by Джеффри Лорд
Blade's temper flared. He had been willing to put up with a lot from the Hongshu's soldiers as long as he had some good reason. But now he could leave Deyun any time he wanted to. Why not do something about at least a few of those swaggering thugs before he left?
Why not indeed?
Blade swung his spear off his shoulder, grasped it with both hands, and stepped forward into the alley. His voice boomed out. «Stop that, you vomit-weaned sons of diseased pigs!»
The soldiers turned to stare at Blade. So did the woman. Then Blade stopped for a moment to stare at her. The long straight nose, the small firm chin, the thinly disguised pattern of scars on the right side of her face-he recognized them all.
It was Lady Musura.
Chapter 17
In the same moment, Lady Musura recognized Blade. The knowledge that she had an ally seemed to pull a trigger in her. She exploded into savage action. A foot shot up and out, into one soldier's unprotected groin. He screamed and reeled back, bumping into one of his comrades. The two men became tangled for a moment, leaving an opening in the half-circle around the jinai woman. She leaped high, flipping head over heels in midair, drawing a knife as she flew and landing beside Blade, facing the other two soldiers.
One of them drew his sword and charged, mindlessly, like a wild boar. Blade's spear point drove into the wrist of the man's sword hand, tearing flesh, smashing bone apart. A flick of Blade's wrist shifted the spear, sending it into the man's throat.
The other soldier came on in a crouch. Blade's arms jerked and the spear shaft smashed into the side of the man's neck. He reeled and crumpled forward onto his knees. Lady Musura darted in and both her hands slashed in under his jaw. His breath became a choked gurgle as bone fragments clogged his throat, and he collapsed.
By this time the third soldier had decided to throw courage to the winds. He dropped his spear and took to his heels. The soldier Lady Musura had kicked in the grain took off after him, but he was too bent over with pain to get out of range in time. The lady's knife sang through the air and into the back of the soldier's neck. He sprawled full length on the smelly cobblestones of the alley.
Blade leaped forward over the dying men and snatched up the fallen spear: One rule he always followed in a fight: never miss a chance to pick up a spare weapon. As he slung it over his shoulder, Lady Musura grabbed at his sleeve and stared up into his face. Her eyes were wide and her face pale under its tan and grime, but her voice was as steady as ever.
«Blade, I thank you. But it would have been wiser not to do this.»
«Maybe. But I was tired of those damned soldiers pushing me and everybody else around.»
«A good thought, but perhaps better for some other time and place. Now we must flee.»
«I was leaving the city anyway, tomorrow. We can-«
The distant but angry booming of a gong interrupted Blade. He frowned. «An alarm? So soon?»
«Yes. We have no hope of leaving the city now or for many days. We must flee to the quarter of the Warm Gates. The courtesans there are always searching for people to guard their houses, and no one would turn us over to the Hongshu's soldiers.»
«Not if they could help it. But if the Hongshu has fifty thousand soldiers in Deyun-«
«He will not dare send one of them through the Warm Gates without the leave of the courtesans. Interrupt the business of that quarter for even a single night, and there will be rioting and burning enough to make even the Hongshu uncertain on his throne. Besides, there are a few of the ladies and masters in that quarter who owe me favors from years past. They would hide us no matter what.»
The sound of the gongs was mixing with angry shouts as they stepped out of the alley into the open street. In spite of this, they walked as slowly as possible, trying to look like peaceful citizens going about their business.
The disguise gained them a few valuable minutes, as they made their way slowly through the tangle of streets toward the Warm Gates. Several parties of soldiers pounded past at a run, shoving citizens up against walls and into doorways, upsetting stands and carts, knocking peddlers off their feet. Blade even stopped once to help a fish peddler pick up his baskets and listen to him roundly cursing the soldiers.
They covered more than half the distance to the Warm Gates in less than ten minutes. But then the streets began to narrow. The crowds grew thicker and harder to push through. Several times they had to cut through dark, narrow, foul-smelling alleys, stumbling over rotten vegetables, slimy mud puddles, long-dead cats and dogs.
Their luck ran out as they came out of their fourth alley, not more than a hundred yards from the Warm Gates. Between them and the gates a line of soldiers blocked the street as solidly as a wall. The sun glinted on their armor, and above them sprouted a forest of spearpoints and helmet spikes and horns. Blade froze and tried to fade back into the darkness of the alley. Before he could do so, someone in the line of soldiers shouted:
«There they are!»
Blade's sword flew clear. He drew his short sword too, and tossed it to Lady Musura. Then they darted out into the street, heading toward the wall of the Warm Gates quarter.
There were archers among the soldiers. If they had simply stood back and let fly, Blade and Lady Musura wouldn't have covered ten feet. But perhaps there were enough citizens around to make even the Hongshu's cold-blooded soldiers careful. Or more likely they all had notions of winning glory by killing or capturing the mighty Blade themselves, sword against sword.
The line broke apart as the soldiers began pushing their way toward the two fugitives. Men cursed, women screamed, children squalled in pain and terror as the soldiers used fists and spear butts. Then the crowd also broke apart as people tried to flatten themselves against the wall or run. Blade and Lady Musura found themselves caught in a logjam of people all pushing and heaving frantically. In desperation they used their own fists and elbows, struggling furiously to stay on their feet and move even a few steps toward the wall. Blade felt as though his ribs would cave in, tried to keep the points of his spears out of a child's face, stumbled over a smashed cart, and nearly went down. Sweat streamed down his face, making streaks in the dust on his skin. He couldn't help thinking that being trampled to death in a panic-stricken mob was a stinking way to go out.
Then he and the jinai woman were as much out in the open as they could be, in a little niche formed by a buttress of the wall. At the same moment five soldiers broke out of the crowd. Blade swung one of his spears down and threw it at the leader. It took him-in the groin. Clawing at the shaft, he went over backward. The other four drew their swords, but hesitated for a moment.
Lady Musura used that moment to leap catlike onto the wall. Her supple fingers and toes seemed to find holds where Blade would have suspected nothing but blank stone. She swarmed up to the top of the wall. Blade flashed a glare at her. Was she deserting him now, when-?
Before he could finish the thought, she called down, «Hold on, Blade! What I need I must find within.» She vanished down inside the wall. Blade swore under his breath. He hoped she was telling the truth. But whether she was or not, there was no reason to lie down and die. If he was going to finish it here, he would take some more of those stinking soldiers with him!
One of the soldiers screwed up his courage and leaped forward, sword high and flashing. Blade brought up his own sword and the remaining spear to guard. Then he noticed the man's clumsy positioning. Almost effortlessly Blade's spear licked out, driving into the shoulder of the man's sword arm. His fingers opened and let the sword fall. Before it clattered to the street Blade's own sword hissed down. The man's other arm flew from its shoulder. Blood sprayed the man's comrades. His howl of agony drowned out even the roar of the panic-stricken crowd.
Blade followed up his edge with a quick attack. He dropped his sword, used a two-handed grip to push the spear into the face of the next soldier, and grounded the spear. The sword leaped into his hand again, in time to meet the last two soldiers as they came in together. One swu
ng so wildly that his sword whistled down over Blade's head and clanged against the stone. Before the man could pull back his half-numbed arm, Blade drove his short sword into the man's armpit.
That left only one soldier facing Blade. But five or six more were pushing through the crowd, ready to join in the fight. Blade knew he would have to be quick with this man.
But either the soldier was naturally cautious or the fate of his comrades had put caution into him. He stayed well out of Blade's reach, bobbing and ducking under Blade's slashes. He might not be a very good swordsman, and he certainly wouldn't have lasted more than moments against Yezjaro. But he was good enough to keep clear of Blade's sword for a minute or two. Finally he missed a step, Blade's sword sank into his neck, his head lolled helplessly-and seven of his comrades burst through the crowd to confront Blade.
As they did Blade heard something hit the ground behind him with a soft thud. One of the soldiers pointed upward, shouted in alarm-then screamed as one of Lady Musura's knives sprouted in his left eye. Blade turned and saw a thin rope trailing down the wall and Lady Musura crouching on top.
One leap took Blade five feet up the wall. His hands locked on the rope. It bit into his hands until he could feel the blood oozing, but it held his weight. He ignored the pain and hauled himself swiftly upward. One of the soldiers dashed in and aimed a cut at Blade, leaping high to deliver it. Blade felt a puff of air on his ankle as the sword flashed by, and climbed even faster.
His head and shoulders were just clear of the top of the wall when the first arrows smacked into the wall beside him. He knew the soldiers must be too confused for accurate shooting. Otherwise their first volley would have been enough. But his luck would still run out if he hung here long enough. He slapped his hands down flat on the top of the wall and sent himself flying upward and over.
Too late he saw what lay below him on the other side. More arrows whistled overhead as he plunged down, to land flat on his belly in eight feet of cold, scummy water. A fearful smell of unnameable things much too long dead rose around Blade as his head broke the scum. He spat out the scum, fought down an urge to vomit-then was submerged in another wave of muck as Lady Musura landed beside him in the moat.
«First time I've ever seen a moat inside the castle walls,» he said, trying to smile.
Lady Musura removed a long string of something mercifully unidentifiable from her hair and smiled back. «Oh, there are many strange things about the hospitality of those of the quarter of the Warm Gates.»
Outside the walls the angry roar of soldiers' voices and the shouted orders of their officers were rising to drown out the crowd noises. Then from down by the Warm Gates themselves Blade heard the unmistakable thud and boom of many fists and spear butts hammering on wood.
Blade couldn't help wondering. Would he and Lady Musura still receive the hospitality of the quarter if it involved making a stand against the Hongshu's whole army?
Chapter 18
The hospitality of the Warm Gates quarter held firm against the Hongshu's soldiers. But this was not entirely a matter of the stubbornness of the courtesans or their debts to Lady Musura. It was not even a matter of the soldiers' arrows having killed and wounded several people within the quarter.
News that the soldiers were trying to break into the Warm Gates quarter spread swiftly through Deyun. Within an hour the soldiers at the gates were hemmed in by a mob at least ten thousand strong. More soldiers appeared to disperse the crowd. Fighting started between the soldiers and some of the tougher citizens-porters, sailors, bargemen. Within two hours a tremendous riot was raging through the streets around the Warm Gates quarter. Curses, shouts, screams of fear and agony filled the air. Then came sounds of splintering wood and crackling flames as overturned stoves set fire to mats and paper partitions.
Eventually somebody in authority gathered his wits together and called off the soldiers. He was just in time. From the roof of a building inside the walls, Blade could see the riot spreading slowly but surely across the city. If it went on much longer, the Hongshu might have a full-scale revolt on his hands. That would certainly be one way of avenging Lord Tsekuin and teaching the ruler of Gaikon a badly needed lesson. But Blade didn't much care for getting thousands of innocent people killed in the process.
He wanted to deliver the message to the Hongshu more personally. He suspected that the dabuni who were plotting to avenge their betrayed lord had similar notions.
By dusk the riot had burned itself out, and so had many of the fires started during the rioting. But others went on burning through the night, sending up clouds of smoke and a sinister red glare over the quarter. By dawn only smoking debris remained of nearly a dozen streets.
Standing with Lady Musura on the roof of the same building, Blade inhaled the cool morning air and looked out over the city. In the distance he could see the dark, sprawling mass of the Hongshu's palace.
Lady Musura rested a hand on his shoulder and followed his eyes with her own.
«You think again, perhaps, of striking back, for Lord Tsekuin's memory?»
Blade nodded. «There was a time when I didn't see any point in trying. If the dabuni did not trust me, so be it. But now-now I think I am angry enough to want to strike at the Hongshu alone, if necessary.» It was almost his last chance before returning to home dimension to make his whole journey to Gaikon worthwhile. Blade did not want to see an entire journey into Dimension X wasted.
«You will not be alone,» said Lady Musura. Her hand reached out and clasped his. «I will stand beside you in everything you may wish or seek to do. My eyes will be your eyes, my lips your lips, my sword your sword.»
Blade turned to look down at the woman beside him.
«You once served the Hongshu as a jinai. What makes you turn against him now?» He did not want to have to add, «What makes you think I should trust you not to betray me and any others who may join us?»
Lady Musura was silent for a long moment. «I swore an oath to serve the Hongshu until released and never lift a weapon against him. I have been released, and I will not forswear the second part of my oath even now. Do you think even Yezjaro and Doifuzan wish to strike at the Hongshu himself, and let loose chaos in Gaikon?»
«Not if they are wise.»
«Then assume I am wise also. Our blow will-must-fall on Lord Geron. We know whose orders he obeys, to be sure. But the words that drove Lord Tsekuin to rage and folly were spoken by Lord Geron. Lord Geron's death will go far to avenge Lord Tsekuin. It will also be a warning to the Hongshu. Perhaps he will think twice the next time he plots against a warlord, if he considers that it may cost him trusted servants. Diamond mines are often easier to find than second chancellors who will obey in silence.»
Blade nodded. He could not have described the situation more accurately himself.
The fact that Blade and Lady Musura were now working as a team toward a common goal didn't immediately work any miracles. Their work as guards in the quarter left them a good deal of free time, but information still came slowly for them.
Lord Geron, they soon discovered, was still convalescing at his private house inside the palace walls. Between Lord Geron and any possible assassins stood the mazes, traps, and guards of the great palace. Those guards were picked fighting men, unlike the soldiers Blade had killed in the streets.
But Lady Musura had been a jinai of the Hongshu's service. Perhaps she knew her way through the mazes to Lord Geron's house?
She shook her head when Blade asked her that. «The traps and passwords are changed every few months. I know nothing of what might have been done in the four years since I was last within the palace. Even if I could guide you, we would be only two. Any accident could doom us. We must go in force when we go. That means more men than could ever pass unobserved through the mazes.»
Obviously the Hongshu made sure that even those who ferreted out other's secrets for him did not ferret out his. Blade could recognize security-consciousness when he saw it. He could also curse it, when i
t stood between him and his goals.
But now memories awoke, memories of what Yezjaro had once said about secret routes for bringing Warm Gates ladies into the Hongshu's palace for the delight of the nobles. Those memories had slept since he had heard the instructor's words. Why not, when until now there bad been no prospect of ever doing anything with them?
He told Lady Musura. She lit up with delight. «Yes, I remember now. I never had anything to do with it myself. But several of the jinai I knew were once put to work spying on just that.»
«What did they find out?»
«They did not speak of it in detail. But it was decided that there was no danger to the Hongshu from it. I think no one tried to stop it.»
«Good. Did you learn the names of any of the Warm Gates people involved?»
«No. Even if I had, much would have changed since then. But I am sure that we can learn if we work quietly. I doubt if the hospitality of the quarter would be ours for long if they learned what we were planning.»
«That will take time,» said Blade.
«I know,» said Lady Musura. «But it seems the best thing we can do for our lord.»
Blade nodded. He was also happy that Lady Musura knew the matter was going to take time. If there was one thing he had learned in his home dimension espionage work, it was to give a project all the time it needed. Shortcuts were too often shortcuts to disaster. Two people working alone against the ruler of Gaikon couldn't afford even the smallest accident.
In a week they knew that the smuggling of Warm Gates ladies into the palace was still going on. But it took a month more before they had learned the route, with its underground passages, concealed stairs, and the rest.
Lady Musura, an expert at disguises, worked by day. Blade, his skin finally darkened by dye Lady Musura concocted, worked by night. They slept little, ate less, grew gaunt and tired, seldom spoke about anything but their latest discoveries. But it was a satisfying time for both of them. Lady Musura was working to avenge Lord Tsekuin and strike a blow against the Hongshu. Blade was doing the same, and he was also working with a fellow professional in the deadly but exhilarating game of espionage.