The Last King's Amulet pof-1

by Chris Northern

  Was there any justice in his alleged cause? How do you prove what ought to be, how do you know what ought to be, and how do you reconcile it with what is? What is is. The fact ignores your protestations. The cry 'things ought to be different' was meaningless even if you knew, or believed you knew, what ought to be. But how did you justify it and reconcile it to what is? Slavery was part of reality, in one form or another. People ought to be free, one might cry, but what people? Habitual criminals preying on other people's work? Murderers? Pederasts? Well, no not them! Then who? Only those who deserved freedom? And who are they and how do you tell and test? And who tests and how do you keep them honest? And even if honest, what if you think differently? The city was a state with arbitrary rules and justifications, but all states were just as arbitrary; 'this god said this family should rule as they see fit.' What kind of justification was that?

  I sighed, shelved the problem for another time. The water was cooling rapidly now and I needed to get clean. My body felt better for the soak but would soon feel worse for the cold.

  Slowly and with care I cleaned myself as meticulously as I could, washed my hair, shaved. The towel was small and only just man enough for the job. The clothes were common, cheap in fact, but serviceable. Warm once on. With my hair dry and the tub cleaned, I went back to face my fellows.

  I was ready for a drink.

  73

  “I have made the garden safe.”

  Jocasta was responding to Meran's news that the barbarians were performing door to door searches, methodically working their way through the town..

  “Do I need to say I told you so?” I said.

  We were seated around the kitchen table. Meran was busy at the stove, cooking the chicken he had bought and making a sauce that he knew I liked. He had stripped off his armor, his sword was propped against the door. He tried to seem relaxed but I could see the tension in him. We were far from safe here. Sapphire had unbent enough to take a seat. Dubaku had not moved so far as I knew.

  No one responded so I sipped beer and kept my own counsel. I just wanted her and that large stone away from here. Her skill and the stone's power were a far greater threat than the rest of them, and I had made that clear.

  Meran leaned against the wall by the stove, watching the vegetables boil disinterestedly. “I think we should get out of here.”

  “The damage is done, let them have what they have for now, not risk them gaining what they have not. Far as I can see it's only how and when,” I said.

  “I can make a ring of fire thirty yards across and walk out,” Jocasta grumped.

  “There are something like eight thousand men outside Undralt, their camp is bigger than the town. Plus those inside. Do you suspect none of them have bows?” I was being reasonable.

  “I can protect us against missile fire,” she was angry. I think she was angry at the enemy, but she was looking at me so I wasn't too sure.

  “And magic? For the two hundred miles to Neerthan? Assuming Orthand's army is still there or even exists. It is only me that has the problem. You and Sapphire walked in here disguised, Meran came as a barbarian among his own. No offense, Meran.”

  “None taken. If the battlefield had been less chaotic I would have died with the rest. Only luck that a cloak and a change of weapons was enough to change sides. They took me for one of them, as I once was. But if I am seen in your company, no such disguise will save me, I think.”

  He had already explained that when the end came the chaos had left every surviving individual fighting alone. He had lost sight of me long since, the press of the enemy parting us as we were pushed back into a smaller and smaller circle. He had been knocked to the ground and came up with a cloak in his hand, turning and shouting in his own tongue. Blind luck had saved him. No one had noticed. They saw a city man fall and a barbarian rise. Luck can be fickle.

  I nodded. “And Dubaku can be shielded by his ancestors from being seen. I am the problem here, and I need a way out as soon as we can think of one. Now would be a good time.” I glanced out the dirty window at the overcast afternoon.

  “It won't be as easy getting out as in,” Sapphire said.

  “But no problem for you?”

  He shrugged. “I passed in and out many times, and have many routes. But now they are on guard. Men died. They will be angry, wary, and looking for someone to hurt. Alone, I'm confident, but in company? Not so much.”

  “Jocasta?”

  “Illusion. Getting through the gates is no problem for me. Or I could blind anyone in sight and we could all walk through the gates together.”

  “Doing it without being noticed might be better. An illusion, then. Good idea.”

  She nodded. “I can maintain one, and have. Poverty, they more or less ignore the poor.”

  “Nothing to take,” Meran chipped in. “They are after loot and personal gain, nothing more. The town is bare of loot so only people arriving have been of interest, till now. People coming to the town to petition the new rulers, get on side with them, denounce us, the usual thing.”

  “And they are looking for one man alone. Me. We only need a solution for me.” I had been drinking slowly but steadily, I knew I wasn't sober but I knew I wasn't drunk either. A dangerous stage to be at. “I don't believe we are still here, why didn't we leave last night?”

  “You couldn't walk,” Meran reminded me.

  I flushed. “Oh. Yes.”

  “It is what we planned. The fog was unexpected, assumed to be natural. No one was much on guard against us. If you could have walked quietly it would have been worth a try,” Meran finished.

  “It would have been fairly easy. Just take down anyone who stumbled upon us in the fog or got in our way, and then out through a postern gate. I have picks. It's an exit I have used.” Sapphire continued. “But having you…”

  “I get the idea. Sorry to have ruined your carefully laid plans. I agree that they will be unlikely to be off guard a second time, or so readily fooled by a sudden fog. That doesn't help now though, does it? Fully exploring how I messed it up isn't moving things forward is it? I was very drunk, I know. I might have been able to be less drunk had I been warned of your imminent arrival but I had no clue.” No one said anything as I took a long pull on my beer. “I'm sorry. I am very grateful that you got me out of there. Now I need to get me out of here.”

  “In the morning,” Jocasta said dryly.

  I glared at her, then the beer in my fist. “I'm not drunk yet. Not that drunk anyway.”

  “Eat,” Meran was pulling the chicken from the oven. “There is time. I know their schedule. They will hit this area in an hour or so.”

  “Right,” I agreed. “Then we hide; come out to play later. You are sure they can't find the garden?”

  She shook her head. “They will find it, they just won't find us in it. Trust me.”

  The building we were in was two deserted flats next to an empty warehouse. The walled garden connected the two and the whole stood alone, surrounded by two roads and two alleyways.

  “Then you can all go,” I told them, “as soon as we think of a good way for me to get out, I mean. We'll meet up once outside.”

  Actually I had no intention of going anywhere. I was going to do my enemy as much damage as I could. I wanted Jocasta away from here, for her own safety, but also because her knowledge and the stone she carried were a threat to the city. I did not want to think about what they would do to her to break her will, or try and guess how quickly they would do it. I would be happier if she were escorted, and the perfect escort was available, so use it. Get them out of here, then make a mess, slowly but surely.

  “Once outside, what?” Meran asked.

  “Home,” Jocasta said at exactly the same time I said, “North.”

  “Why north?” She snapped.

  Damn. They could go home if they wanted but when I was done here, I was going north. “Well; two good reasons. One, anyone they want will head south. Any noble refugees will head south. If they are sea
rching for me they will search that way. Two, I have a duty in the north.” I had not forgotten. Tahal Samant was a captive in the Eyrie. Awaiting the head of the Ensibi king as ransom, or probably some other task now that that was either redundant or achieved by other means. I would see it done because I had said I would and for no other reason. But first things first, first take down my enemy here. The men who had tortured me. Who had almost broken me.

  “Tahal Samant,” Jocasta was on it in a flash. “Don't be a damn fool Sumto. You were with an army then, there was a chance. Alone? Forget it and go home. With us.”

  “There is nothing to go home for.”

  “What?” She looked genuinely puzzled and I wondered at her lack of political astuteness.

  “Tul and I were in joint control of an army that has been destroyed; the last minute change of plan was mine, it seemed like too good an opportunity to miss.” I held up my hand as she looked as though she wanted to interrupt. “I will be prosecuted for raising troops without authority. A fine or exile. No one would ever follow me again, loan money to me in the expectation that I will win battles and have the money to pay them back with interest. I had my shot and I blew it.” I raised my beer. “Here's to fortune.”

  “So you are going to throw your life away on a futile gesture? And ours?”

  “No one has to come with me.” No one would, I would make sure of that. “And it is not futile. My only hope is an act of outrageous courage that succeeds and directly benefits all of the city. The award for such an act comes with immunity to prosecution, and money.”

  Sapphire was frowning thoughtfully to himself. “What act would benefit the city entire?”

  “The removal of the threat to the city.”

  “The enemy is here.”

  “The enemy is in the north.” But Kukran Epthel was here and I planned to kill him before I left. I didn't know how, yet. But I would get it done and make sure I had witnesses. I had natural allies. Everyone in this town who was not from the north. And I had a stone, and some magical ability although quite limited in extent. I would find a way.

  Meran put plates on the table. Chicken, potatoes, vegetables. Way more than I could possibly eat. More than I even wanted to look at, in fact. Still, I tried.

  “You think this Kukran is one of many? Not the leader but a lieutenant?” Sapphire said.

  “Nothing exists in a vacuum. He came from the north, how can it be that he was alone there? There are more like him. If not here then there.”

  “And how will you achieve this, with just us?” Jocasta wanted to know.

  “They will have enemies, these Necromancers. The enemy of my enemy and all that. I'll find a way.”

  “What will you offer your potential allies to gain their aid?”

  “An alliance, exactly that, trade agreements, whatever it takes. I am a patron of the city, and if I succeed I will be in a position to make good on my promises, and if I fail I will be dead. Your sister's betrothed must have learned something in his time among them, for make no mistake they are the ones behind this rising, and everything he has learned will help me. That is what I am going to do, alone if need be.”

  “You won't be alone,” Sapphire said without inflection.

  “Jerek must have a champion. I will help you,” Dubaku said.

  “I'm in,” Meran announced.

  Jocasta seemed to consider the matter for a moment. “You are crazy. But you are right, it is the only thing you can do. I'll go with you and help make it possible for you to do this.”

  “Then it's settled,” I lied with an easy smile, and raised my glass to it.

  74

  There comes a point in every one's life when they realize they are stupid. It's a bitter and crushing realization, but unavoidable.

  We had been in no hurry, eaten at leisure and made our way down to the garden in good time; the bangs, shouts and crashes of doors being kicked open still in the distance and no immediate threat.

  The garden was perhaps thirty yards by forty, the wall seven feet or so high. There was a gate that would lead onto an alley and a way through from the bottom of the two flats, through the kitchen; in fact, half the kitchen was outside.

  “Hold hands and follow me,” Jocasta said.

  We formed a line and followed as she walked through the beds of flowers, almost everywhere some were in bloom. Her hand was cool in mine, small and delicate, the stone warm by contrast. Both felt good. There were apple and cherry trees, a vegetable patch and at the far end of the garden a wicker screen covered in clematis, behind which was the usual garden paraphernalia of earth, tools, pots and seeds. Once there Jocasta let go of my hand, a little reluctantly I thought. Wishful thinking, maybe. Still she had traveled five hundred miles for me, stolen from her family, risked her life and ruined her reputation. Well, she couldn't feel nothing for me, could she? Even I'm not that dumb. It was a new thought and I drunkenly puzzled it out. She had nothing to go back for either. Her reputation was shot. No patron would wed her. Her family might disown her to save their own reputations. It wasn't nothing. Not by any means.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “We wait,” she hissed, “quietly.”

  It wasn't what I had meant but I let it go, for now. Sometimes, I decided, it was better to say nothing. She must know that she was as barred from going home as I was, and it struck me that she had not fought very hard against the idea of going north. I looked around for something to sit on and found a pile of sacks of compost. When she gave me a disapproving look I shrugged and raised an eyebrow. Might as well be comfortable, I tried to convey. Dubaku squatted, feet flat on the ground, leaning forward. To me it looked intensely uncomfortable but he seemed happy enough. Sapphire stood stock still. Meran leaned against the wall. After a while, Jocasta shooed me up a bit and I made room for her. I was intensely aware of her hip against mine. She wore thin trousers that put just two thin layers of cloth between me and her soft thigh. Her arm touched mine, shoulder just under mine. She wore a shirt and jacket. Man clothes but I found them enchanting. I could smell her, her hair seemingly just under my nose.

  “You smell nice,” I whispered.

  She turned slightly and glared up at me and breathed a word of advice. “Shush, stupid.”

  Not exactly the words of endearment my fuzzy brain was hoping for. Still, she did blush a bit, though after I nodded she looked away.

  The sounds of the search got closer. We waited, tense. At least I was tense. Everyone else seemed completely at ease. After a time we heard them in the streets about us, at our door, inside the flats. A head peered out a window at us and disappeared. A minute later a barbarian wandered into the garden, looked around aimlessly for a bit and left. A minute later another did the same. Then the search moved on.

  I didn't move. Jocasta was still close, I whispered to her. “Is that it?”

  “Wait,” she whispered back, just loud enough for all of us. “Just in case.”

  Everything had gone quiet. I didn't like it. I caught Sapphire looking at me and met his gaze squarely. He didn't like it either. The search had stopped. Why?

  We waited, tense, doubtful, uneasy. You only stop searching when you have found what you are looking for. I was just about to say so when Ferrian sauntered out into the garden. Behind him were two barbarian guards, just as Gatren always had with him. Big, cruel looking men who had seen a good deal of casual violence in their time, perpetrating most of it. He stopped and looked about the garden frowning. Then walked forward, wandered around aimlessly, not even coming close to us, and stopped facing his two guards. “What happened?” he asked.

  They told him.

  “Nice maze, Sumto,” he said turning around and facing us again.

  My blood was running cold in my veins and my breath seemed as shallow as a film of water on glass. He knew I was here. How did he know I was here?

  “There are soldiers in all four streets. And beyond. There is nowhere to go. You might as well come out. You and your friend, whoev
er he is.”

  Friend, only one friend, but still he knew I wasn't alone. How did he know I wasn't alone? We'd left no sign in the flat, just in case. How did he know I was here?

  “Well, you can't stay there forever,” he grinned, “you'll get thirsty. Ready for a drink? I have a nice wine with me. Well, it's a filthy wine actually but I expect your palate is a bit dulled by now.”

  I wasn't paying attention, I was thinking, looking around for escape, knowing there was none. How did he know? And it was then that I realized I was stupid. It was a disappointment to me. My heart sank a little more as I held up the stone I wore around my neck. 'I harmonized them, so I could find you,' Jocasta had said. I had assumed she meant she had attuned this stone to the one she had sent me. But she hadn't, I knew. She had attuned this stone to mine when she had come with her sister to ask for my aid. I remembered the almost invisible flash, now. And Ferrian now had my ring. And I had this. And now Ferrian had me. I looked at my companions one at a time. They all looked at me. They all had the same tense worried expression, except for Dubaku, who expressed nothing on his face or in his eyes. And Sapphire, who was frowning slightly at me in an irritated sort of way as though it were all my fault, which it was. And Jocasta, whose mouth was open in an oh, her eyes wide with fear as she shook her head, her hand on my arm.

  She held up the stone she wielded, her expression mutating into one of grim determination. I gripped both stone and hand in my fist and shook my head. No. “There will be too many.” I had to come close to her ear, my lips brushing her earlobe, my cheek brushing hers, the scent of her hair in my nostrils. I whispered quickly. “If you are free you can act to free me again. If dead, you are dead. If taken we are lost. Stay free. I'll go.” I stood up. She clutched my arm, desperately I thought. Gently I pulled her hand away and moved before I could change my mind.

  Meran made to follow me but, to my surprise, Sapphire gripped his arm and pulled him back hard. I didn't see the rest, I didn't dare stop moving lest I lose all control. Fear, it's too short a word. Too easy to say. I was trembling with it. I knew what I was letting myself in for. Still, I held myself still, walking steadily down one narrow path of the garden toward the man who had become my bitter enemy and whom I would surely kill one day. I caught a glimpse of movement and turned my head slightly. Sapphire was walking another narrow path and there were some pretty pale blue flowers on a bush between us. It's one of those strange contrasting images that will stay with you for a lifetime – the man I had seen murder another man, my eyes locked to his as he twisted the knife into the man's kidney, now seen through a haze of delicate blue flowers as he walked calmly to sacrifice himself for me. And I had no doubt he knew exactly what he was letting himself in for.