“What’s going on?” the first guard said.
“We’re here at the orders of the Thieftaker herself,” Zedek said.
“If she was here, she’d be let in,” the second guard said. “You, it’s not happening.”
“We have to tell them,” Zedek said. “It’s imperative that this news reaches the Governor right away.”
“Tell us what?” the first guard said suspiciously.
Elena gave Zedek a doubtful look before turning back to the guards. “We have proof that the Nightwalker is a member of the watch,” she said quietly.
“Fuck,” the first guard exclaimed.
“Who are you?” the second guard said.
“Sergeant of the watch, working undercover with a Bounty Hunter. As you can imagine, we cannot rely on the watch until we know how far this goes. If he has any confederates and how many,” Elena said.
“This sounds unlikely,” the first guard said, gathering himself.
“We don’t know who can be trusted in the watch which is why the Thieftaker brought in a Bounty Hunter to assist. This needs to go to the Governor immediately,” Elena said.
“There’s someone hiding in the shadows on the other side of the road,” the second guard said. “Is he with you?”
“He’s been checking that we’ve not been followed here,” Elena said. She waved Trimas over.
“And who are you?” the first guard said as he approached.
“Security,” Trimas said. “Outside contractor.”
“There’s more,” Zedek said. “The Thieftaker has an urgent message for the Governor. She’s busy trying to unravel the problem in her organisation before it goes too far. She can’t have news of this getting out.”
“It would cause a riot,” Trimas said.
“If this is all true,” the second guard said.
“Can you imagine the damage that could be caused if we’re right and you don’t let us in?” Elena said.
“It would be our jobs,” the first guard said.
“It would be our jobs if we let them in and they’re lying,” the second guard said.
“There must be dozens of guards on the grounds,” Zedek said. “More than enough of you to keep an eye on us. We’re not armed. You can search us. It is our risk, not yours.”
The two guards thought about that. “We’ll pass your message on,” the second guard said.
“There’s more to the message. The Thieftaker has made it clear that we’re not to say anything more to anyone except the Governor himself,” Elena said.
“Is that so?” the second guard said.
“Look, we suspect something major might be about to go down,” Zedek said. “This can’t wait.”
“We’ll wait here whilst the sergeant enters if it helps,” Trimas said. “I fully understand your duty here. I’ve done plenty of it myself.”
The first guard looked torn. “The consequences for us if they’re right and we don’t let them in are far worse than if they’re wrong and we do,” he said quietly to his comrade.
The second guard thought about that. “You’re probably right,” he muttered. “Damn it.” He stepped back, reached out and pulled a cord. There was a faint sound of a bell. A few moments later four guards came running up.
“Problem?” one of them said, eyeing Trimas, Elena and Zedek.
“These three need to be taken to the Governor immediately,” the guard said.
“You’re joking of course,” the new arrival said.
“No, I’m not. They have important news for the Governor that can’t wait. Search them and take them to the house.”
“All three of us?” Trimas said.
“All three of you,” the guard confirmed. “It’ll be easier to keep an eye on you.”
“This is on your heads,” the new arrival said to the gate guards before waving the three into the grounds. Elena nodded to the two gate guards and walked through the gate first, holding her arms out to be searched. The new arrivals patted her down quickly, finding nothing.
“What’s this in the bag?” one of them asked.
“Papers for the Governor,” Elena said. The guard shrugged.
Trimas and Zedek followed her through the gate and were subjected to the same procedure. Finding nothing dangerous on them, they were led through the gardens to the main house. A quick knock on the door summoned the steward. A hushed conversation with the lead guard and they were let in. The steward showed them down the hall before waving them into a plush looking office.
“Wait here,” he said before disappearing off to fetch the Governor. The guards took up station just outside the door.
“I suppose we sit down then,” Trimas said, taking up position in the nearest chair. Elena and Zedek both looked around before shrugging and doing the same.
They weren’t waiting long. The Governor entered the room with his personal guard and the four men who had been waiting outside. He took one look at the three of them sitting and waiting and sighed. “I don’t know what you said to the gate guards to get in here but there are going to be some vacancies on my staff in the morning.” He turned to leave and started motioning to the guards to take them away.
“Vika is dead,” Elena said quickly, standing up.
The Governor paused and raised a hand to halt his men. He turned back to them. “What was that?” he said.
“The Thieftaker is dead,” Zedek said, also standing. Trimas stood up a moment later.
“How?” the Governor said doubtfully.
“Suicide,” Elena said.
The Governor laughed. “Nice try.” He motioned to the guards again.
“We have the body,” Trimas said quickly.
The Governor paused. “Clearly not on you,” he said, once again halting the men.
“Nearby,” Zedek said.
“Really?” the Governor said sceptically.
“We can get it for you very quickly,” Trimas said.
The Governor mused on that for a moment. “If this is some sort of joke I’ll see to it that the three of you spend the rest of your lives chained in a cell,” he said.
“It’s no joke,” Elena said.
“Perhaps. But even if you could produce a convincing body, I’d be more inclined to believe you murdered her than anything else,” the Governor said. “I have no idea who you are or who could vouch for you.”
“Sergeant Elena of the watch, old quarter,” Elena said, standing to attention.
The Governor looked at her closely. “Ex-sergeant as I understand it,” he said after a moment. “I do recognise you now, as it happens. Though if I recall, you have something of a reputation for causing trouble.”
“But not one for dishonesty. Sir,” Elena said calmly.
“Perhaps not,” the Governor conceded. He thought about it for a minute before waving the guards over again. The three tensed. “Here’s what we’re going to do,” the Governor said. “You two gentlemen will go with three of my men to retrieve the alleged body. Sergeant Elena will stay here as assurance that you don’t get up to anything. Rest assured the consequences will be harsh if you do.”
Trimas nodded. “This won’t take long,” he said, moving towards the door. Zedek looked at him doubtfully but joined him. “This way,” Trimas said to the guards, leading them back out of the office.
“Assuming this is true, why did you come to me?” the Governor said.
“Who else could we go to?” Elena said.
“How about the watch for a start?” the Governor said.
“They wouldn’t believe what happened,” Elena said simply.
“But you think I’m gullible enough to?”
“The opposite, in fact. We thought you’d be the only one to see this clearly.”
“You’re taking a tremendous risk here.”
“You’ve not seen everything yet. There’s more to come.”
“Enlighten me.”
“It would really be better if you saw the body first.”
The Go
vernor considered that. “Perhaps. I suppose we wait then,” he said.
There was a knock on the door, but whoever it was didn’t wait for a reply before entering. Zedek and Trimas walked quickly into the room, one either end of a long, dirty wrapped bundle. They were followed by the three uncertain looking guards.
“That was rather quick. You didn’t really have time to get off the grounds,” the Governor said.
“We didn’t,” Trimas said. The guards nodded in confirmation.
“You hid the body in my garden?” the Governor said incredulously.
“We wanted to keep it close. We were sure you needed to see but had to leave it somewhere safe,” Trimas said.
“I see,” the Governor said, frowning. “Your future hinges on what happens next.”
Trimas bent down and unwrapped the body. Though mangled and broken, it was unequivocally the Thieftaker. There was a collective drawing in of breath from the Governor and the guards.
“Close the door now,” the Governor said. “No one enters, no one leaves.” The guards jumped to his instruction.
“If you killed her you made a real mess of her,” the Governor said, kneeling to examine the body.
“She fell off a roof,” Zedek said.
“Jumped,” Elena said.
“From the state of the body, I can believe a roof was involved,” the Governor said. “But how do I know you didn’t push her or throw her off?”
“Because we have this,” Elena said, offering him the satchel.
The Governor stood and took it doubtfully. “What is it?” he said.
“Evidence,” Trimas said. “Better that you read it than we try and explain though.”
The Governor studied them. “Wait over there,” he said, indicating the far side of the office. “Watch them,” he said to the guards. He sat at his desk and emptied the contents of the bag out and started sorting through the paperwork.
“This had better work,” Trimas whispered to Elena. She ignored him and watched the Governor carefully as he picked up the journal. It didn’t take him long after that.
“Where did you find this?” he demanded.
“Much of it in a warehouse near the docks,” Elena said. “We’ve suspected the base of operations has been near there for some time. The journal in particular we found with the body.”
“It’s damaged,” the Governor said. “There are a number of pages missing.”
“It’s how we found it,” Trimas said.
“Indeed,” the Governor said, clearly not believing him but not pressing the issue for the moment. He looked at the papers again. “This is incendiary,” he said.
“You do believe us?” Zedek said.
“I very much don’t want to,” the Governor said. “However much satisfaction her having been less than perfect gives me. But I can’t ignore the evidence here. I recognise her script and a lot of it fits together. I strongly doubt you were able to fabricate this.”
“Which is why we felt we had to bring it to you,” Elena said.
“You did the right thing,” the Governor said.
“So what happens now?” Trimas said.
“This has to be handled … carefully,” the Governor said. “It’s late, we’re all tired and nothing must be done in haste.”
“What happens to us?” Zedek said.
The Governor studied them before coming to a decision. “No one is to speak of this, is that understood?” The three looked at each other and nodded. “That goes for everyone,” he added, eyeing the guards. There was a collective mumbled, “As you say sir.”
“Let me be clear here. No one is to speak of this. At all. The penalties for anyone who does will be harsh in the extreme,” he stated again. Again a mumble of assent. “That goes for the three of you too,” he said, looking back at Elena, Trimas and Zedek.
“We understand,” Elena said.
“You will leave this with me. You will not take the matter up with any other authorities, official or unofficial. In this city or elsewhere.”
“Agreed,” Trimas said.
“You may go. Rest assured that I am not done with you and it would be in your best interests to remain available. Do not try to leave the city.”
“We’ll be ready,” Zedek said.
“Dismissed then,” the Governor said. “See them out and then come straight back here,” he said to the guards.
It was late, she was tired, and it might have been her imagination, but Elena thought she saw someone disappearing around the corner of the corridor as they left.
*****
When Vesek had started killing people he’d done so at night, so the darkness could better cover him, so the sleepy eyes of the humans could better avoid him, to the minds of these creatures would be elsewhere. He’d read about killers, and they’d all prowled the night time, and that had seemed a good place to start.
Now it was dawn, the sun was rising, and Vesek had moved on.
Confident, assured, he walked the streets of this city knowing a man was about to die and it felt marvellous.
As he walked past a man staggering around, he knew he could have that man in an alley in a moment, could rip him up and move on and no one would ever know.
Perfect.
But that man wasn’t his target. That man was only a low ranking offender in this city of degeneration. That man could live, because worse people would die.
It had been doubly hard at first. Hard because he was an elf, and that meant it was hard to kill. You were raised in the elven realm with a long future ahead of you and the total fear of losing those precious years, of being killed and killing in turn, because the only people around you were elves. Their armies didn’t venture forth anymore, they didn’t meet humans or orcs unless they were the rarest and bravest of their people, so the only people you could murder were elves… And ending those long, glorious lives early was the greatest taboo.
Vesek hadn’t lied when he said his first execution was in Bastion. Elves didn’t execute each other, which the humans would no doubt find as strange as he found them and their willingness to break each other over the mildest of slights.
So, he had arrived in Bastion, and had found killing these people difficult.
But that had been a while ago now, and he had well and truly worked that taboo out of himself. Now he could murder these savages who pretended in their stone buildings, bring death like a god, and it didn’t bother him at all.
He was so much better now.
Now he could look at what he had found in Bastion and do what it begged him to.
He had let his thoughts run away with him, and he found himself closing in on his target.
He’d been here many times before, and on each the plan had formed in his mind. These people weren’t killed at random, they were specially selected and all provided an answer to the question that burned in this city.
This man, the one he was after now, had sold elvish artefacts.
His people’s possessions, no doubt torn from the hands of an elf they had beaten down and murdered near the border forests, which had in turn been sold for piddling amounts of cash until they arrived in Bastion and were turned into trinkets for their ignorant minds.
Well, the question burned once more, and the answer was going to be given.
Sell the elves for silver will you?
Then I will gut you with bronze.
There was a complication, of course. There always was in life, human and elf alike, even he had to admit that.
The complication of how he had meant to kill this salesman before, had arrived stalking across the rooftops, bow in hand, and been chased away by three people on the rooftops.
What had they been doing?
Thieves probably, ready to jump a man. Now down to two, of course, because he had struck one right in the chest. Had heard the whump as the body had struck the ground.
Elves were good with bows because you could kill a human before they and anything pointy had got close. But Vesek h
ad discovered the joys of being close and wanted more and more.
A turning down a street. No rooftops this time.
Perhaps he should have been worried about being hunted, like he was last time. Running away, even with one pursuer shot down with great skill, had left him worried about being caught.
But that was before. Now…
This city had been hunting him for weeks. They had failed, clearly because they were pathetic. In the elf realms a murderer such as he would have been found after the first death, and every room in every towering mountain would have been examined to find him.
Here … here the citizens got upset and the search was off, and they were on their third lead investigator.
Maybe he could kill the governor and sit on his corpse and not be found as fast.
And now here he was, walking outside the shop of someone who sold ‘curiosities’ and ‘oddities’, who had what he claimed was a mermaid’s corpse in his window when it was clearly assembled from the sort of forest dwelling creatures he had travelled past to get to the human’s empire.
A little further along, round a corner, down an alley, and at the back of the properties.
No one on the roof this time.
Vesek went up to the back door of the shop, and was amused to see it hanging open, as a fat man inside struggled to carry in a statue he had clearly just taken possession of and was trying to take into the front shop.
“Let me help you,” Vesek said, reaching out and raising the stone a little, allowing the pair to carry it through into a shop where the shutters were still down and it was still mostly dark.
“Thank you,” the fat man said, out of breath.
“What is it?” Vesek asked.
“Temple statue from the south.”
“Being delivered at this time of day?”
“Well, not that south. Just a bit further down the empire.”
“And it won’t attract attention in the front of your shop?”
“It wasn’t me who wanted to sneak off before it became light, that was my…” He paused. Now his heart had stopped nearly exploding, he had suddenly realised something was very wrong. “Er, who are you?” he asked. “Bit early for customers.”
“I have come to discuss your elven treasures.”
“Ooh, right, I have quite a few.”
Knives of Bastion (An Empire Falls Book 2) Page 41