Lose A Princess, Lose Your Head (Merchant Blades Book 2)

by Alex Avrio

  “Mist,” she muttered. “Why did it have to be mist?”

  Rosamynd whimpered. Regina opened her mouth to tell her that everything would be okay, but found she couldn't utter such a lie. Schaefer, holding Rosamynd’s other hand, was already offering reassurances about how they would all remember this adventure over tea and cake and have a good laugh about it all.

  The scratching sound was close now. A long pincered claw swept out of the mist. Briggs parried the blow.

  “What in the Mother’s name was that?” Peeter shouted.

  “Keep moving, son,” Briggs said. “You still owe me money.”

  Regina jumped as a long rope swished across the cobbles. She brought her saber down, severing it. There was a wailing scream, accompanied by the sound of breaking glass – every window in the street had cracked. On closer inspection she realized an antenna of some sort had been seeking them out, and she had cut it through. Green liquid was pooling. The rest of the antenna hastily withdrew into the mist.

  “We can hurt them, so we can probably kill them,” Regina said.

  The mist cleared a little as they ran into an open square and, from the tightening knot in her stomach, she knew Jaeger was moving further away. In the center of the square, a winged lizard curled around a well. It took off at the clatter of their arrival and hovered over the well’s mouth, trailing long limbs like an octopus’s. They skirted around the square’s edges, making for any street they could see. Something jumped at them. Regina slashed her saber into it, not waiting to see what it was. She let go of Rosamynd, and turned to face a creature that looked like it had crawled from a tomb: fat white body, sickly yellow liquid oozing from where her saber had bitten. Its head shot towards her on a stalk. Where its face should have been was just a mouth, rows of razor teeth that would feast on her flesh. Regina swung wildly, severing its head; it thunked against the wall.

  Regina grabbed Rosamynd and made her way into a large avenue. Rosamynd cried out as her silk slippers stepped into a puddle of thick slime. Schaefer turned to her, and didn't see the creature like a huge earwig that emerged from the gloom until it had slashed her arm in a dozen places with scythe-like claws. After three of its legs sheared off with a single swing of her sword, it rolled over. She took its head off with another swift blow.

  Briggs moved warily ahead, and Regina saw an enormous set of pincers dripping pus come out of the mist and go for his head. He blocked them smartly, sparks flying as his sword deflected along their length, before they disappeared into the mist. He moved on. A scream pierced the night. Regina turned and saw Peeter in the grasp of the pincers. She rushed over to help, but the pincers closed on his chest with a sickening snap, and he was cut clean in half. Another monstrous creature from the mist impaled his upper half on a lance-like talon and dragged it away, his entrails uncoiling longingly towards his missing half. Rosamynd screamed. Regina grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

  They moved on, sabers raised, anticipating attack from all directions, trying to remember the way to the harbor, proper navigation almost impossible as the mist closed in tight. Abruptly, Regina stopped, a searing pain running through her back. She snapped round but there was no assailant. Catching her breath through watering eyes, she wondered what had just happened to Jaeger.

  “Onwards,” she said weakly.

  45 THINGS TO DO ON A MISTY DAY IN KORTHI

  JAEGER soon realized that they had lost the others. He had Emilia in his grasp, and the shapes of several of the others were still with him. The mist had become impenetrable, and behind them he could hear an ominous scurrying sound. No chance of retracing steps. The team would have to reconvene at the harbor, get on a boat and get the hell out. He ignored the stabs of separation pain, and continued along the road leading to one of the city’s main squares. He could hear a fountain gurgling and knew a naked lady in marble would be sitting in the middle cuddling a large fish. They liked that kind of thing here. Jaeger signaled a stop. There was something he couldn’t quite make out ahead, hiding in the wisps of fog, waiting. He could feel it stirring in the dark.

  Jaeger tightened his grip on his sword. The fog thinned a little and he saw something almost resembling a wingless wasp: four pairs of hairy legs, a head with pincer-like mandibles, a sting at the tip of its abdomen. It scurried fast for its size and jumped. Jaeger thrust his blade towards it. The creature twisted in the air, evading his strike, turned and, as it landed, spat venom on Johannes. He screamed at the touch of it on his skin. Jaeger slashed at the thing's underbelly. The hard exterior split and released a foul brown liquid.

  Emilia stared blankly at the monster, unable to move. Charlie grabbed within a sleeve for a dagger out of habit, but it wasn’t there. Morgenstern's training kicked in: he thrust and slashed as though this was just one more enemy he would expect to encounter on the battlefield, while deftly avoiding the steaming brown liquid. The creature scampered backwards, hesitated a moment, then melted into the mist.

  “It’s gone,” Kyfer shouted. “We scared it off.”

  Eleven dragged Johannes to the fountain and sluiced him down. Some skin sloughed off, boils and hives erupted. He could still walk, but his right eye was melted shut.

  Jaeger stood, reading the strange vibrations in the air.

  “In the name of all that is holy–” Morgenstern said, positioning himself at Emilia’s side. “Jaeger, have you seen anything like this before?”

  Jaeger didn’t move. His gut told him to stay still. A low growling filled the air.

  “I don’t think we scared the creature away,” he said, as the mist parted. A beast with a vaguely feline head and the body of a lion covered in scales, came into view. The beast stretched and Jaeger realized that its neck was as long and strong as a snake’s.

  “Let’s go back,” Morgenstern said calmly.

  “We can’t, it’s seen us. Get ready,” Jaeger said. “Don’t let those teeth anywhere near you.”

  “I wasn’t intending to.”

  The beast’s roar froze Jaeger's blood in his veins. He felt tiny, a caveman hiding at the back of the cave when man’s only hope was to hide from the predators.

  The beast charged, covering the ground in huge bounds, extending its neck towards them. Jaws snapped an inch from Jaeger’s face. The stench of its breath choked vomit up, into the back of Jaeger’s throat. A scorpion tail came down above his head. Jaeger blocked it with his saber, but the power of the blow made him stumble backwards. Morgenstern’s sword attack at the creature’s throat simply bounced off the scales. The creature turned and snapped. Morgenstern’s sword stabbed into the monster’s mouth, drawing midnight-blue blood. A sweep of its paw swatted him to one side. Jaeger thrust his saber into the creature’s flank, between the scales, and more blue blood pulsed out. The sting came down at lightning speed, and Jaeger rolled away barely in time.

  Emilia screamed and Jaeger turned to see her jumping away from a large slug. Adler slashed at it, the flesh engulfing his sword. With the sword, he lifted the creature and swung it, flying, into the depths of the mist. He took a musket pistol out of his belt and gave it to Emilia. He handed a dagger to Charlie.

  “It’s not much, but better than nothing. The pistol has two shots: make them count,” Adler said. Eleven reappeared with an unsteady Johannes. Jaeger nudged Emilia towards a wall, cutting off their retreat but protecting their backs. A tendril, spiked as if with grappling hooks, slithered on the cobbled stones.

  Morgenstern continued to defend against the beast, a blow from its paw knocking him back to the ground, the claws slashing through the flesh of his left shoulder. Jaeger thrust ineffectually at the monster. It swung its head at him like a club, hitting his legs with a force that sent him smashing into a wall.

  “Adler,” Jaeger shouted, “we need a little help here!”

  Adler charged out of the mist and thrust his sword straight into the beast’s mouth, the point emerging from the back of its head. The beast should have keeled over and died, but not before its grea
t sting came down with immense force, straight through the soft flesh of Adler’s lower back. He looked down in surprise at the tip of it protruding from his stomach. Blood welled in his mouth, trickled down his chin. Charlie screamed. She ran towards him.

  Jaeger grabbed Charlie to turn her away from the scythe-like claws. They caught him instead, square in the back, slicing to bone. He groaned and fell on top of Charlie, his blood flowing freely onto her. Then his eyes turned amber; he scrabbled up, grabbed her and ran. Charlie fought against him and cried but he was unrelenting. Morgenstern grabbed Emilia and ran too. Everyone disentangled from their fights and followed.

  When they were far enough away from the square, Jaeger stopped to catch his breath and let Charlie go.

  “Valerian, take everyone to the harbor.”

  Morgenstern nodded while Charlie hastily wiped away her tears.

  “Where are you going?” Eleven asked.

  “Back,” Jaeger said dryly.

  “To get yourself killed?” Morgenstern said.

  Jaeger looked at him, stone-faced. “I’ve done enough dying today. It’s time I did some killing. Of that scorpion-tailed bastard.”

  46 OUT OF THE FIRE, INTO THE DEEP BLUE SEA

  REGINA heard the sound of running feet, raised her saber, and was in mid-swing when she saw Morgenstern emerge from the mist, closely followed by the others. With great effort, she brought her swing to a halt.

  “Mother and Child!” she exclaimed. “I nearly ran you through!

  A shadow passed over her face. “Where’s Jaeger? You didn’t leave him behind, did you?”

  Morgenstern rustled in his waistcoat. “We’ve been idiots.” He found his timepiece compass, opened and studied it. Schaefer made her way to Morgenstern’s side, her gaze falling to the cuts on his shoulder, to his left arm hanging useless at his side.

  “The harbor is that way,” he pointed. “Fall into defensive formation. Emilia, Rosamynd stay in the center. Get a move on.”

  “Where’s Jaeger?” Regina asked again.

  “Right here.” Jaeger stepped into view, covered in blue blood.

  “Now can we go?” Morgenstern asked urgently.

  They followed Morgenstern, who was studying his timepiece compass. He led them to the main street and followed it straight to the harbor. As they moved closer to the water, the sound of slithering in the mist grew more distant, and the mist too started to thin.

  The harbor was deserted, not a sailor to be seen from the smallest fishing boat to the largest ship. Perhaps sailors in Korthi knew to batten up the hatches when the bells tolled.

  “We'd better take something big enough for the open sea. We want to be well clear of this place before we want to hit land again,” Jaeger said.

  They didn't take long to find a suitable vessel. Everyone jumped aboard. Amanates untied the ropes while the team hauled the sails up. They used only the oars to maneuver out of the harbor.

  “Do you think those things will follow us?” Rosamynd asked.

  “I hope they can’t swim,” Emilia said, holding Jaeger as tightly as she could. He gave her a hug back.

  “Don’t worry,” he said.

  Regina looked around. “Where’s the captain and the crew?” she asked.

  “Hiding below,” Thomas replied, hauling on a sheet.

  “Tell them the choice is either they come out and sail this thing; or I run them through,” Regina growled.

  “Casualty count,” Jaeger announced. He took down the names of the injured, and the dead.

  Regina sat down next to Schaefer “That arm doesn’t look good,” she commented. Rosamynd brought water to Schaefer and sat next to them.

  “Can I help?” she asked.

  “The sleeve feels tight,” Schaefer said, wincing. Regina used her knife to carefully cut the fabric. Schaefer’s arm had swollen to three times its normal size and her cuts were weeping pus.

  “Thomas, medical supplies,” Regina said. Thomas ran below deck and brought a black leather bag.

  Eleven called Jaeger over and had a quick word with him. Jaeger went to Johannes’s side.

  “Let me have a look at that face, son.”

  Johannes turned towards him and Jaeger breathed in.

  “You sit there and rest. I’ll be back in a minute to see what we can do about this. Meanwhile, drink this.” He passed Johannes a bottle of brandy.

  Regina had seen many wounds and illnesses in her years of soldiering. She knew how to set broken bones, how to cauterize and sew wounds; how to take bullets out of folk; how to stem bleeding from saber slashes; how to make tourniquets; and how to cut a limb right off if she had to. She knew fevers and shivers, vomiting and bad bellies. If it came to it, she knew how to put a man out of his misery. But she’d never seen the like of Schaefer’s injury before.

  Regina took Jaeger aside. “These wounds, they’re not normal. I fear they may not heal. How’re your wounds? Your back? Your shoulder?”

  “Healing quickly. Maybe there’s something to this Hunter business.”

  Amanates came over to them. “I may be able to help Johannes,” he said in a low voice. “I’ve seen this before. Not quite the same, but desert scorpion venom makes wounds like that.”

  “How bad is it?” Jaeger asked.

  “Only the Lord of Light can tell,” Amanates replied, and went to tend to Johannes.

  Regina and Jaeger went to check on Morgenstern, Jaeger taking a bottle of the sailors’ gin. Kyfer and Charlie were tending to his wounds. Emilia sat next to him holding his hand and telling him how brave he was. Regina knew that Morgenstern couldn’t tell a Royal Princess to leave him in peace. Jaeger passed him the bottle, giving him an excuse to retrieve his right hand from Emilia. Morgenstern took his fill, but hung on to the bottle. Regina leaned over to examine the slashes on Morgenstern’s shoulder and side.

  “Have you cleaned them?” she asked Kyfer.

  “Yes, sir,” he replied. He took a long thread and began to thread a needle.

  “I don’t think you should sew him up,” Charlie said, her voice like fractured china. “We don’t know if there was poison on the claws.”

  “Did you bleed the wound?” Regina asked.

  “Bled it, scraped it and everything. We weren’t born yesterday. But you’ve seen Schaefer’s arm and Johannes’s face.”

  Jaeger leaned closer and inspected the deep gashes.

  “If you are all done, can we put some bandages on and be done with this thing?” Morgenstern protested.

  “No, we can’t, you moron,” Charlie said, her face red. “Now shut your mouth and drink your liquor till we figure out what to do with you.”

  “Now listen here, you–” Morgenstern began, but Jaeger cut him mid-sentence.

  “Countess.”

  “What?”

  “Countess Charlie, if you please. Ask Her Grace sitting next to you right there.”

  Morgenstern gave Emilia an incredulous look but she smiled sweetly and stroked his hair.

  “These cuts aren’t from a sword, even though they’ve cut like it. They’re from claws. I reckon pouring brandy over ain’t enough,” Charlie said seriously. “I’ve seen it before. If it goes bad we can’t cut it off like an arm or a leg: he’ll die.”

  Regina nodded. It meant one thing and it wasn’t pleasant, as any soldier could testify. Jaeger looked around for a few moments and then brought Morgenstern a piece of wood to bite down on. Morgenstern’s eyes widened a moment, but then he took the wood.

  “I’ll get Jackson and Summers to hold you down,” Jaeger told Morgenstern.

  “Take the princess,” Morgenstern said. “This will not be an appropriate sight for her.”

  Charlie turned to Jaeger. “You should have a look at your injuries,” she told him.

  “I thought you wanted me dead,” he laughed.

  Charlie shot him such a glance that even he withered.

  “I’ll get Fitzwaters to fix me after.”

  “How’s Arza?” Morgenstern a
sked.

  “Now he remembers,” Jaeger said. “She’ll live.”

  Regina turned away and made another round of the boat to see how everyone was doing. The moon had set and on the horizon, the first golden glimmer of dawn shimmered. The sea was calm and the wind was good. A scream came from Morgenstern. The sailors were terrified, but once they’d sailed out of the harbor they were efficient and soon Korthi was disappearing behind them. The captain rang the boat’s bell.

  “What now?” Regina asked. The captain pointed to the horizon. She strained her eyes. In the faint light of daybreak, a small dark dot had appeared. She knew that shape without having to use the looking glass the captain offered. A Korthi frigate sailing at full speed, armed to the teeth.

  47 MERCY BLUE

  JAEGER walked grimly over to join them. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked.

  Regina nodded, biting her lower lip. “So what can we do?” she asked.

  Jaeger’s fingers brushed the hilt of his saber. “Pray for wind. Other than that, nothing. It either catches us or not.”

  “It will,” the Captain said.

  “Then we’re dead,” Regina said.

  “We can’t die for two more days,” Jaeger replied. “However, I can’t see this ending well for us. Even if we survive this, I fail to see how we're ever going to get the princesses back to Eressia – and if we do we'll only be shot, or worse.”

  “If we get them back, we'll have fulfilled our end of the bargain,” Regina said.

  “I’m sure the Emperor will be very understanding,” Jaeger said, narrowing his eyes.

  By midday, despite the smugglers’ boat being swift, the distance from the frigate had halved.

  “Any bright ideas?” Regina asked Jaeger anxiously.

  He looked around at the endless expanse of sea. “Swim away very quickly?”

  “I’ve been thinking,” Regina said, “What if we head for the coast and continue on foot? We might lose them.”