window, remembering to keep to one side, and tried to look out. The glass was dirty and covered in dust, but only on the outside, she realised as she wiped a finger down it. Also, the mullions were not wood as one would expect, but iron.
‘They’re bars,’ Kesh said in surprise, ‘you’ve made yourself a safe little cage here.’
Enchei grunted as he entered and closed the door behind him. ‘Something like that,’ he said cryptically.
Rolling back the rug he revealed a trapdoor in the floor and hauled on the iron ring set into it. Beneath there was a set of stairs leading down into the room below – the light similarly dimmed by a caking of dust on the windows, Kesh guessed.
‘These rooms are both yours ? How can you afford them ?’
‘I own the tavern,’ he said with a shrug. ‘Or rather, I helped the owner buy it and he’s getting rich because of it. He knows to keep well clear of my part.’
‘What’s behind it, then ?’ Kesh frowned as she tried to remember, but she’d rarely been this way and not noticed anything much when she had.
‘An empty shop-front. The innkeeper uses it for storage.’
They all went down into the lower room and the first thing Kesh noticed was the lack of stairs. The floor was all wooden boards without rugs covering them, but she could see no doors or any other way to access the empty shop below.
‘How do you get down ?’
‘You don’t – I removed the stair myself. There’s no way up if anyone breaks in below.’
The room looked like it was also just a storage place. Even in his secret life Enchei wasn’t much for comforts, Kesh realised. A pair of large, iron-bound cupboards dominated the room, while at the back there was a strange sort of brick outcrop covered with wood that served as a worktable. On it she saw the sceptre the goshe had used to drain the light from Narin’s rooms, now half-disassembled with metal pieces lined neatly up and glass fragments set to one side.
‘Have you worked out what that is ?’ she asked, pointing at the sceptre.
‘I knew already, soon as I saw it,’ he replied, waving Irato over to the table and pointing at the far end. ‘Help me lift this and put it on the floor.’
‘So what is it ?’
Enchei stopped. ‘A device for blanking out all the light in the room – a pretty crude one too, but it tells us something about how skilled these goshe are.’
‘Is it good news, then ?’ she said, watching the two men lift the tabletop off to reveal a dark well-like opening despite the fact they were on the first floor.
He brightened. ‘Aye, it is actually. Tells me some about their magic, what they’re likely to have up their sleeves. You could sum it up as crude, but effective. Any one of them I can handle easily enough I reckon, but if they’ve got the army we think they do … well, that could be tricky for all involved.’
He waved them back and peered into the well then, to her surprise, hawked and spat down it. If there was a splash, Kesh didn’t hear it, but Enchei smiled all the same.
‘You’re not so different from any other man,’ she said with a sigh. ‘Show you a height and you’ll spit off it, a tree and you’ll piss against it.’
The smile turned into a grin. ‘If you say so,’ he said, but then a serious expression took hold of his face. ‘Now – you two want to stay, you keep quiet as mice and don’t bloody move. In fact, sit down on the floor, there’s no telling how long this’ll take.’
Kesh and Irato exchanged looks. The former goshe hadn’t spoken since they’d made it to the tavern door an hour or so earlier. Apart from cleaning his weapons in a methodical manner and wiping the worst of the blood and dirt from his clothes, he’d d
one almost nothing. Kesh herself had been too jittery to keep still for long, but Irato had been more like an automaton wound down after the running and fighting were over.
Once the pair had settled, Enchei fetched a hide bag from one of the cupboards. He pulled from it a long coil of thread like thick fishing line with a small bone securely bound to one end. Kesh caught a glimpse of symbols inscribed into the bone before Enchei dropped it down the well, wrapping the other end tightly around two fingers of his left hand. Next he retrieved a length of thin copper wire and hooked it around something inside the well.
As he ran that across the well-mouth Kesh realised there were small hooks on the inside wall, fixed to a band of copper nailed into the brickwork. Keeping the thread dangling down the centre of the well, Enchei caught the wire around each of the five hooks to create a star-shaped web across the well-mouth. That done he knelt at the side, holding the thread high and clear of the copper wire as he began to mutter under his breath.
Kesh strained forward to try to make out what he was saying, but it was no language she’d ever heard – nothing spoken on the docks even resembled it. Enchei continued in a monotonous drone and she reluctantly eased back again into a more comfortable position, realising he was repeating some mantra or invocation over and over with barely a pause for breath.
It took a long time for anything more to happen. Kesh fought the urge to squirm where she sat, uncomfortable on the floor, but risked only brief glances at Irato out of the corner of her eye before returning her attention to the aging tattooist. Irato was almost perfectly still the whole while, barely blinking, as though hypnotised by the sight.
A few days ago I would be shocked by this, Kesh realised with sour humour. I thought demons were enemies of the Gods and of all mankind, I thought most magic was heresy and dangerous. Now … who knows what’s true ? Demons saved me from Perel ; Enchei shows no hatred or fear of the Gods – and I can’t believe a practising shaman would be tolerated amongst the Astaren otherwise.
She paused, remembering every silly rumour she’d heard about the fabled warrior-mages. Somehow, in their exhortations and warnings, the priests had carefully separated the Astaren from the foolish and the mad who consorted with demons. The sanction of the Houses, of the rulers of the Empire, somehow made it safer, or was theirs a different form of magic ? Or was it all one – power jealously guarded by those who wielded it ?
Was he ever a shaman or anything like it ? she wondered. Was he born with the sight or did he learn it ? If he had it as a child, why join the army as a scout when the Astaren would certainly be looking to recruit anyone with the necessary gifts ?
A rushing sound broke her train of thoughts. Kesh blinked in surprise as she realised Enchei had broken off his chanting and the air in the room was no longer still. Motes of dust swirled in the empty space between them, eddying away from the well-mouth. The air seemed charged now, the fine hairs on her arms suddenly prickling with a sensation she couldn’t put a name to. Irato felt it too, she realised. The man sat imperceptibly more upright – alert and ready for action once more, and that was enough to spark apprehension in Kesh’s belly.
The sound became louder and faster, the susurrus dance of wind over the well’s brick surface rising up as errant strands of Enchei’s hair began to flow freely. But then it changed, the whisper became not the sound of the wind but the voice of it. Kesh stiffened, biting her lip to stop herself calling out as a deep sound echoed up the well – barely fathomable in its hollow tones, but she realised there were words in there somewhere.
As the demon, or whatever it was, spoke, Enchei nodded slowly. He hadn’t moved from where he knelt, twine still raised above his head.
‘You do me honour, great one,’ Enchei intoned. ‘I beg you are not offended by my precautions, feeble as they are.’
‘The lesser kin are ever hungry,’ replied the voice from the well. ‘A fool and his soul are easily parted.’
‘I beg a boon of you, great one.’
‘Speak it. Prayers unvoiced fall like ash.’
‘I seek the assistance of one in the heavens ; I ask an emissary is sent.’
‘For what purpose ? The Gods command, mortals obey.’
‘To save a friend, to right a wrong done to your kin.’
‘The lords and ladies of heaven bear the pride of Gods. The brave and the bold die swiftest.’
‘The friend is an Investigator of the Lawbringers ; known to Lord Shield and charged with a mission by him. I believe him taken by our enemies.’
‘Prayers are for temples. The faithful know their place.’
Enchei shook his head. ‘I cannot pray, my voice is lost to me.’
‘An awestruck man loses his voice for prayers. A cautious man cuts it out.’
‘It is so.’
‘This boon I will grant. The scent of your soul I will mask.’
‘I am in your debt, great one.’
‘The wind sings a song of loss. There is a prize Lord Shield seeks.’
‘I believe Lord Shield does not know what he seeks.’
‘Stillness in heaven brings order. Your Gods remain young for this world.’
‘I understand. What belongs to your kin is not for the Gods of men.’
‘An emissary ascends to the heavens. A servant will await you in the coldest corners of the city.’
Abruptly, the rushing wind broke off and faded away to nothing, leaving a tense stillness in the air. The room was silent. Enchei remained kneeling with head bowed a few moments longer before he stood and began to reel in the thread.
‘What was that ?’ Kesh breathed.
‘One of the Apkai,’ Enchei said, back turned to her. ‘The highest order of demons, beings of ages past that were unimaginably powerful before the Empire ever came about.’
‘Like the Kraken God or the Shepherds of the Drowned ?’ Kesh shook her head in disbelief. ‘Sailors would call such things the old Gods when they were in their cups. Can we trust it ?’
He turned, a flush of annoyance appearing before he composed himself. ‘Trust ? It’s an ancient being of vast power and intelligence. Our only protection here was its indifference – to it, we’re as significant as insects.’
‘Then why did it help us ?’
Enchei sighed and began to wind up the copper wire he’d strung across the well-mouth. ‘You might say that to the fox-demons, the Apkai are Gods.’
Kesh frowned. ‘And that’s reason enough ?’
A flicker of a smile crossed Enchei’s face. ‘Now you’re starting to think about these things properly. No, that’s not reason enough. The higher orders – Gods and demons – they have their own games to play and a balance to maintain. Had I asked it to find Narin itself, likely I’d not have a soul right now. Only Shield’s involvement won its interest – either it knows what the fox-demons have lost or it wants to know, given another player’s already interested. Either way, it’s happy to be owed a favour.’
‘And now ?’ Irato spoke up abruptly, looking up at Enchei.
The older man scowled. ‘Now ? Now you get to see what toys I’ve got in the other cupboard. ’Cept of course you don’t. You’ve seen enough of my secrets today, so bugger off upstairs the both of you – I need to get ready.’
Kesh looked him up and down. Enchei was still wearing the same clothes he had been in since morning, some sort of armour underneath his clothes and a variety of weapons. ‘More ready than you are already ?’
An evil glimmer appeared in his eye. ‘When you’re fighting on the streets o’ the biggest city in the whole damn Empire, it’s best not to attract too much attention. But my guess is, wherever they’ve got Narin they’re far from prying eyes. So I’ve got a few other surprises hidden away.’
‘What about us ?’
‘You’ll only just slow me down, the pair o’ you.’
‘I’m coming,’ Irato declared.
Enchei shook his head slowly. ‘No, you ain’t,’ he said with finality. ‘I’m playing this my
way now and my secrets are my own. It’s enough of a risk that I’m using those secrets to rescue him – you two are going somewhere safe and you’re staying there until I come get you.’
‘Where ?’ Irato asked, just getting in ahead of Kesh’s questions.
The goshe had recognised an order, she realised, and was already onto the next matter. With an effort Kesh bit back her argument and let the tattooist reply.
‘You know Tale well enough, Kesh ?’ Enchei asked.
She nodded.
‘Good – you know the tavern towards Dragon District, the Broken Field ? Round the back o’ there you’ll find a smokehouse. I’ve never been there with Narin, he don’t know it, but the owner owes me a favour. She’ll take you in ; give you a plate o’ smoked crayfish if you ask nicely too. I’ll come find you once I’ve got Narin somewhere safe.’
‘You’re not bringing him ?’
Enchei’s face went grim. ‘Man’ll need a doctor first, I expect.’
‘And you expect us to wait patiently with some friend of yours ?’
‘Pretty much. Sure she’ll have some chores if you get bored.’
Chapter 19
Dachan proved popular for several centuries among the citizens of the House of the Sun, before a long and steady decline. Intended to maintain the sword-skills of a banned warrior caste, it was never embraced by the lower castes and eventually even those with warrior blood realised the Emperor’s hegemony was never likely to return. It only took them two hundred years to notice this, remarkably swift for most military thinking.
From A History by Ayel Sorote
Near midday, Law Master Sheven appeared in the street and hurried towards Lawbringer Rhe. The broad old man looked harassed and lacking sleep, but his voice remained clear and loud as he outpaced his attending Investigators.
‘Lawbringer Rhe, how many victims do you have ?’
‘Of what ?’ Rhe replied. ‘We have two matters to worry about here. I’ve yet to decide which is the greater concern.’
Sheven stopped and looked past Rhe to the row of houses where they had discovered twenty or more people stricken with fever. ‘They are not related ?’ he asked in a dubious voice.