Apprenticed to Pleasure

by Brandon Fox

  “Found it. This has to be the way. Come look.”

  Ander found his way to the other end of the kitchen. Nicolai crouched before a stone arch, its outline a gray blur surrounding utter blackness. Something about it made Ander’s hackles rise. He moved closer, his hand outstretched, but Nicolai grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

  “Don’t touch it! It’s protected by a cantrip. Do you feel it?”

  “I… I’m not sure. I feel something. Like I’m being watched by a rabid dog or a madman. Is that what a cantrip feels like?”

  “They feel threatening. Different people interpret it different ways. But you felt it, that’s what matters.” He gazed at the arch thoughtfully. “This is why they don’t have many guards around. They’re relying on magic. Guardian spells don’t fall asleep and can’t be bribed.”

  “How do we get past it?”

  Nicolai rocked back on his heels and examined the arch. “I can get through it, though it means using the art, and I’ll need your help. We might alert any sorcerer who’s monitoring the kei. But I don’t see any alternative.”

  “I don’t either. And we can’t wait. They might feed Lady Tayanita to that leech anytime, if they haven’t already done it. What do you want me to do?”

  The flash of Nicolai’s grin was visible in the near darkness. “You’ve read the gramarye curiosa, haven’t you? What do you think?”

  Heat suffused Ander’s cheeks at the mention of the magical treatise, but it took only a moment to see what Nicolai was hinting at. “Major spells need a lot of anima, so you can bend the kei. You want me to share my anima with you?”

  “Very good. You’re a quick student.” He rose to his feet and stood before the portal. “Just stand close and put your arms around me. As long as we’re in contact, I can draw on your strength.” He placed his feet shoulder-width apart and pulled his shirt off while Ander moved behind him. “Flesh needs to touch flesh,” he explained. “Your hands will be enough.”

  Ander pressed close, wrapping his arms around Nicolai’s waist and placing his palms flat against the acrobat’s taut flesh. “Like this?”

  “Fine. Now keep still while I feel my way into this spell. It’s a delicate business.”

  Nicolai closed his eyes and lifted his arms with the palms extended toward the portal. His body went rigid, the muscles hard beneath Ander’s fingers. At the same moment, the talisman Ander was wearing began to radiate heat against his chest. A fluttering sensation in his stomach made him queasy. He realized it was anima draining from his body and hoped the task wouldn’t take long.

  Nicolai began to tremble, and Ander held him more tightly. The sense of energy draining out of him was disorienting. He was starting to wonder if he was equal to the task when his mind felt the echo of a death scream. He clung to Nicolai as if his palms were glued to the hot skin. At the same moment, a shimmering light, like the surface of a soap bubble, filled the stone arch. Blood red and swarming with indistinct black shadows, it made his skin crawl. He knew without needing to ask that human lives had been used to weave the spell guarding the prefect’s dungeon.

  Nicolai’s trembling increased, and sweat ran down his powerful torso. The physical strength and effort required for breaking the guardian spell was a revelation. Ander had thought that magic was a matter of knowing secrets and performing delicate manipulations. He had been mistaken.

  Nicolai groaned, his body arching back against Ander as he raised his arms higher above his head. With no other warning, a sparkling blue light sprang into existence between his outstretched hands. It hummed softly, and the scent of impending storm enveloped them. Nicolai took a deep breath and eased his hands into the film covering the portal.

  There was a blinding flash of white light, and the sense of looming energies vanished. Nicolai sagged back in Ander’s embrace, his chest heaving from his exertion.

  “You did it!” Ander said, noticing that the feeling of menace was gone. He gave his friend a fierce hug. “Thane was right. You’re wonderful!”

  Nicolai turned and hugged Ander in return. “It wouldn’t have worked without your help. But don’t celebrate yet. Thane won’t be pleased when he finds out we used the art inside the citadel. We’ve already given the zamindar valuable information. He’ll know that his guardian spells can be penetrated.” He slipped his shirt back on.

  “Then we’d best finish our business and get out fast. Like you said, defeating this cantrip might reveal our presence.” He peered into the portal. Beyond the first few steps, the passage was lost in total darkness. “Should we bring a candle?”

  “No need. Making a small light is easy. I can even do it by myself.” He extended a hand palm up and whispered a word. A globe of yellow light the size of a robin’s egg appeared just above his fingers. The soft glow lit his face, and Ander gave him a delighted smile.

  Nicolai chuckled at the awed reaction and then turned to the portal. They could now see steps of gray stone descending in a narrow, tunnel-like passage. Generations of steady use had worn shallow depressions in the treads.

  “Let’s go,” Nicolai said.

  “Wait a second. As long as we’re in a kitchen, we might as well take a couple of knives.” He went back to one of the tables where he had noticed utensils. Several knives hung on pegs above the table’s scarred surface. He selected two and rejoined Nicolai. “I hope we don’t have to use these.”

  Nicolai nodded in agreement, then accepted a knife and started down the stairs. The steep incline limited their view of whatever lay ahead. After two dozen steps, they arrived at the bottom. The corridor extended some twenty yards ahead of them before curving to the left. A glimmer of light reflected around the bend. Ander’s eyes were shielded by Nicolai’s body from the magical sphere’s direct light, and he saw it first.

  “Douse the light,” he whispered. “I see something.”

  Nicolai curled his fingers against his palm, and the light vanished. They stood motionless, letting their eyes adjust, their knives held at the ready. There was no sound, only a faint flickering on the rock wall ahead of them.

  Several seconds passed before Nicolai turned his head to whisper. “I don’t feel any signs of magic. It’s probably just a lamp.”

  They crept forward until they reached the bend in the corridor. Nicolai knelt and peeked around. He pulled back quickly.

  “There’s a guard ahead,” he whispered. “About ten yards, leaning against a door.” He hefted his knife, his expression doubtful. “This isn’t much compared to his sword. But it might be enough if I catch him by surprise.”

  “What if he sets off a warning like the seraskier did?” Ander shook his head, his mind racing. “We need something better.”

  Nicolai shrugged. “Like what? I’m willing to take the risk. I’d guess they’ve never had problems down here. The cantrips would keep intruders out. He’ll assume that nobody but the prefect’s staff could get down here.”

  “Or he might not,” Ander insisted. “But… I could pretend I belong here. I might be able to distract him long enough for you to sneak up on him.”

  “Risky. What if he decides to attack first and ask questions later?”

  “Then go ahead and rush him like you were planning. At least we’ll have a chance at taking him quietly this way.”

  Nicolai nodded reluctantly. “You might be right. You can try, if you want.”

  Ander put down his knife and then ran his fingers through his hair until it was disheveled. His eyes hidden behind a black cascade, he affected the lolling stoop of a drunk and then stepped around the bend.

  “Where’s the… hey, you!” Ander called to the guard in a slurred voice as he staggered forward. “Hey, are you the steward? We drank all… fuckin’ ran out… when’d they move the wine cellar?”

  The guard, a burly man of imposing height, shot upright and looked at Ander incredulously. “Halt! You’re not allowed in this area!”

  Ander continued lurching forward, stumbling into one of the walls and r
ebounding with a mumbled curse. Rubbing his head, he tripped over his own feet, then flailed toward the guard as if fighting to regain his balance. The guard started to draw his sword, then stepped forward to catch him.

  “Ow, when’d they put that wall there?” Ander moaned, clinging to the guard’s arms and pulling him so he faced away from the passage to the kitchen. He looked up, blinking, as the guard tried to shake him loose. Mumbling incoherently, he kept a tight grip on the man’s arms as Nicolai swept up behind him.

  Nicolai slid an arm around the man’s throat in a chokehold. Bending his arm at the elbow was all it took to cut off blood flow. The guard wheezed for five seconds, struggling to break free, before blacking out.

  Nicolai eased the body to the floor and then turned to Ander. “Are you an actor as well as a musician? Or do you just have lots of practice being drunk?”

  “Neither. But I grew up in a house of companionship. I’ve been around plenty of drunks.” He knelt beside the unconscious guard and started unfastening the uniform’s buttons. “You should put this on. It’s big enough to go over your clothes. And it might buy us a little time if we run across more guards.”

  They removed the uniform and then used strips torn from the guard’s shirt to bind and gag him. The uniform hung loosely on Nicolai’s lean frame, but it would serve as long as nobody had time for a close inspection.

  A leather thong around the guard’s neck held a key to the door he had been assigned to protect. They inserted it into the keyhole and turned the heavy lock. When the metal-plated door swung open, the stench of slop jars and unwashed bodies assailed them. There was no light in the passage ahead of them, but there was no doubt they had found the dungeon.

  Ander’s heart thudded painfully. “Make a light,” he said. There was a knot in his stomach.

  Nicolai complied, shielding the small globe with his other hand so the prisoners couldn’t see the nature of the light as they began to search the cells. The filth was appalling. Most of the prisoners didn’t awaken at their silent passage, and the few who turned to face them huddled in terror against the rear walls of their cells. Forty tiny cells stretched along one side of the corridor, most of them occupied by several people.

  If a sleeping woman’s face was concealed, Ander reached through bars and roused the prisoner until he could get a view of the unfortunate’s face. Insects scurried through the straw, and rat droppings were everywhere. His skin crawled, but he kept at it until they had checked every cell.

  Lady Tayanita wasn’t there.

  Sick with disappointment, he turned to his friend. “Do you think they have more cells somewhere else?”

  Nicolai’s grim expression wasn’t encouraging. “Let’s see if we can rouse the guard. Maybe we can learn something from him.”

  “Let me talk to him first. I’ll make sure he’s paying attention.”

  They retraced their steps to find the guard awake and straining at his tight bonds. He stopped struggling and glared at them.

  Ander dropped to a crouch beside him. He pulled out the knife that had been tucked under his belt and held it in front of the man’s eyes. “Trying to get away, you bastard?” His voice shook with fury, his anger at the prisoners’ plight still running hot. “What should we do with you?” Using the point of the blade, he drew a line down the man’s face from his right ear to his neck. The guard’s eyes got round, and he froze as Ander pressed the knife’s point against the hollow of his throat.

  “You don’t deserve to live,” Ander growled. He exerted more pressure, letting the blade bite into the man’s skin.

  “Wait,” Nicolai said. “You’re right about him. But let’s give him a chance.”

  Ander eased back, his eyes narrowed to slits. “Maybe.” He moved the knife lower and pressed its point against the man’s ribs. “Will you tell us what we need to know if we let you live?” He gave a slight jab, nicking the man’s side. The guard’s body jerked, and his eyes went wide. A frantic nod confirmed his decision.

  Nicolai knelt and cut through the gag. The guard took a shuddering breath, never taking his eyes from Ander’s fierce expression.

  Ander leaned over him, keeping the knife pressed against his side. “Where are the rest of the prisoners kept? Answer truthfully, or we’ll come back for you.”

  “There ain’t no more! I swear it! From here they go to the basilica. I don’t know where they go from there. Not back here, anyways.”

  Ander’s heart sank. “A woman was brought here two days ago. Tall, red-haired, beautiful. About your age. Did you see her?”

  “Aye, she were here all right. But not for long.”

  Ander looked away, his eyes burning. “She’s already been taken to the basilica, then?”

  “Not her, if it’s the same person you mean. She were released to an officer, seems she knowed him from somewhere. Got a message to him by promising a reward, and he came down to spring her. There were gold for everybody. She must’a been a real good friend.”

  Relief surged, replacing the crushing despair. Ander rocked back and looked at Nicolai. “She’s alive. It’s got to be her.”

  Nicolai nodded. “Seems like a good chance, anyway. But we need more.” He reached down and grabbed the guard by the hair, shaking his head roughly. “There’s a tunnel from here to the basilica. Where is it?”

  The man rolled his eyes sideways, to the right. “Go left at the end of the passage. There’s a big room, full of crates. There’ll be an arch to your right, a tunnel. It’s the one you want.”

  Nicolai gave the man’s head a quick rap against the stone wall. The guard grunted, and his eyes rolled up.

  “That’ll keep him quiet until his relief finds him in the morning,” Nicolai said. “I wouldn’t want to be in his boots when the prefect finds out what’s happened.”

  Ander sprang to his feet and started down the corridor. “Our boots won’t be too comfortable either if we get caught down here. Let’s go!”

  Chapter 16

  THEY followed the guard’s instructions and soon found the tunnel leading to the Basilica of Yataghan. The portal was unguarded. Nicolai approached cautiously. After standing before the entrance for nearly a minute, he turned to Ander. “Do you feel anything? I don’t. But I’m tired from dispelling that cantrip in the kitchen.”

  Ander felt the talisman Thane had given him. There was no hint of warmth. “Nothing. Do you think it’s safe?”

  Nicolai poked the sword’s point through the portal. Nothing happened, and he thrust the sword back into its scabbard. “If it’s a trap, we can’t detect it. We’ll have to trust our perceptions. But stay clear anyway while I go through. If anything happens, go back the way we came.”

  “Wait, let me—”

  But Nicolai had already jumped through the portal, landing in a defensive crouch. There were no fireworks, no alarms, no discharges of malignant magical energies. He straightened with evident relief. “See? Have faith in yourself.”

  They started down the tunnel, trailing their fingers along a wall and doing without a light. The passage was carved out of solid rock. Water dripped from its sides, and the smell of mold was thick. The clammy darkness made Ander’s skin crawl. He imagined tortured souls haunting this place, wondered whether the kei was thick with madness born of pain.

  The passage seemed interminable, but at last a smudge of gray light took form ahead of them. Nicolai put out a hand to warn Ander and drew him close.

  “Walk in front. Put your hands behind your back when you near the opening. If anyone’s there, pretend you’re a prisoner. And remember to keep watch for signs of magic.”

  Ander touched the talisman around his neck. The lack of heat offered only limited reassurance. They traded positions, and Ander concealed his knife beneath his shirt before continuing. When the tunnel ended, they found themselves in a stone crypt.

  A guard stood beside an arch, picking his teeth with a small knife. He looked up as they emerged. His eyes flickered over Nicolai’s ill-fitting uniform
before settling on Ander. A leer curled his lips, partially concealed by a long black beard.

  “Don’t see many like this down here,” he said, eyeing Ander from head to foot. “Damned officers usually gobble up the tasty morsels.” He glanced at Nicolai. “When’re they coming down to roast him? We got time for some fun first?”

  Nicolai returned the sneer. “I reckon we do. Here, get a good look.” He shoved Ander forward, following close behind.

  He kept his hands clasped behind his back until the last moment. The guard was reaching forward, foul breath in his face, before Ander drove his right fist into the man’s gut. The guard bent forward with a surprised grunt, and Nicolai brought joined fists down on the back of his neck. He toppled to the floor and twitched feebly.

  “Damn! I didn’t mean to knock him out. He could have told us about the leech and cantrips.”

  “Can’t worry about it now. Let’s finish and get out.” He stepped over the guard and started to look into the next chamber, then jerked back. He grabbed the leather thong that held his talisman, yanking it over his head and then holding it at arm’s length. “It felt like this bit me! It’s hot as fire!”

  Nicolai came up behind him and drew him back from the arch. “There could be a cantrip here. After that magic in the kitchen, it’s possible I won’t be able to feel much in the kei for a while. Or maybe your talisman is just reacting to the leech. It might be in the next chamber.”

  “How can we tell?” Ander moved his other hand toward the talisman, then snatched it away quickly. “Whatever it is, this charm says it’s dangerous.” He chewed his lip. “I don’t know. What do you say? Just go ahead and take our chances?”

  “Maybe that guard is good for something after all.” Nicolai turned and picked up the unconscious man, unfazed by his weight. “Step aside. I’m going to test the portal.”

  Ander stepped back and gave Nicolai access to the arch. He tossed the body through the opening with a mighty heave. It landed on the stone floor with a dull thud, but a groan from the guard proved that crossing the threshold hadn’t killed him.