“What? But, for what?”
“War.”
“More bloody war!”
The smile vanished. “Why aren’t you in a legion?”
“Er … farming is … important?”
“Exactly, when you pay your taxes. You owe us two cows.”
“What?”
“Well there is a monetary figure but I suspect your assets are in cows, so two cows.”
“I only just have a workable herd. You can’t take any more.”
“Actually, I can, because you owe two cows. You,” he said pointing to a guard, “take two.”
“No,” and the farmer put a hand on the tax collector’s leg.
A moment later the guards had grabbed the farmer’s arms and pulled him back.
There was another toothy smile. “Do you know the penalty for assaulting an imperial tax collector?”
“I barely touched—”
“I can have your hand cut off. Or you hanged. Or both in any order.”
“I… I…”
“Yes?”
“I have a family.”
“Then perhaps we will come to an arrangement.”
“Yes, please, anything.”
“We’ll take the whole herd.”
“I’ll have nothing.”
“The legions will take you.”
“Nothing.”
“The legions call for men like you. Call. Now, take all those cows.”
*****
“Well at least it’s stopped raining.”
Zedek was riding next to Trimas, and he turned and raised an eyebrow. “At least it’s stopped?”
“Yes. That’s not a complicated idea.”
“For someone who believes in a god residing above us, you really know how to tempt it into throwing a thunderstorm, don’t you.”
“Oh, it’s surely got better things to do. The emperor is probably praying for something right now and it’s wondering whether to do it or give him gout.”
Daeholf, riding behind, had been listening. “I assume you’d rather the gout.”
“That’s one of the mildest things I’d wish on him.”
“He can fall off his horse and drown in its shit,” Daeholf sighed.
“And this,” Alia called back, “is why you’re not allowed to mention politics in sight of town walls.”
Trimas looked ahead. “She’s right, we’re nearly there.”
Daeholf laughed and shook his head. “Quick question. I understand the logic in tracing Marlen from the trap he set to here, because everything had to come through this town to do it, but what if we’re walking into an even bigger trap?”
Jonas had been leading with Alia, although not much further ahead, and he allowed them to group as he answered. “Marlen can turn the heads of a village. Heal someone miraculously, get them all on your side. I’ve seen it. But a town? No, too many factions, too many different points of view. He can’t control a town.”
Daeholf nodded. “Good point. If a city can’t even unite in a siege when there’s a vicious army beyond the walls, how can Marlen do that alone?”
“I take it there were some dissenters when you were…”
“Dissenters is one word.”
“And we’re not talking about that near the town,” Alia pointed out.
“Agreed.”
“I can talk about the rain, though, right?”
Daeholf sighed. “Sometimes I miss scouting on my own.”
The group rode towards the biggest gate the town possessed, and saw a cluster of carts, wagons and horses outside. Many of the latter had no riders, as they were all in another cluster having an argument.
“And that,” Jonas explained, “is exactly the ‘turn a broken cart into an all-out war’ you always find in towns.”
None of the five found riding boring — you tended to stop travelling if you did — but there was an extra entertainment to be had in watching the disagreement in front of them. As the traffic slowly filtered through and the guard started moving the cart to one side, Jonas pushed forward to see something ahead that intrigued him, but he heard a voice from behind him.
“How much for the girl?”
Jonas knew immediately what was happening and turned with his most annoyed face, only to find himself looking at one of the few people as scarred and grizzled, not to say sized, as him. There was a sword at his side, clothes worn in such a way that armour might be underneath, and a horse that looked steady.
“How much for her,” the stranger said, nodding back to Alia.
“Slavery’s illegal. Been illegal all this empire,” Jonas said slowly and forcefully. He clearly couldn’t intimidate this man through his appearance, and he realised he’d been coming to rely on that. He needed to be careful there.
The stranger nodded. “Yes, illegal. You don’t look too legal yourself.”
“I’m a bounty hunter. If this gate wasn’t already crowded with merchants and hyped up bodyguards I might have to do something about you.”
“Ah. Afraid to start a fight. I thought you’d say that.”
They stared at each other, and then a voice came from behind them.
“Come back when you’ve got a herd of sheep he can retire with, he might consider it then. Or next time I rile him.”
Jonas and the stranger were now looking at Alia, who had ridden up behind them.
“I might hold you to that,” the stranger said, riding away.
Alia looked at Jonas. “Surprised you didn’t knock his head off.”
Impressed that she’d learned to defuse a situation rather than charge in, which he put down to his teaching, he asked, “Can you tell what I’m thinking?”
Alia raised a finger. “He buys people. So he probably moves people. Illegally. And if you wanted a supply of bodies, or body parts, or people to ‘heal’, his trafficking would be the ideal place to go.”
“Yes. That man is a lead. So I didn’t knock his head off. What I did do was memorise a description, and as our new friends pointed out about me, men like us can stick out if you’re not careful.”
“And he’s the one who’s controlling parts of this town.”
“Probably.”
The other three had now ridden up. “Making friends?” Trimas asked slyly.
“How much did you hear?”
“Ask Daeholf, he’s the one with the scout’s senses.”
“I got the story,” Daeholf confirmed.
“This is what happens when you pull the legions out.”
Jonas looked to Trimas questioningly. “What?”
“War in the south is at a crucial moment, so the legion here’s been pulled out to help.”
“So everything is moving there.”
“Not everything. The generals know they can’t destroy a legion totally without pissing the rest off, so those who have taken the brunt recently will be moved and rebuilt. But everyone who’s been sat round garrisoning a peaceful region is getting moved.”
Jonas smiled at the tone. “You sound like you’d rather be there.”
“My lot have probably rebuilt by now. But that’s in the past.”
“Good, which means we can go and look at what’s pinned on those gates.”
Intrigued, the group rode up and halted to one side, in the shadow of a recently dumped cart with an annoyed merchant sat on top.
In front of them were the wooden, studded gates, but they were partly concealed by pieces of parchment which had been nailed on. Hidden in the shelter of this recessed gate, with the holes to drop oil covered with a peacetime board above, the ink stayed intact for longer, and the group could read what they said: pleas for missing people. A description, often a desperate attempt at a few coppers reward.
“Six people missing,” Trimas said, “at least on the ones that are still legible.”
“Enough of a trend for people to start sticking their posters together,” Alia added.
“This smells of him, doesn’t it,” Zedek agreed in his own way.
“Well now, there’s a sensation I don’t want.”
Zedek turned to reply to Trimas, and saw Jonas looking at him, then looking away. The former thought it odd, but assumed it was just another case of the way everyone reacted when you explained you didn’t believe in their god.
*****
Jonas stood next to his bed, looking out of the window. It was still early and the first hint of dawn was just showing.
“I have an errand to run,” he said to Alia in the bed across the room.
“What?” she mumbled, still half asleep.
“Some business in town, getting an early start to catch people off guard,” he replied.
“Want me to come with you?” she said, turning over to look at him.
“No, you sleep in and let the others know I’ve popped out. I won’t be long though.”
“If you say so.”
Jonas nodded in the gloom and made his way out quietly, re-latching the door with care and walking gently along the hall. Listening hard, he heard no one stir as he passed the other rooms. He made his way down the stairs and out through the side entrance to the inn unnoticed.
“Still got it,” he mumbled, then was slightly embarrassed at how pleased he was with himself. He took his bearings in the half light and set off towards the council offices. He enjoyed the stillness of the quiet streets in the very early morning, and without Alia to remind him of his age, for a moment he felt young again as he made his way purposefully but as unobtrusively as possible through the streets. The years seemed to evaporate and once again he was the young eager hunter on a mission. His stiff back soon brought him back to the present though. Was it the soft bed? Or more likely too many years of lying on the hard ground? Maybe it was time to retire. Alia was ready, he thought to himself as he approached the council offices, though she might not recognise that herself.
A bored looking guard didn’t notice him as he approached so he stopped a few feet away and cleared his throat.
“Can I help you?” the guard said, startled.
“I’d like to see the Magistrate,” Jonas said.
“He won’t be on duty yet,” the guard said, looking at the rapidly lightening sky.
“He’s an early starter and lives on the premises,” Jonas said calmly.
“You’d need to make an appointment anyway. He’s a busy man and doesn’t see just anyone.”
“He’ll see me.”
“Who are you?”
Jonas sighed and pulled out his bounty hunter rod. “Official business.”
The guard backed off. “Lot of marks on that,” he said cautiously.
“Yep,” Jonas said. “You going to let me in then?”
The guard glanced at the rod again. “I think that would be best,” he said, stepping to one side and opening the gate.
“I know my way,” Jonas said, forestalling the inevitable question.
Now in an official residence he changed tack and walked confidently and upright through the gate and through the yard towards the main door. Two guards stood either side of it.
Jonas had hoped to do this largely under the radar but having already shown his credentials to the guard outside, there was nothing to gain by trying to play this quietly anymore.
“Official business,” he said, holding the rod up as he approached.
“What sort of business? No one gets taken from this building without the Magistrate’s say-so,” the guard on the left said.
Jonas smiled. “Perhaps I should have made that a bit clearer. Administrative business.”
“You’re a bit early for that. Day’s not started yet.”
“I’ve seen the Magistrate before. He’s an early riser and I have things to do today.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
Jonas sighed again and held the rod out for inspection. Both guards looked curiously.
“Ah,” the one on the right said, stepped back and rang a bell. After a moment the door opened and a small thin man emerged.
“Yes?” he said.
“Gentleman to see the Magistrate. Urgent business,” the guard said, stressing the ‘urgent’.
“I see. This way,” the small man said, waving to Jonas and then down the corridor beyond the door.
Jonas crossed the threshold, noticing as he did that the guard who had rung the bell stepped back slightly. This is getting too noisy he thought ruefully to himself. The small man shut the door behind them and led him through a series of corridors to an office.
“Wait here,” he said before knocking on the door.
“Come in,” a tired sounding voice said from the other side.
The small man entered. Jonas stepped over and listened carefully at the door.
“Man to see you. Urgent business,” Jonas heard the small man say, once again stressing the ‘urgent’. It was probably their code word in this part of the world. He’d been here before but it was a long time ago and he struggled to remember. He was on alert anyway. Hearing movement on the other side of the door, he stepped back.
“He’ll see you now,” the small man said, emerging.
“Thank you,” Jonas said before entering the room.
The office was a mess of paperwork and a tall, tired looking man sat behind the desk. The man watched him as he entered.
“I know you’re not local as my guards didn’t recognise you, but you know my habits and you look vaguely familiar. Do I know you?” the Magistrate said.
“Passed through a few times on business a number of years ago,” Jonas said evasively.
“Ah. And you’re here on business now?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Please elaborate. It’s rare for people to come to see me at this time of day. Without an appointment, anyway.”
“I have an apprentice.”
“And?”
“She’s ready.”
“This couldn’t have waited until later?”
“I’m an early riser with a busy day ahead.”
“Indeed. So let’s assume for a moment I have the time to deal with this ahead of my other business. Did you bring her for testing or do you have the testimony of three other hunters? I’m suspicious as you seem to have come alone.”
“I say she’s ready.”
“That’s not how this works.”
Jonas drew out his symbol of office, the rod he had shown to the guards outside, and placed it on the desk.
The Magistrate examined it carefully, noting the extensive variety of markings. “Oh. I see you are, ah, should I say, ‘qualified’. Surprised to see someone of your ‘qualifications’ in the field though.”
“I creak a bit, but I like to get out.”
“Indeed. So your apprentice. She’s ready?”
“She is.”
“It’ll take a while to get the rod sorted. It’s been some time since anyone has requested this here.”
“I can wait,” Jonas said, sitting and settling himself into the chair opposite.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
“You’re not going away until this is done, are you?”
“No.”
“What makes you think I have any of these available to hand over?”
“You’re required to by law.”
The Magistrate laughed. “You’re going to quote the book after bullying me into arranging this?”
“Yes.” Jonas’s tone was calm but his eyes were serious.
The Magistrate’s humour evaporated. “There might be a blank in the armoury I suppose.”
“I hope not. I hope it is locked away somewhere safe. We can’t have people abusing these things.”
The Magistrate pointedly raised an eyebrow. Jonas shrugged.
“How did you know I had one here?” the Magistrate said.
“Like I said, you’re required to. And as I said, I’ve been through here before. I know you’re familiar with the rules.”
“I suppose asking you to look away w
hilst I retrieve it is pointless?”
“Not at all. I’ll even wait outside,” Jonas said, retrieving his bar and tucking it away.
“What’s her name?”
“Alia.”
“I need more than that.”
“Use the surname ‘Hunter’,” Jonas said.
“Quaint. I still need more than that for the paperwork since I’m not meeting her.”
Jonas gave him a quick description.
“And this is officially on your authority?” the Magistrate said.
“If it needs to be,” Jonas said, standing and looming slightly.
“I’ll make a note that someone of your ‘grade’ authorised it then. Wait outside and I’ll be with you in a few minutes. Please send in my assistant if he’s still out there.”
Jonas nodded and left the room. He noticed the small man waiting calmly outside.
“He wants you,” Jonas said.
“Take a seat over there,” the small man said as he moved towards the door.
“Listening at doors is a bad habit and will get you into trouble,” Jonas said.
The small man ignored him and entered the office, closing the door behind him.
Jonas sat and mused on how things had gone. Not well, really. He should have planned this better but it had been a bit of a spur of the moment thing. Instead of quiet and anonymous, he’d had to exercise his authority and he didn’t like doing that as it drew attention, something they had been looking to avoid. Still, he’d managed to avoid identifying himself personally, the Magistrate hadn’t recognised him as far as he could tell and there were a number of hunters at his level. And this magistrate had a reputation for being discrete, the main reason he’d come to see him personally.
All the same, he listened carefully for trouble.
The small man emerged a few minutes later carrying a sheaf of papers. He motioned to Jonas to enter the office again before disappearing off down the corridor.
The Magistrate was standing, holding a sheet of paper and a narrow leather bag when he entered. He walked over and handed them to Jonas. “Careful, the ink is still wet,” he said.
Jonas took them both carefully. He opened the bag and drew out the rod. There was one small circle around it near the top and the imperial seal stamped into one side. He nodded.
Dark Healer (An Empire Falls Book 1) Page 33