by Sam Hawke
I dove for it and hurled myself up with all the remaining strength in my good arm. My hand hit something solid—a metal hatch above me. Pressing my body tight against the rungs I shoved it open and scrambled up through heavy blankets into a paved room, panting. Relief flooded me as the dim light revealed furniture, baskets: the ordinary contents of a cellar. I hurried up the stairs and out of the house into the same residential district I’d begun from. Staggering across the street, I took cover in the narrow space between two houses, waiting for my pursuer to emerge.
He never did. I waited until the sweat soaking my face and neck turned icy in the breeze and I could no longer ignore the fiery wetness spreading across my shoulder. Whoever had chased me would not come above ground, it seemed. And this time, nothing in the world could have convinced me to do anything other than the sensible, logical thing. So I limped off, bleeding and dizzy, to find Tain.
Rabutin
DESCRIPTION: Woody shrub producing clumps of yellow flowers. Green parts of plant, flowers, twigs, sap, and pollen are all toxic if ingested or smoke from burned branches is inhaled. Handling of leaves and sap causes skin irritation.
SYMPTOMS: Include excessive swallowing and salivation, frequent defecation, eye watering or blurred vision, cardiac distress, seizures, death.
PROOFING CUES: Strong, astringent, woody taste, earthy smell in the fumes.
10
Kalina
All signs of the rain had gone. We worked in silence, or close to it; too much activity above the tunnelers and they might realize we had detected them. Eliska and a group of her engineers stood a short distance away. They pored over drawings and calculations, talking and gesturing as they tried to refine their estimations of the path of the tunnel and its likely exit point. Tain and Marco strategized about the best way to handle the situation—collapse the tunnel, wait to see what the rebels used it for, try to capture the tunnelers to question them … and beside me, Jov sat, clearly only half-listening.
My brother seemed far more shaken than his discovery warranted; I could see he had left something out of his hurriedly relayed story. There had been no chance to speak privately, and whatever had happened, Jov obviously didn’t want to disclose it in front of other Councilors.
“It all depends what they’re planning to do with it,” Tain was saying. “What do you think, Jov? You’ve been quiet.”
The Chancellor—strange, how easy it was now to think of him that way—laid a hand on Jov’s good shoulder and peered at him, concern wrinkling his brow. “Shit, I’m sorry,” he said, and suddenly he was our friend again. “You should get some rest.”
Jov shook his head, stubborn.
“At least sit,” I urged, and that much he was willing to comply with. I sat cross-legged with him next to the rough diagram Marco had drawn in the dirt, while the Warrior-Guilder indicated various points in the wall with a long stick.
“Here, and here,” Marco said, pointing to long sections of the old city walls. “Strip our defenses right back on these less vulnerable sections. We can use Credo Jovan’s cloth sentries to keep up appearances. If we keep normal movement on these sections”—here he traced along the northwest wall, where the army was most concentrated—“they should not be aware that we have detected their tunnel.
“We position a force inside the caverns, as near as possible to where the Stone-Guilder’s engineers predict the tunnel will reach. If the rebels attempt to use the tunnel for a nighttime attack, we will be ready to box them in, or collapse the tunnel on top of them.”
“I don’t think that’ll be possible,” Eliska interjected. “Not unless we have far more time to prepare. We know where they’re digging right now, but it will take much more investigation to determine the layout of the existing tunnel.”
“Can we send scouts out to figure out where the tunnel begins?” one of the engineers asked.
A pause. We still hadn’t let the public know what had happened to our last messengers, both because of the gruesome nature of their deaths and because we wanted there to remain hope that the army would soon come to rescue us. Jov’s hand found mine in the shadows, and I knew we were sharing that terrible memory. Though I had only seen the six heads carefully and respectfully wrapped at the private burial, somehow those cloth-bound shapes were as dreadful as the bloody images I invented in my dreams.
“No. Too risky for the scout,” Tain said. The jut of his chin and the defensive look exchanged with Marco and Jov told me they had again been arguing about attempting to send out new messengers; despite the others’ urging, Tain had refused to risk anyone else being slaughtered so brutally. “It’ll be some hummock or patch of rocks hiding the entrance, and they’re shifting men and dirt overnight when we can’t see.” He studied the crude dirt map for a moment, then looked up at the distant wall, chewing his lip. “It’d take too long to build anything big enough to get a sizeable force through into the city without detection. If I were them, I’d use it to sneak small groups in, infiltrate our defenses, then open one of the gates at an agreed-upon time.”
Marco nodded. “That is what I would do, also. We would have no way of distinguishing between the rebels and our own people.”
“If they know about the caves, they might also try to move a force inside the caverns and hide them there,” I said. “Then they could attack from both fronts.” It would be impossible to defend against the army pouring in through a gate and rising from below our feet.
“Or the tunnel could be designed to be destroyed,” Eliska said. “They might be digging with the intention of collapsing the tunnel below a section of the wall. If the ground beneath a section were destabilized, the wall above could crumple.”
“So what do we do?” Tain asked.
The Warrior-Guilder rubbed his head, frowning. “Intercept the diggers, collapse the tunnel outside the wall. That would stop the rebels from using it to gain access to the city or weakening the wall. Then be vigilant about monitoring for other tunnels, in case they try again.”
Jov’s keen observation of the rippling puddle gave me an idea. “What if we put big containers of water at intervals around the wall as a warning system? It’d be easier to detect digging if we can see it.”
Marco nodded, his usually solemn face granting me an approving smile. “Excellent idea, Credola. I will ensure this is done and monitored in every sector.”
“But if we intercept them now, we lose any chance of using this against them.” Tain paced around the diagram. “There must be some way of using this information, giving ourselves the advantage for once.”
Everyone fell silent. Jov and I had been raised to expect and prevent attacks on the Chancellor’s family, but we had never prepared for a disaster like this. Our expertise was defending attacks from the shadows. Open warfare had never featured as a scenario in our training.
“I mean no disrespect, Marco, but honor-down, I wish Aven were here,” Tain said, shaking his head in frustration. Though the longing in his tone still rankled, I couldn’t help but agree for once. She might be crude and unsubtle, but the Warrior-Guilder’s military mind would be invaluable, not to mention the thousand-strong army she commanded. And after dealing for weeks with polite evasiveness and condescension disguised as assistance from most of our peers, I better appreciated the appeal of her directness.
Marco appeared to take no offense. “I am a poor substitute,” he said. “I too wish for our commander. She would know what to do.”
Eliska cleared her throat. “For now, let’s try to get a clearer idea of where that tunnel might end up. Once we know, we can at least prepare for anyone who comes through, whether that means engaging or tracking them if they attempt to hide in the city. With Credo Jovan’s assistance, I’d like to take some of my engineers into these underground caverns to identify the best interception point.”
Jov stiffened beside me and I again wondered what he wasn’t telling us. This wasn’t the first time he had withheld information from me, but it was rarely so ob
vious. “We don’t know who or what is down there. Marco, perhaps you’d come with us?” We took several lamps between us, and I took Jov’s when it became obvious his injured shoulder couldn’t cope with its weight. Worried, I hovered close behind him as we moved through the secret passage and into the little opening space. Jovan led us through to an old ladder, where he had descended to the caverns, but Eliska paused, consulting her engineers and a compass.
“Not down,” Eliska said. “They’d hit rock if they tried to dig that deep.” She indicated the other passage. “This way.”
Some of the tension left my brother. Ahead, the engineers murmured to one another, touching walls and consulting their diagrams, explaining their observations to Tain and Marco. “How big is the system below?” I asked Jov.
“Huge.”
“Big enough to hide in.…” I mused. I looked back toward the cellar we’d come down through. “That house above us isn’t the only deserted one.”
He nodded. “There were signs that people might be living down there.”
“Do we need to tell the Council?”
He hesitated. “I guess? But I think it’s probably too big for us to properly monitor; if it connects to this cellar who knows how many others?”
I nodded. If the army outside could access the cave system already they’d have infiltrated the city, and most likely the siege would be over. The best thing to do was to concentrate on their tunneling activities and hope the people underground were not planning anything. “But there’s something else.”
“Yes.” He paused. “Someone was down there, someone who knew his way around. I couldn’t see him. But he had a knife, and he was following me. I don’t think he meant me well.”
“We’ve found it,” Eliska called back to us. Lit from below by the lamp, her face looked gaunt, her scraped-back hair exposing the shape of her skull and her sunken eyes lost in shadow. “Up ahead. Be silent.”
We followed her up the passage, mimicking her stealth. “Here,” she whispered, indicating a portion of the wall. “As best as we can tell, their tunnel will break through here. Listen.”
The chip chip sound crunched through the air here, much louder than before. “They’re right there,” I breathed, stepping away from the wall. Eliska nodded, then beckoned, and we followed her back down the passage.
We were back in the cellar before anyone spoke.
“They’re probably digging during the day, when the noise from the city would mask the sound, and taking the dirt out at night,” Eliska said. “They’ve dug well past the wall, so I’d guess they’re looking to get access, not to sabotage the structural integrity of the wall. Whether they intend to or not, they’re going to break into these tunnels soon—perhaps as early as tomorrow.”
“So no time for us to intercept,” Tain said. He looked at us, his indecision apparent. But we were going to have to decide, and soon.
* * *
Dark violet shadows spread across the street as we emerged from the empty house. We had waited there for what had felt like an age while Marco went off to the nearest sector to send us an Order Guard and several messengers to wait in the tunnel below to listen for further digging. Though Eliska had predicted work would cease overnight, the Guard had instructions to send the messenger immediately if there were any changes. The other messengers had been sent to alert the rest of the Council to an urgent meeting at first light.
Now we made our way through the streets, heading for the bridge. I was grateful for Eliska; the Stone-Guilder led the way with ease, where I would have struggled to find the right route. These homogenous residential areas were even harder to distinguish at night and the streets meandered and crisscrossed in a way that was totally confusing to most.
But not, apparently, to Eliska. Her straight, dark tail of hair swung against her strong back as she led us with confident steps. We walked through a residential area, out of the way of any of the main thoroughfares, far from the Builders’ Guildhall and the industry warehouses, in the dark. Yet Eliska led us back to the lake like she’d walked this route a hundred times. She wasn’t a Credola—I wondered suddenly if she’d grown up in a place more like this than the upper city. Yet of all the Guilders she seemed the least sympathetic to the rebellion, her attitude more like the Families’. Perhaps she believed that if she had built a successful lifestyle for herself despite starting with little, anyone could do so? Sometimes the least sympathetic to a plight was one who’d escaped it.
A cry sounded. Then laughter, but harsh rather than merry, came from an alley to our left. The four of us looked at each other and without speaking followed the sound, our pace quickening as a loud sob cut through the continuing jeering laughter. Jov glanced back at me, anxious, but I avoided eye contact. As we approached the alley, a dull grunting interspersed the laughs.
The sight that met us made me gasp. The grunts and cries came from a boy, perhaps in his late teens at most, with coltish long limbs and dark brown hair flopping over his face. Four men taunted him, pushing and kicking at him as they circled, predatory, driving him back toward the canal. One landed a heavy fist to the boy’s stomach; his whole body curled in on itself as he stumbled to the side, almost falling into the water.
I froze, but Tain sprang to action. “Hey!” he yelled. All four turned as he and Eliska charged toward them, Jov struggling behind awkwardly.
Radiating fury, Tain hit the nearest with a short, brutal punch to the face, spinning in time to avoid a blow from another. Eliska, with surprising viciousness, kicked that one in the knee and I winced at his scream of pain as he dropped next to his fallen companion. The last two were too quick for Jov, scurrying out of his reach, their eyes wide as they stared at Tain. They hadn’t yet noticed his tattoos, and they saw not our honored leader, but the protective, impulsive young man I had always known. Tain would never suffer a bully. All those times in our youth, when Jov had been the source of mockery and ridicule, Tain had stood up for him.
The two men left standing eyed us dubiously. It had only taken moments, but the odds were in our favor now, even if Jov was injured and I was useless, standing well back. One of the men on the ground staggered to his feet, clutching his cheek, moaning. “This isn’t your business.”
“Oh, I think it is,” Tain said. He advanced again, but the young man they’d attacked let out a gurgling sob, and Tain instead dropped to a knee beside him. “Are you all right?” he asked.
The three men took their chance and fled. Eliska half-started after them, then obviously thought better of it. My paralysis lifting, I joined Tain on the edge of the canal to help the boy sit up.
The fortunes knew how long the men’s amusement had carried on before we arrived. Swelling distorted the boy’s face, and a deep cut, perhaps only as long as a finger joint, spewed a waterfall of blood down his forehead. The bloody lines spread like a red spiderweb over his face. I asked his name, as gently as I could. He didn’t respond, but one eye, the white part shockingly bright in the mass of discolored flesh, tracked us in terrified jolts.
“We’re going to take you to the hospital, all right?” The boy slumped against Tain’s shoulder as we lifted him to his feet. His head lolled forward and his feet dragged as if he were a half-filled moppet.
“What about him?” Eliska asked, her tone harsh as she regarded the remaining man, who lay on the ground in a fetal position, sobbing and clutching his knee.
Tain looked down at him. “What was this all about?” he asked the man. “Talk quickly.”
At some point Tain’s tattoos and face must have registered because when the man spoke his tone was as deferential as it was possible to be between hiccoughs and sobs. “Honored … Chancellor … I … he was one of them, sir.…” He pointed a shaky hand to what looked like a broken pile of sticks on the ground. I scooped it up. Hard to see now that it was in pieces, but I thought perhaps it had been bunches of twigs shaped like a figure, and tied together with string. “He was going to do magic with it. Put a curse on us. Filth
y earther, we caught him bringing it to the canal, probably to poison us all.”
“He’s a Silastian citizen,” Tain said. “And half your age. Here, look, see what you did? Look at his face. Four grown men beating on a boy. You disgusting cowards.” He looked up, dismissing the man on the ground. “Let’s get him to the hospital. Tomorrow I have some things to discuss with the Council.” His jaw was set. He was angry, angrier than I’d seen him in years.
Tears and snot ran down the man’s face. “Please, Honored Chancellor,” he cried out after us as we left. “I need the hospital, too!”
Tain looked down him, his face bereft of pity. “Then start crawling.”
The man’s sobs followed us around the corner.
A few moments later Tain stopped a woman heading to her shift on the wall, carrying a piece of laminar armor and a dented conical helmet. She stared at our burden, eyes so wide her eyebrows disappeared into her hair, and nodded as Tain instructed her.
“I’ll need the man with the knee injury escorted to the hospital by someone armed, then taken to jail once he’s been tended to,” he finished. “Tell the Order Guards if he gives them the names of his friends who were with him, I’ll want them tracked down and arrested as well.”
“One might show up to the hospital with bruising or swelling to the face,” Jov put in.
Tain nodded. “We can ask the physics to keep an eye out.”
She scurried off and we continued to the hospital, where we gave the boy to the care of a bearded physic in stained robes. “Here, lad, let’s get you down here,” he said, lifting him with practiced ease onto a pallet. The physic’s face was lined and weary as he checked over his patient and glanced up at us. “Fourth one this week,” he said. “I don’t suppose you caught anyone this time?”
“What do you mean, the fourth one?” Tain asked, brow tightening.
The physic felt along the boy’s arm, probing with competent fingers. “It’s all right,” he said when the boy jumped. “We’ll get that sorted.” He cleared his throat. “The fourth Darfri patient beaten half to death,” he said, meeting Tain’s gaze, chin high. “And I’m not the only one treating them. There must have been at least a dozen more in here this week. So, since I reported to one of your Order Guards that this was happening three days ago, I assume you are doing everything you can to track down those responsible. Honored Chancellor.” The last he tacked on as an afterthought.