The Vondish Ambassador

by Lawrence Watt-Evans

  Or the Lumethans. Emmis frowned, and started looking around more carefully at the alleys and rooftops. Tithi probably didn't have the nerve to attack two grown men, even if he didn't think the invisible monster was still around, but he might have had the nerve to find the Lumethans and ask for their help.

  Hagai was a theurgist, and the other two might be magicians, as well, for all Emmis knew. They might be a real problem if they did come to Kelder's assistance.

  Southmarket, when they finally reached it, was as dark and almost as empty as Cut Street Market had been; a few stalls stood along the sides, but all were securely closed up for the night, with heavy bars and sturdy shutters guarding whatever might be inside. There were parts of the city that stayed bright and active all night, but they were in Camptown or Westgate, not here in the respectable neighborhoods of Southmarket and Freshwater.

  "This way," Kelder said, pointing east.

  Emmis began to wonder if the scoundrel was really leading them to Zhol at all. Perhaps this was all a diversion of some sort? Were Tithi and the Lumethans and an assortment of hired thugs besieging Ithinia's house even now, trying to kill the ambassador?

  No, that was absurd, Emmis told himself. No one would attack the home of a powerful wizard – well, no one but an equally powerful magician, and Emmis doubted that any of the Lumethans qualified. When he had met them at the Crooked Candle they simply hadn't had the air of authority, of power, that high-order magicians always seemed to have.

  But even so, he wondered what was happening back on Lower Street. Was Lar still a stone statue in Ithinia's parlor? Were Ildirin and Ahan and Shakoph worried about Zhol and himself? What had Ildirin wanted to discuss with the Guildmaster?

  Kelder had led them out of the market and up Circus Street – Emmis remembered it from a long-ago day when he and his sisters had met up with a friend's cousins in Freshwater, then cut through Southmarket on the way to a performance at the Arena, the eight of them laughing and teasing one another.

  It looked very different by night, but he still recognized it.

  But then they turned north onto... Canal Avenue, was it? Emmis wasn't sure.

  "There," Kelder said, pointing. "That's the alley. Tithi lured him in and I stabbed him."

  The guardsman started to say something and to shove Kelder forward, but Emmis ignored them and ran to the narrow opening Kelder had indicated.

  The alley beyond was almost totally black; there were no lit windows, no torches, no moonslight, and the dull glow reflecting off the overcast did little to help.

  "I need a light," Emmis said, peering into the gloom. "Give me your lantern."

  "It's not lit," the guard said, as he awkwardly unhooked it from his belt, using just one hand because his other was still locked onto Kelder's shoulder.

  "I'll manage." He took the lantern, then fished in his belt-pouch for flint, steel, and tinder.

  As he knelt in the mouth of the alley, struggling to strike a light, he listened closely, hoping to hear breathing in the darkness around the corner, breathing that would mean Zhol was still alive.

  Even better, perhaps, would be if Zhol was not there at all, if he had recovered enough to make his way out of the alley to find help – but if he wasn't there, how would they find him? If there was no sign he had been there, would that mean he had recovered, or that Kelder had lied?

  Then the tinder caught, and he opened the lantern and carefully held the spark to the wick within. It caught, and light flared up.

  Emmis lifted the lantern high, and peered into the alley.

  Zhol was there, lying face-down in the dirt – and in a pool of dried blood.

  There was no question at all – he was dead.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  "You really killed him," Emmis said, as he approached Zhol's body with the lantern held high. "You bloody, pox-ridden fool, you killed him!"

  "I told you," Kelder mumbled from behind. His voice sounded weak and strained, presumably from the pain of his injury, but Emmis suspected that was exaggerated. Broken arm or not, Emmis was sure the murderous fool was looking for a chance to escape, and probably hoped to lull the guardsman into carelessness. He had undoubtedly retraced his steps, rather than coming here directly, to give himself more time to find a way to slip away – or to give his allies more time to find and free him.

  And he had probably shown them where the body was as a distraction or delaying tactic, as well. He must have known Zhol was dead.

  Emmis had hoped to find Zhol still with a spark of life in him, but surely no one could lose that much blood and live – and that was ignoring the visible, ragged, no-longer-bleeding hole in the back of Zhol's neck, and the general appearance of the corpse. Zhol looked far more definitely dead than did the petrified Lar, back in Ithinia's parlor.

  For one thing, Emmis was fairly sure that some of the marks on Zhol's outflung hand were rat bites – rat bites that hadn't bled, meaning they were inflicted after death.

  That was not a happy thought. His mouth tightened.

  "You did that?" the live guardsman demanded.

  "I told you," Kelder repeated feebly.

  "Then you're a dead man. Come on, we'll find a magistrate."

  "At this hour? Couldn't I... go home, for tonight, and you..."

  "Come on!" the guard insisted. "And you, too, as witness!"

  Emmis turned, startled. "Me? But I need to get back to Lower Street! Lord Ildirin and Guildmaster Ithinia are waiting for me!" As he turned, the lantern-light sparkled momentarily off something; Emmis paused, and tried to locate the source of the glitter.

  The lantern's light was dim and uneven, but he spotted it quickly – a glass jar lay on the ground, half-hidden by a pile of weathered rubbish. Emmis stooped.

  "Lord Ildirin?" the guardsman said. "What are you doing there?"

  "I was helping Lord Ildirin negotiate with the Vondish ambassador," Emmis said.

  "No, I mean what are you... what do you have there?"

  Emmis picked up the jar; it was cracked, but had only leaked a little, and still held at least half a pint of thick golden liquid.

  "He bought that in Southmarket," Kelder wheezed. "We thought it might be... I don't know, something else, even though we saw him buy it, but it's just honey. I wanted to keep it anyway, but Tithi threw it against the wall and cracked the bottle, so I left it."

  "Honey," Emmis said bitterly. "Zhol died for this." He held up the jar and said, "Assassin, here's the honey I promised you."

  "Honey!" The jar was snatched from his hand, the brass lid ripped off it, and for a moment it hung in the air, glittering in the lantern's light. Then the honey vanished with a loud sucking noise, and the empty jar fell to the alley floor and shattered.

  "Was that enough?" Emmis asked.

  Nothing answered.

  Well, he told himself, either it was enough, or the creature was being difficult – perhaps its mouth was full. Either way, there wasn't much he could do about it.

  "We need to get you to a magistrate," the guard said.

  "What about the body?" Emmis asked.

  "We'll come back for it."

  That wasn't right, Emmis knew it wasn't right, he was utterly unwilling to leave Zhol's remains lying there, but it took him a second to think of what he should say to explain this to the guard.

  Then it came to him. "There are rats here," Emmis pointed out.

  The guardsman hesitated.

  "You don't need a witness," Emmis said. "You heard him admit he killed him. He led us to the body. And if there's any doubt, the magistrate can ask a witch, can't he?"

  "Witches cost money," the guardsman replied doubtfully. "The magistrates don't like spending money. But – you want to stay here?"

  "No," Emmis said. "I want to take the body back to Lower Street with me. Lord Ildirin is waiting for us; Zhol was one of his personal escort. Lord Ildirin and Ahan and Shakoph will want to know what happened to him, and they'll know who to tell that he's dead."

  That
was all true – and it occurred to Emmis that they might want to talk to Zhol's killer, as well. After all, he had been hired by the Lumethans; he might know something useful.

  "I don't know," the guardsman said.

  "He's trying to trick you," Kelder said weakly. "He wants to steal this man's body."

  "Why would he want to do that?" the guard asked, puzzled.

  "To sell the parts to wizards, probably," Kelder suggested. "Don't they use soldier's hearts in some of their spells? Or a hand that's held a sword?"

  "Not that I ever heard of," Emmis said. "Look, it's really late – wouldn't you need to wake up the magistrate, once you found him?"

  "Yes, but that's... it's part of the job."

  "But it's not as if anyone's waiting for you to bring this killer in," Emmis said. "Why don't we all go talk to Lord Ildirin?"

  "Don't listen to him! What if there isn't any Lord Ildirin? It could all be a trap..."

  Emmis stared at Kelder. "What kind of a fool are you?" he asked. "If he takes you to a magistrate you'll be hanged tomorrow. If you come with me, Lord Ildirin may keep you alive much longer than that, for questioning. He might even make you a deal for your life."

  Kelder's mouth opened, then closed again, and he twisted his head to look at his captor.

  The guardsman was clearly thinking hard.

  "I can't keep my hold on him and help carry the body," he said.

  "I'll carry the body," Emmis said. "I'm a dockworker, I'm good at carrying things."

  "To Lower Street? That's all the way on the far side of New City Hill."

  Emmis sighed. "I know," he said. "Maybe we'll meet someone on the way who can help."

  The guardsman nodded. "All right, then," he said. "That's what we'll do."

  "Just take me to the magistrate and get it over with," Kelder muttered.

  Emmis stared at him, and a realization struck – he had thought about it before, but had been too intent on finding Zhol to really think about it. "His partner," he said. "That man Tithi. He's trying to get you alone, away from me and the invisible monster, so his partner can ambush you and set him free. Or if not his partner, maybe the Lumethans who hired them."

  The guardsman gave Kelder a sideways glance. "You think so?"

  "I do!"

  "I wouldn't... I don't know what you're talking about," Kelder spluttered. "What partner? I don't..."

  "The one who lured Zhol into this alley," Emmis said.

  Kelder glared at him, started to say something, then winced. "Can we just find a magician, or even a doctor?" Kelder said. "My arm feels as if it's going to fall off."

  "Fine," Emmis said. "There's a wizard at the house on Lower Street. We'll take you there." He handed the guard the lantern and turned, ignoring Kelder's half-formed protests, then knelt by the body, and hesitated, suppressing a shudder.

  He had never picked up a corpse before. An unconscious man, yes, when that idiot Karn tripped over the hatch coaming and fell into an empty hold, and Emmis had been the one they sent down to haul him out, but never a corpse.

  He told himself it wasn't so very different, though. He grabbed poor Zhol under each arm and heaved the body upright, trying not to think about how utterly cold and limp it was, or how sticky the blood was, then turned it and hoisted it onto one shoulder. "Come on," he said, staggering slightly as he started walking.

  The three men, Emmis, Kelder, and the guard, marched up Canal Avenue – or rather, Emmis trudged under the weight of the body, Kelder shuffled along reluctantly, and the guardsman marched. Despite Emmis's burden, it was Kelder who slowed their progress; he clearly didn't want to go anywhere, and Emmis thought he caught the killer glancing down various alleyways along the way.

  He was looking for Tithi or the Lumethans, Emmis was sure.

  There was no sign of Fendel's Assassin, and Emmis was fairly sure the creature was really gone, but he did not want Kelder to know that, and occasionally directed a remark to the invisible monster, to keep Kelder uncertain.

  Emmis also kept an eye on Zhol's sword; it was still in its scabbard, hanging from the dead man's belt, and Emmis made a point of keeping it untangled. If Tithi did jump out of an alley at them, Emmis wanted to be ready to drop the corpse and snatch the sword from its sheath.

  Tithi did not appear, nor did anyone else; the street was dark and deserted, the windows on either side mostly shuttered and the torches at the intersections burning low. Canal Avenue was a surprisingly direct route from Southmarket to Lower Street, a walk of perhaps a mile or so with no need to change course, much faster than going by way of Cut Street Market, but it did lead directly over the largest hill in the city, and even a mile was a very long way when carrying two hundred pounds over one's shoulder. Emmis had to stop to rest more than once, switching the body to the other shoulder at each break.

  "Once we're past New Cross Street it's all downhill," the guardsman mentioned at their first such stop.

  "I know," Emmis said. That fact was small comfort; the body was heavy at any angle. And the weight wasn't the only problem; he was always uncomfortably aware of exactly what he was carrying. Something deep in him wanted to get away from the corpse, not carry it. Emmis thought that was some part of his mind reacting to the smell; while there was no real reek of corruption yet, the odor was subtly but definitely not that of a living man. And of course, the skin was horribly cold to the touch.

  He wondered what time it was; the sky was too cloudy to be any help, even if he remembered where the moons ought to be this time of year. The emptiness of the streets implied that it was very late indeed – and seemed a little unnatural, as most of Shiphaven was never this quiet; there were always a few drunken sailors or desperate whores staggering about.

  He wished the guardsman could help with the weight, but he knew that wasn't possible; he was busy enough keeping Kelder upright and moving. Emmis wondered just how bad a break Fendel's Assassin had actually inflicted, and how much pain Kelder was really feeling; he certainly wanted everyone to think he was suffering unbelievable agony.

  They crested the hill and started down through the New City; Kelder was growing steadily more agitated. Emmis doubted this had anything to do with his injury; he thought that Kelder had expected a rescue attempt before now, and was beginning to realize that his partner had deserted him and he was really going to be hanged.

  At High Street, as Emmis had half expected, Kelder made a break for it, but not at all in the way Emmis had anticipated; he did not simply tear loose from the guard's grip and run for it. Instead he pretended to stumble and thrust out a leg, tripping Emmis.

  Emmis struggled to remain upright, but with the weight on his shoulder it wasn't possible; what was possible was to twist as he fell, so as not to knock down the others, and to drop his burden so that he would not be trapped beneath it. He landed hard, catching himself on his elbows.

  "Are you...?" the guard began, turning to see what was happening.

  Then Kelder's elbow rammed into the guard's side, and the soldier flinched – not much, but enough to loosen his grip, which allowed Kelder to turn, and to swing his knee up, obviously aiming for the soldier's groin.

  The guardsman was not that stupid; he twisted away from the blow, but let Kelder's arm slip from his grasp. Then Kelder was free and running west on High Street, toward the Old Merchants' Quarter.

  The guardsman let out a wordless bellow and charged after him, pulling his truncheon from his belt.

  Emmis made no attempt to join the pursuit; he lay sprawled on the hard-packed dirt of the street, catching his breath, his face inches from the pale, cold neck of Zhol's corpse. He closed his eyes, and wished he could close his nose; the smell of Zhol's dead flesh was definitely disturbing.

  This was, he thought, the worst night of his life, even worse than the night of Azradelle's wedding. Lar might be paying him more than he had ever imagined he would earn, but it wasn't enough to make this worthwhile.

  He rolled over and sat up.

  People w
ere shouting somewhere on High Street; a woman screamed. This neighborhood was apparently not as deserted as the other side of the hill. Emmis put his hands to his temples, brushed his hair from his eyes, and looked west.

  People were struggling; in the dim light he could not see exactly who they were, or what was happening. A blade flashed. Then an arm rose, holding a truncheon, and came down hard, and the struggling stopped.

  Emmis swallowed bile, and began the process of getting back on his feet.

  By the time he was upright and ready to take another look the scene on High Street had changed; two guardsmen were dragging a limp figure toward him, while a small crowd watched from a safe distance behind them. As they approached Emmis heard an unfamiliar voice ask, "What about him?"

  The guard who had accompanied him to and from Southmarket replied, "I think he's all right; he says he works for Lord Ildirin. We were going to meet someone he knows on Lower Street – a wizard."

  "If this man killed a guard, shouldn't he go to the nearest magistrate?"

  "He said Lord Ildirin would want to question him."

  "What? Who said?"

  Emmis saw the guard on the left nod toward him. "He did."

  "Well, I hope they aren't in any hurry about questioning him; you hit him pretty hard."

  "He was asking for it."

  "Then I'd say he got it. Was it you who broke that arm?"

  "No, Emmis did that." Again, the guardsman nodded toward him.

  "Good for him."

  Then the trio, the two guards and the unconscious Kelder, reached the intersection of High Street and Canal Avenue. Emmis could see that the stranger carried a lantern on his belt; the night watch was earning its pay tonight.

  He also held a long, narrow-bladed dagger in his free hand – definitely not anything the city watch would issue. Kelder had probably had that hidden somewhere.

  Emmis was glad he hadn't kept it somewhere readily accessible; if the assassin had pulled that when they were grappling back on Merchant Street, matters might have gone very differently.

  "Emmis of Shiphaven, this is Gror Grondar's son," the familiar guard said.