by Warhammer
Reiner saw that Manfred was afraid. Strange that a man who showed no fear in battle would prove such a coward in captivity. Perhaps it was that a man with a sword in his hand always felt there was a chance, while a caged man felt powerless. Whatever the reason, Reiner had seen mercenaries and engineers face their fates with more heart.
'I see, m'lord.' Reiner said. He didn't bother to hide his sneer. 'But your humble servants have many fewer reasons to live. In fact they grow weary of life under the yoke, and might feel that the Empire would be better off keeping the waystone and getting rid of you, and would be willing to sacrifice their lives to that end.'
Franka's eyes went wide as Reiner's words sank in, and the others stared at him.
Manfred went pale. 'What are you suggesting?'
'Nothing, m'lord.' said Reiner. 'Except that the threat of death begins to lose its force if one's life isn't worth living. So, if you truly wish us to steal the waystone from the Empire, and bring it to a sworn enemy of mankind at the risk of our lives, and against all natural inclinations, perhaps you would consider adding an incentive in addition to the usual intimidation.'
'And what would that be?' asked Manfred, sneering in his turn. 'Gold? Better quarters? Harlots at your beck and call?'
'Freedom.'
The Blackhearts looked at Reiner, hope glittering in their eyes.
'Let this be the Blackhearts' last mission.' Reiner continued. 'Promise us that if we free you, you will free us. A simple trade.'
Manfred raised a sceptical eyebrow. 'And you say you are willing to die if I do not agree to this?'
Reiner looked around at the others questioningly. He hoped he had gauged their temper correctly.
'Aye.' said Hals, nodding. 'This is no life.'
'Might as well kill us now and save us the trouble.' said Pavel.
Franka stuck out her chin. 'I am ready.'
'And I.' said Jergen without looking up.
Gert just glared at Manfred, arms crossed.
The newer men didn't look so certain, but they didn't disagree.
Manfred hesitated, looking around at them all, then sighed. 'Very well. You have given me good service, and though it saddens me that brave men would turn away from their duty to protect their homeland, I will release you if you succeed in getting me to safety.'
The Blackhearts let out tense breaths.
'We have your word?' asked Reiner.
'You have my word as a gentleman and a representative of the Empire of Karl-Franz.'
Being born of the gentle class himself, Reiner knew what the word of a gentleman was worth, but he was in no position to force any other guarantee from the count. 'Very well,' he said. 'Then we will recover the stone and free you.'
'In three days,' said Manfred.
'Three days,' agreed Reiner.
There was a disturbance among the mutants and the men looked up. Valaris was returning.
'I have a gift for each of you,' he said, looking at them through the bars. 'And another for the leader of the men who will go.' He opened a small square of cloth, revealing what appeared to slivers of blue glass. 'While Teclis lived, you were protected by his spells against the effects of Talabheim's warpstone. Now he is dead, that protection is removed. I care nothing for your welfare, but you must be sane to be useful, so I have chipped shards from a crystal I wear. Placed under your skin, they will ward off the emanations.'
'Under the skin?' asked Manfred.
'Yes,' the elf grabbed Rumpolt through the bars and pulled him close with casual strength. 'Like so.' He rucked Rumpolt's sleeve up and, selecting one of the crystal slivers, he pushed it under the boy's skin so that it lay like a cyst just beneath the surface. Rumpolt squealed and jerked his arm away. Blood ran freely from the wound.
Valaris curled his lip. 'Do you flinch from your salvation? Pathetic.' He held the cloth out. 'Come, take them. I do not care to touch more of you.'
Manfred, Reiner and the others stepped forward and took slivers from the box. Reiner jabbed his shard in swiftly, so he didn't have time to think about it. The murmuring that had cluttered the back of his brain since he had entered the glittering caves receded almost to nothing. The others slid their crystals in too, grunting or hissing. Darius sighed, seemingly relieved. Only Franka hesitated.
Reiner stepped to her. 'Do you want me to do it?'
She looked up at him and her face hardened. 'No. You have cut me once already.' She shoved the splinter vehemently into her arm and stifled a cry as it went too deep.
'Franka!' Reiner hissed.
She turned away from him, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
'Now,' said Valaris. 'Who leads the rescuers?'
Reiner reluctantly turned to the elf. 'I do.'
'Then come, and bare your chest.'
Reiner stepped to the bars, unbuckling his breastplate, then pulling open his doublet and shirt. Valaris drew a black-bladed dagger and, eyes closed, chanted under his breath in his own tongue. Faint curls of smoke rose off the blade and Reiner could smell the scent of hot iron. The tip of the dagger glowed a dull red.
Reiner wanted to run and hide from the smouldering knife, but the prospect of being dragged from the cage by filthy mutants and held down while Valaris did what he intended anyway made him decide that gripping the bars and holding still was the better option.
The elf finished his incantation and opened his eyes. 'Hold steady,' he said. 'If I mar it, I will have to start again in a new place.'
He pressed the blade into Reiner's flesh, just below his right collar bone, and began cutting a curving line. The pain was indescribable, a bright line of agony that seemed to grow worse after the blade tip had passed. Reiner flushed with a cold sweat. His palms slipped on the bars, slick. His knees shook.
'Steady, fool.' said Valaris. He moved to Reiner's left side, sketching quickly but precisely with the smoking blade. Reiner's hands squeezed the bars so tightly he felt he might bend them. He closed his eyes. Explosions of colour burst across his eyelids. His head spun and he thought he might be falling. He opened his eyes again, terrified that he had moved and that Valaris would repeat the torture from the beginning. He couldn't do it twice.
'Done.' said the elf, stepping back.
Reiner sank to his knees, moaning. Through swimming eyes he looked down at himself. High on his chest were bubbling red lines in the shape of a complex elf rune.
'I am no fool.' said the elf. 'I know you will seek to betray me. The younger races have no honour. This is my safeguard. While these wounds are fresh, what you see and hear, I will see and hear. So if you intend to bring the countess's army with you when you return the stone, or if you conceive some other treachery, I will know it, and the count will die.' He smirked. 'After, of course, he has said his prayers.'
He turned to the mutants. 'Now, come slaves, return to these noble warriors their weapons and let them be on their way. And may the blessings of Sigmar be upon them.' He laughed darkly.
Reiner groaned and got to his feet as the mutants opened the cage door. Franka was looking at him, biting her lip, but she turned away when he tried to meet her eyes.
EIGHT
The Countess Demands An Explanation
After a long, weary walk back up through the catacombs to the sewers, then across the mad city under blood-red late afternoon clouds, Reiner stopped the Blackhearts just before they reached the back gate of the Reiklander legation's town house.
'Hold a moment.' he said, groaning. The sweat seeping into Valaris's knife work made it burn like it was still on fire. 'It just came to me. Without Manfred, we are in a difficult position. If we return without him, we will be questioned about his disappearance, and quite possibly arrested.'
'So we don't go in?' asked Pavel.
'How are we to get the stone if we don't?' Reiner asked. 'A gang of masterless ruffians will not be allowed to get anywhere near the stone. We need Manfred's influence to reach it.'
'So we're sunk before we begin,' said Hals.
>
'No.' said Reiner, thinking. 'No, we take Manfred in with us.'
'Eh?' said Rumpolt. 'But Count Manfred is in the cave with-'
'Not at all.' said Reiner, grinning suddenly. He looked around, sizing up the Blackhearts. 'Darius, give Jergen your cloak. Jergen, pull the hood well forward and keep your head down. Good. Now, an arm over my shoulder and one over Dieters, and see if you can manage a limp. Excellent.' He looked at the others. 'When we go in, we will disperse and don our servant's garb again. See to your wounds as best you can. I will send Franka with word when I learn where the stone is held and contrive a plan for its recovery. Now, onward.'
'Open the gate,' Reiner cried as they reached it. 'Open the gate for Count Manfred!'
A Nordbergbruche bowman looked out, then threw open the back gate when he saw them.
'Is the count hurt?' he asked, concerned.
'Yes, he's hurt, blast you,' said Reiner. 'Now go before us and clear the way!'
'Where is Captain Baerich?'
'Dead. Now go.'
The bowman paled, but led Reiner, Dieter and Jergen toward the house as servants ran before them, crying the news. The other Blackhearts turned toward the servants' quarters. Reiner, Dieter, Jergen and Franka followed the bowman through the stableyard and the kitchen unmolested, but as they reached Manfred's second floor suite, the other members of the Reikland legation spilled into the hall, all calling to Manfred and demanding to know where he had been.
'Darius,' said Reiner, slipping out from under Jergen's arm. 'Take him inside. Bowman, return to your post.'
Reiner threw open Manfred's door, then stepped toward the jabbering lords and clerics, as the others hurried Jergen into the count's room.
'M'lords, please!' called Reiner. 'Quiet yourselves! Count Valdenheim is grievously wounded and must take to his bed. He is too hurt to speak.'
'But he must!' cried Lord Boellengen, looking like a flustered goose. 'He has embarrassed us all with this skullduggery! The countess demands an explanation!'
'As do we,' puffed Grand Master Raichskell. 'Why were we not informed of this morning's undertaking? It is outrageous that Knights of the Order were not included.'
'Nor were my Hammer Bearers!' cried Father Totkrieg.
'There is some mystery here,' said Magus Nichtladen.
'If Valdenheim has done something to dishonour the Emperor's name,' said Lord Schott, 'he will answer to me!'
'My lords.' said Reiner. 'I cannot speak for the count, but I will communicate your questions to him and bring you his answers. Now, if you will excuse me.'
'We do not excuse you.' piped Lord Boellengen imperiously. 'We must speak to Count Valdenheim regardless of his condition. Countess Elise has called an emergency meeting of the parliament. He must attend.'
Reiner sighed and opened Manfred's door. 'Enter if you must, m'lords. But Count Valdenheim is incapable of speech. He was cut with an unclean blade, and his mouth and throat are choked with boils. His physician fears they may be infectious. Some sort of Chaos pox, it might be.'
The lords recoiled, hands going instinctively to their mouths.
'He... he is ill?' asked Raichskell.
'So it seems, m'lord.' said Reiner.
'But he must attend.' said Boellengen, backing away. 'The countess will expel the legation if she is not given an explanation of the morning's occurrence.'
Reiner paused, pretending to think. 'Perhaps it would be permissible for me to appear in the count's place, and give his explanation?'
'You?' sneered Boellengen. 'A clerk?'
'The countess may find my presence more palatable than Count Manfred's, m'lord.' said Reiner. 'He is a bit... unpleasant to behold.'
The lords grimaced, then muttered together for a long moment. At last Boellengen turned back to Reiner. 'Very well. The parliament meets in an hour. Make yourself presentable.'
'Certainly, m'lord.' Reiner bowed, then slipped through the door and locked it behind him, breathing a sigh of relief. Darius had his physician's kit unrolled and was tending to Dieter, Jergen and Franka, who sat on Manfred's enormous canopied bed.
'Will we live, scholar?' asked Reiner.
Darius shrugged. 'Nothing appears mortal, sir, but I have limited skills as a physician.'
'How's your arm, Rohmner?'
The swordmaster had his shirt off, massaging his thickly muscled shoulder. It was black and blue. 'Numb and stiff, captain. But it will pass, I think.'
'That's a mercy.' Reiner turned to Manfred's wardrobe. 'While I'm gone all of you must keep the door locked and let no one in, no matter what they say or who they are. Is that clear?'
'Aye, captain,' said Franka.
The others nodded.
'I,' he said, taking a fresh shirt from the wardrobe, 'must go speak to the countess and her parliament.' He sighed. 'I'd sooner face the mutants again.'
'When the Reikland legation came to us yesterday,' said Countess Elise from her chair at the northernmost point of the parliament's U-shaped table, 'we were cautious. But Count Manfred promised cooperation. He promised the help of the great mage Teclis. Yet, not ten hours after he speaks these words, he attempts to recover the waystone without informing any official of Talabheim, and-'
'I was there, countess,' piped up Danziger.
His face was mottled with bruises, and his left hand thickly bandaged. Von Pfaltzen was in attendance as well, a cut over his left eye. Reiner was surprised to see them. When he had left them, their situations had seemed desperate.
'Without my authority!' the countess snapped at Danziger. 'And with knowledge you should have shared with the parliament. And what comes of this unsanctioned undertaking? The stone lost as soon as it is found. Nearly thirty men dead. Count Manfred and Lord Teclis wounded near unto death...'
Reiner choked, and then was caught with a fit of coughing. The stone lost? Teclis alive? Was this good news or bad? He patted his chest and nearly screamed in agony. He had forgotten Valaris's knife cuts. Valaris! He groaned. Now the dark elf knew Teclis lived. At least he hadn't cut a mouth into Reiner's chest. He couldn't order him to kill the high elf.
Reiner looked up to see the countess and the parliament glaring at him. He ducked his head. 'Forgive me, countess, members of the assembly, but the count sent me immediately from his side to be with you. We had heard no news, of Teclis or the waystone.'
'Then let me inform you.' said the countess dryly, 'so that you may inform the count. The noble Teclis lives, though barely. At his request we house him in a secret location, so he may tend to his healing without fear of further attempts on his life. And our cousin Rodick has informed us that he was robbed of the stone by cultists as he left the sewers. It is therefore with great anticipation,' she said, turning cold eyes on Reiner, 'that we wait to hear Count Valdenheim's mouthpiece explain his master's reasons for attempting the action.'
Reiner stood and bowed. 'Countess, the count thanks you for your courtesy, and answers that he moved in secret in order to catch those that held the stone unawares. He further says that, though he made his plans known only to Teclis and his own men, Lord Rodick and Captain von Pfaltzen knew of it by morning. He is wounded to think that his noble hosts might have had him under surveillance.'
'And did he not prove the necessity of our caution by his actions?' asked von Pfaltzen.
'Count Valdenheim also finds it disturbing that agents of the ruinous powers knew of the mission almost as soon as Captain von Pfaltzen and Lord Untern did.' continued Reiner. 'He will undoubtedly be more displeased when he learns of the theft of the stone after he took such great personal risks in order to recover it.'
'Does he suggest.' cried the countess, 'that the parliament of Talabheim colludes with cultists?'
'I do not know what he suggests, countess.' said Reiner. 'Only what he says.'
'It appears that Talabheim has more spies and informers than it has trees.' sniffed Lord Boellengen, who sat with the rest of the Reikland legation along the wall.
The parliament
erupted at this, with every member shouting at the Reiklanders and the Reiklanders shouting back, turning the chamber into an echoing cacophony of insults.
In the midst of this tumult, a page came in and whispered in the countess's ear. She listened at first with confusion and then with surprise, then called for order. When this failed to quiet the room, she pounded the table with her mace of office, and at last the members of parliament and the representatives from the Reikland turned and fell silent.
'Noble visitors and learned colleagues,' she said with unconcealed sarcasm. 'It may be that all our recriminations are for naught, for I have been told that one waits without who has knowledge of the stone's whereabouts and wishes to speak to this assembly. Do you wish to hear her?'
A few voices questioned who 'her' might be, but most said 'aye', and the countess signalled for the chamber's doors to be opened. Reiner and the others craned their necks to see who the visitor might be. Reiner's heart jolted as he saw that it was Lady Magda Bandauer - or rather Lady Untern now - who entered, wearing a tightly ruffed satin dress in her husband's colours of blue and burgundy. Her face was as composed and serene as a statue's. She looked as if she ruled here instead of the countess. And if she has her way, thought Reiner, she will.
The lords eyed Magda solemnly as she curtsied deeply to the countess, then stood demurely, waiting to be spoken to.
'Lady Magda,' said the countess. 'Wife of my dear cousin, Rodick. Welcome. We are told you have some new knowledge of the waystone?'
'I do, countess,' said Magda. 'And I thank you for allowing me entry to these hallowed halls. It is a great honour.' She curtsied again and continued. 'As you know, my husband, your cousin, has not rested since the masked villains robbed him of the stone earlier today. He has hunted them high and low, and offered bounties for information, and sent men of our house into the most dangerous, unsavoury quarters of Talabheim looking for news of it, and at last he has had some success. He believes he knows, almost to a certainty, where the stone is, and who possesses it.'