“You sure? Even if the world depended on it?”
“Well, if the world ends anytime soon, then you know what I chose.”
“Ha! Can’t blame a lonesome soul for trying.” Standing up and moving over to the bed, he asked, “What’s your name, honey?”
“Mercer.”
“I’m Yamin.”
“Not Yemy?”
“That’s what little Shifo calls me. You can call me that, too, if you like.”
“So, Yamin, any big puller come to mind yet?”
He fell backward on the bed, sprawling himself out and making a bed angel on the sheets. A minute later, he sat up and asked, “How seriously will you treat my recommendation? No offense, but you seem a little young to carry any real weight.”
“It’s not about my weight, but the weight of the names you give me. Eudon will consider all options before making his choice.”
“Er, Eudon? As in King Eudon of Alslana?”
“Former king, but yes.”
“You’re on a speaking basis with a king? He’s here?”
“On a ship, yes. He’s come to oversee the mission that will see his wife avenged.”
“Hmm, but not your queen? You’re not of Alslana, are you?”
“No. Etoc.”
“So how does someone from Etoc get on speaking terms with an Alslana king?”
“The Advent have been a part of my life even before I can remember. That path has led each of us here. You might even say he wouldn’t be here without me.”
“Then my words can really influence a king, huh?”
“There’s a chance.”
“All right, my first and only submission is Myron Kosenko.”
“Who’s he?”
“You said your friends are here with you, right? Getting names? Well, a name they’ll surely hear is Ludomir Kosenko. His father or grandfather, I forget which, discovered a little vlimphite mine and used the coin from that to take over neighboring silver mines. The family has bought influence in every quarter of Kaspista ever since. Few have the connections he has.”
“And Myron is Ludomir’s brother? Son?”
“Son.”
“So why sidestep the father? Is he ailing?”
“Strong as a bull in the middle of mating season. Unfortunately, he’s as apt to anger as that bull. His eldest son, however, is workable.”
“Friend of yours?”
“I’ve met him but a few times, but I’m a wonderful judge of character, so I can tell he isn’t vicious for the sake of it. The chap is also deeply in love with my madam’s daughter, but Ludomir fancies himself a well-bred noble and has forbidden him from ever seeing her. Of course, young love holds no bounds and the two paramours have forged opportunities to become one a few hours at a time.”
I fiddled with the dragon stones in my pockets a moment, squeezing them when I said, “Unless you expect an imminent heart attack to do the job, you’re asking for us to assassinate Ludomir. Not exactly the simplest or cleanest option we’re looking for.”
“Clean, no, but simple, yes. Talk to Myron, convince him that he’ll gain the backing of Alslana coin, and I expect he’ll kill his father himself. Even if he doesn’t, he’ll certainly set it up for you.”
“You’re that certain he wants his father dead?”
He chuckled. “Everyone wants him dead, honey. Even if he didn’t forbid Myron from seeing the love of his life, there would still be enough bad family history to move the knife. The only obstacle keeping Myron from doing anything now is yellow-bellied youth. The lad is not eighteen yet, and Ludomir might still be too big and scary in his eyes. Give him the support he needs and he’ll remove the difficulties for you. You can then get his father’s connections and a grateful ally. Ludomir might be the quicker choice, but he’s certainly not the safest. He might take your coin and do nothing to guarantee your safety.”
“Everyone will figure out Alslana assassinated Ludomir as soon as the coin is transferred over to his son. The consequences of-”
“Consequences! It’s more likely everyone will join your army than attack it if it meant Ludomir’s demise. He has his bloody hands in everyone’s business. Most think he had a hand in the regent’s death and tried to put up a puppet regime through the mercenary captain. Even if it isn’t true, who cares? The fact the captain was killed tells me people hated the mere idea enough to resist it. The underworld definitely wants him gone as well, and my madam adores any chance to get a pair of hands off her profits. Maybe everything will still be shit, but no one would blame Alslana for trying. Besides, with assassinations being as eventful as a dead strumpet, no one would bat an eye.”
I relaxed my hands. “Let’s say my sea legs are inclined to doing some leg work today, how would I get in touch with Myron?”
Yamin hopped off the bed and squatted down, pulling out a small crate. Lifting its lid revealed bottles of red and white wine. Pulling out a white bottle, he said, “My personal stash. Can’t talk about political espionage without a good drink. Want a glass?”
“No, thanks.”
Under the little window was a small cupboard he removed a glass from. After a big sip, he said, “Myron jumps around town, but if anyone knows where he’ll be, it’s Galina. Her life revolves around a little inn her father manages just west of here. She’s either sleeping or still up with her brother and friends. She’s skinny as a cat’s whisker, but pretty and often wears a green scarf. Her friends might act like lechers around her, but it’s mostly an act to keep other men from trying anything.”
“What’s the inn’s name?”
“Ut Kila Mec’tis. I never asked what it meant, or I was too smashed to remember the answer. Something, something octopus, I think. Galina’s a doll, but she’s a daddy’s girl, so I wouldn’t allude to her mother or her profession.”
I reached deeper in my pockets and pulled out one gold and one silver standard. “For your time and the name. If it so happens that Ludomir dies between now and tomorrow, then I’ll return to give you more.”
“That’s all well and good, just be sure not to mention my name to anyone in case things don’t go as planned.”
“Depends how badly things go for me.”
“Good luck to you, then. I’ll be on my twinkle toes.”
I went downstairs and left a written message to the old women behind the counter.
The world outside was by now getting a good taste of dawn, particularly with the sky clearing up. However, the eastern highlands would keep the sun itself hidden awhile longer. I searched a few minutes for the inn, finding the two story structure surrounded by abandoned homes not far from the docks.
A handful of patrons were sitting inside, silently eating their mucky breakfast. The only bright spot in the space was the big fireplace to my left that looked too big to be safe. In the corner to my right sat three people—two boys and a thin girl with a green scarf over the bottom half of her face. She sat on the lap of a half-asleep youth as she spoke to the more awake fellow. Right on the table lay two big knives meant to cut more than just dead meat.
Preferring to be blunt, I walked right up to them and sat on a free seat by their table.
“Hey,” said the more roused young man, whose baby beard looked comical on his big face. “Don’t see the other fucking free tables?”
Ignoring him, I asked, “Galina, right?”
“Who the fuck wants to know?” Acting tougher than she was, she reached for the nearest knife. The first speaker moved to stand up. Breaking their attempt at intimidation was hearing the sleeper snore.
“Heard you want to see more of Myron. Maybe I can help.”
“What? Did you say Myron?”
“Aye.”
“What are you talking about? Who are you?”
“Name’s Mercer. Looking to kill Ludomir. I was wondering if his son would like to help. Need to find him first, though.”
Except for more snoring, the trio were hushed.
Bothered about the one on h
is feet, the man behind the counter asked, “You all right there, Galina?”
“Huh? Yes! Hush up, dad, we’re busy! Sit down, Radomir!” The yelling did nothing to stir the man beneath her lap, but Radomir obeyed. Back to me, she asked, “Who are you? You’re not from here.”
“I belong to an Alslana expedition seeking to end the Advent.”
“Advent? Who are they?”
“A cult causing trouble.”
“And Ludomir is part of ‘em?”
“For all I know, but even if he’s not, I need to see if his death can get Myron in a position to help me. How soon can you get him to meet you?”
“Wait,” said Radomir. “How do we know we can trust you? How do we know you ain’t workin’ for Ludomir?”
“Well, first of all, I’m guessing he wouldn’t trust an outsider to do anything for him.”
With the scorn of a squirrel, she said, “Yeah, Rad, don’t be a fool. We can’t scare off any advantage we can take.”
“Being cautious is rarely foolish.” I pulled out a little scroll from my cloak’s inner pocket and handed it to Radomir. He unrolled it to read the official explanation of my affiliation with Alslana, which introduced me as an advisor to a ship captain. “As I was saying, can you meet with Myron anytime between now and nightfall?”
“Uh, well, it’ll have to be nightfall,” answered Galina. “To get him to meet me I normally send off a courier with a letter addressed to his head housekeeper. And since she wants to see Myron happy, she gives it to him. He can then sneak off and meet me here or wherever.”
“Then it isn’t possible to see him during the day?”
Her regret shook her head. “I don’t have a clue where he is, and his bodyguards are hired by his bastard father, so there’s no escaping them.”
“There’s no choice, then. Write and send the letter. Make it sound urgent so he’ll risk slinking off early. I’ll wait here in the meantime. And I hope this is obvious, but don’t talk about this to anyone. Not your father, not any more of your friends, not the gods you pray to. Understand?”
“Gods, yes. I’m not Radomir.”
“Good. Does your father have a bed available?”
Chapter Seven
I kept waking up from my first sleep on land. My body seemed to think stability was now the wrong state to be in. There was at least time now to readapt to life on land.
Shortly after my sixth time waking up, I decided enough miniature sleeps had accumulated to make for a decent nap, so I went back down to eat a late lunch. Sitting in her corner with her now awake companion was Galina. Radomir was gone. Alone near the fire sat Lucetta, an empty plate and a full mug in front of her. I ordered my meal and brought the piratess my company.
“Why doesn’t Lorcan ever keep an eye on me himself?”
“He knows he doesn’t have the patience or subtlety for such an important job.” A loud burp. “Your message didn’t go into much detail. What are you doing here?”
“I assume you’ve heard of Ludomir by now.”
“Aye.”
“If I can help it, I’d rather get his son in position to help us. He sounds like a safer bet to me.”
“Okay, maybe he is, but there are others we can buy off.”
“If I don’t get this done by tomorrow morning, then I’ll have Eudon choose the name and that will be that.”
“Have you met the son yet?”
“He’ll hopefully show up in a few hours.”
“How’d you even contact him?”
I jerked my head in Galina’s direction. “The great love of his life sent a secret letter to his house.”
“Ah, poetry in motion. I suppose this is more interesting than collecting names of smug pricks, so I can’t blame you for trying.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
As I ate, Lucetta called over Galina and the boy, who turned out to be her brother. They talked to pass the time, even getting up to walk around outside for a while. Radomir returned in the early evening after sleeping in his own bed. The inn became crowded with patrons seeking to warm themselves with drink and amusement. Since I had my fill of both, I stepped outside and minded my own business alongside the inn. I kept my eye out for any young man that fit Myron’s description.
Finally, minutes after the last of the sun’s rays were snuffed out by the horizon’s sneeze, a hardy brown-haired boy with a scar above his right eye sought to enter the inn. A thick brown overcoat protected him from the cold. I shadowed him inside. Confirmation he was the son of Ludomir came when a spirited Galina ran up to kiss him. Myron, not expecting her happy reaction after the distressing letter, rebuked her second kiss and forced her to sit down.
“What’s this all about?” Myron asked his lover as he sat beside her.
“Darling! We’ve been given a chance to be with each other forever! I’m sorry for sending such an upsetting letter, but I needed to bring you now or never. Here, this is Mercer and his stepmother Lucetta. They’ve brought the opportunity to our front door.” Lowering her voice to a whisper, she added, “They’re working for Alslana and they want to get rid of your father.”
“Alslana?” To Lucetta, he asked, “Then you came in on those ships waiting out there?”
“Aye.”
“And you want to kill my father?”
“It’s really his idea.”
At me, Myron said, “You? Why do you want something like that?”
“From everything I’ve heard, your father has plenty of connections, connections he can use to guarantee either trouble or a safer crossing for my allies. I would like to secure the latter, something putting you at the helm of your family business should accomplish. Before anything can happen, however, I need to know if you’re on board. If not, then Alslana’s coin will go to your father or someone else.”
“Coin? What coin?”
“People don’t normally agree to protect strangers without a little coin involved. Alslana has more than a little coin to give.”
His lover’s face brightened at hearing about the coin, but Myron’s converted to a dumbstruck befuddlement. “I don’t… Why does Alslana even care about giving coin to anyone here?”
“We’re after a dangerous cult, and we have reason to believe they’re hiding in your mountains. We need to get to those mountains, hence the protection through a land ruled by bandits and the desperate. Tomorrow afternoon will decide who gets the coin. I’ll recommend you for the coin if Ludomir is dead by then.”
Galina wanted to shriek her excitement. Myron also wanted to shriek out something, but I could tell it wasn’t excitement.
“Hear that, Myron?” said Galina. “By tomorrow night we could be in a bed together at your house! And Alslana will give you the coin to buy off whoever we want! Kaspista, no, all of Uthosis can be ours someday. Mercer, what does he have to do?”
“Gods! Shut up, Galina! He’s not your father!”
Myron shot up from his chair and stormed toward the door. Seeing as Galina was too stunned to follow or say anything to stop him, I got up myself.
“Keep them here,” I told Lucetta.
Myron reached the other side of the narrow street by the time I intercepted him.
Putting a hand on his shoulder, I said, “My friend will keep Galina away, so take a minute to calm yourself down.” He stopped, but pulled his shoulder away from my hand. He did take a long moment to compose his thoughts and sentiments. When he was ready, he said, “Everyone’s always been so quick to kill my father. Been hearing it all my life from his enemies, Galina, even my own mother.”
“You live in a place where everyone seems to have their minds on killing somebody else, so I doubt what you’re feeling is all that special here.”
“Special? Not a word that belongs here.”
“Do you love your father?”
He looked away. “I’m not blind to the kind of man he is. He beats my little brother and mother. I remember him beating me, but yeah, I still do love some part of him. Can’t h
elp it. Showed me how to hunt, to fight. Gave me whatever I wanted if I satisfied his expectations. Only Galina has ever been forbidden from me.”
“Tell me, what would he do with Alslana coin?”
“What he does now, only on a larger scale. He already orders killings like he orders a drink…” He shook his head. “I was about to ask to just give your coin to somebody else, but that somebody else will do the same type of purging.”
“And they’ll want to be rid of Ludomir, putting him in danger.”
“And my entire family. No way will they risk sparing someone who’ll want revenge… Fuck! I can see why no one likes new faces here.”
“Listen, I won’t and can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do. Ideally, this is a plan I would have nurtured slowly and carefully, but there’s no time for tact on my side. And unlike your beloved, I take no joy planning something like this. I prefer fighting in the heat of battle, not stab someone in the back… I’ll be waiting in the inn if you want to talk more.”
I strode halfway back to the inn when Myron said, “Wait. Galina will just upset me again if I hear her treat this so flippantly. Wh… What do you need of me? You don’t expect me to bring down the knife myself, do you?”
“Not anymore. Now I need to know how I can reach Ludomir without bringing an army with me. Where is he now?”
“Home. Not even he will risk walking through town at nightfall without a pressing reason.”
“Then he needs to be lured out with a pressing reason. What has forced him out before?”
“Part of the house caught fire a year ago. That’s the last one I remember.”
“What if he discovered you were seeing Galina?”
“He’d be pissed, but there’s a high chance he would just send his men after us, not come himself.”
“All right. What if he thinks you’re in danger?”
“Um, I suppose that might work. What kind of danger?”
“He has many enemies, does he not? We can say you were captured by one. In fact, we can say both you and Galina were captured. It will sound more realistic if he thinks you were taken while seeing her. We could even say she died in the scuffle and put him in a better mood.”
Flight of the Dragon Knight (The Dragon Knight Series Book 3) Page 8