Drakenfeld

by Mark Charan Newton

  ‘Do you have a pick?’ I asked.

  Leana reached down to her belt and handed over a pin. ‘This do?’

  ‘I’ll see.’ The lock possessed an impressive mechanism but I pushed my fingers through the mesh of the cage and manoeuvred the pin into the key mechanism. It wouldn’t take me too long – when training for the Sun Chamber we often spent many hours working on the various types of locks found throughout Vispasia. This one was a particularly common variety, a cheap but usually effective lock, and remembering how its insides functioned it only took a few moments before there was a click.

  ‘There we go.’ Handing the pick back to Leana, I grinned and pushed the cage door open.

  As soon as we set foot outside, there was the sound of people approaching. We were on our guard as the door to a room opened, revealing two figures silhouetted by the cresset light behind. Short swords glimmered in their hands.

  ‘Stay where you are,’ they cautioned.

  Leana showed them her own weapon. ‘Two of them, two of us,’ she sneered.

  ‘I’m happy with those odds,’ I added.

  ‘All right,’ a figure said. ‘We don’t want no blood this afternoon.’

  ‘A man after my own heart,’ I replied.

  ‘Lay your weapons down,’ the man grunted.

  ‘And you,’ Leana snapped. ‘Put down your swords.’

  ‘What’s going on down there?’ a more aggressive voice shouted, possibly their boss.

  ‘Now look, this is not a particularly pleasant welcome,’ I called out, hoping to defuse the situation. ‘Is this how simple guests are treated in Tryum these days?’

  ‘Who the hell is talking like that?’ The figures parted revealing another slightly shorter man.

  ‘If we had some proper light down here you might be able to see who,’ I replied.

  ‘Listen to the rich boy speak,’ the man said. ‘He’s got a lovely voice, don’t he? Shame to lose a tongue like that. Ruin a handsome face. We could sell him as a whore and make a lot of money.’

  ‘You would die trying,’ Leana interrupted.

  ‘Easy, lads. I like women from where she comes from. Atrewe, ain’t that so? I’d remember that accent a mile off. You’re a long way from home, black lady.’

  Leana didn’t move but I figured it was only a matter of time and while I had no issue in principle with this man being erased from the city, I hoped to Polla she would not kill anyone, not when we needed answers instead of corpses.

  ‘Thoughtful people, you Atrewens – could kill you in the morning and write a poem about it in the afternoon,’ the man continued admiringly. ‘You don’t talk as much as we do in case the spirits hear you, ain’t that so? I spent some time there in my younger days, when I was stealing ships around the coast. Good days they were. Atrewe is a big place. You come all the way here with a man like him?’

  ‘Get to the point or I will open your stomach and leave you to the rats.’

  There was a silence in which he assessed us.

  ‘Rich man, what’s your name?’ he called out.

  ‘Lucan Drakenfeld, officer of the Sun Chamber, newly stationed in Tryum. This is Leana, my peace mediator.’

  He snorted. ‘Man with a sense of humour. I like that.’

  ‘It helps to pass the time.’

  Another figure emerged and stood alongside the others, blocking what little light there was and probably our only exit too.

  ‘Is this the home of the Snake Kings?’ I asked.

  ‘One of them.’

  ‘Good. Are you their chief ?’

  ‘One of them.’

  ‘That’s a start,’ I replied.

  ‘Shouldn’t we be asking the questions, since you’ve fallen through our trapdoor?’

  ‘You just asked a question right there.’

  The shorter man stepped closer. ‘You talk far too glibly for my liking. Tongues that quick are best removed. What’re you doing here?’

  ‘We’re looking for someone, an actor named Drullus.’

  ‘Drullus.’ He turned to his colleagues and said, ‘I’ve never heard of a Drullus. Have any of you heard of a Drullus?’

  ‘No,’ came the reply, all well rehearsed, and all of this pitched to steer me towards bribing them.

  ‘Let’s get to the point. How much do you want?’ I asked.

  ‘A thousand pecullas.’

  For them to request so much meant that Drullus must have paid them something near that figure to keep his whereabouts quiet. It was a lot of money, more than a year’s earnings for most people – and certainly more than anyone in Plutum would probably see in their lives. All of this begged the question of how an actor could possibly get his hands on that much cash. Of course, it wouldn’t be an issue if he had friends in high places . . .

  ‘What would we get for a thousand pecullas?’ I demanded.

  ‘A specific location. Whether you find Drullus there or not, we can’t say.’

  My eyes were growing accustomed to the darkness. The leader’s face was broad, though without an ounce of fat, and his eyes narrow. He was certainly a good head shorter than me, though he looked nimble, as if he knew how to fight and flee.

  Leana was outraged. ‘A man came to you for protection, for shelter, and you’re willing to sell him out? Where’s your honour?’

  He grunted. ‘I’m running a business here. What’s honour got to do with it?’

  ‘I’m a member of the Sun Chamber pursuing an investigation. You could be held accountable for withholding information,’ I told him.

  ‘My gang might say otherwise.’

  ‘You realize I could bring an army to this place – you’ve heard of the Sun Legion, haven’t you? Five thousand of the finest and highest-paid soldiers in all of Vispasia could come straight to Tryum and wipe the Snake Kings from the collective memory of the city.’

  ‘That would mean you had to get out first,’ he sneered.

  ‘Your trapdoor and lock didn’t hold us. Are you sure you like your chances against an angry Atrewen warrior and myself, a trained officer of the Sun Chamber?’

  He paused considering.

  Leana took a step closer to him and whispered, ‘I will kill your men quickly, but before I send you into the afterlife I will first skin you with breath still in your body.’

  He grunted a laugh.

  ‘She means it,’ I assured him. ‘She’s killed a few people already today. However, the other option is that I pay one hundred pecullas and have the money delivered here before noon tomorrow. You get your money, I get my information. And I promise that no harm will come to your client.’

  ‘Five hundred.’

  ‘One hundred pecullas.’

  ‘Three,’ he bargained, ‘and the offer of a network of good men should you need it.’

  I waited in silence, considering that I’d have to request authorization for a bribery receipt later to recover the money. How I hated administration. However, having a network such as the Snake Kings to hand was worth the effort.

  ‘Three,’ I agreed. ‘Delivered here before noon tomorrow.’ I offered my hand and forearm and he shook it.

  The tension in the room seemed to vanish.

  ‘My name is Yadrix Velor.’ He smiled widely. ‘And I’m glad to make a connection with an officer of the Sun Chamber.’

  Drullus’ hideout was not too far from the Snake Kings and, after the brief interlude, we continued through the streets once again. Unfortunately Yadrix could offer no further information about Drullus, especially on why he was seeking a hideout at all.

  ‘People seek help from me all the time,’ Yadrix had commented. ‘I do not ask for their secrets – I do not care, as long as they can pay. There is a lucrative trade to be found in such things in this city.’

  I hated making deals with people like Yadrix as they were people who profited from misery, but sometimes it seemed the only way of getting what was required.

  Relieved not to have engaged in another fight, and glad – as ever �
�� that Leana was by my side, I asked her if she was all right after Yadrix brought up the subject of her country, Atrewe, with that niggling guilt that I had dragged her far from her home.

  ‘You mean, do I want to go home to Atrewe?’ she replied. ‘No. I am happy here.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes,’ she replied.

  ‘Do you miss Atrewe? I never ask.’

  ‘I am happy. Few people in Tryum – in Vispasia – would ever meet someone from Atrewe. From what I understand in Venyn, many think us bad, stupid people. Here so far I have been treated as a novelty. I can change those thoughts – they will respect Atrewens. I believe that will do all Atrewens a favour in the long run.’

  Leana and I had shared so many experiences over the years, been in so many scrapes together, that much of my life was framed by her reassuring presence. We’d faced street executions by Venyn gangs; we had uncovered treasure hoards on the eastern Vispasian coast. We had been in the presence of priestesses and bishops, of kings and queens. We’d eaten snake as the sun set, purpling the skies of the desert regions, in our relentless hunt of a multiple child murderer. We had witnessed armies clash on a beautiful glade, turning it into a bloodbath, before moving in to arrest the victorious general with just a hundred men of the Sun Legion at our side. It was difficult to imagine my role without her. And yet, despite all of our shared experiences, she rarely opened up to me. Perhaps it was a cultural quirk, but I felt she knew me far better than I did her.

  Bad weather had come again since our brief time with the Snake Kings, and rainwater still trickled downhill. The refreshing smell made the journey to the location somewhat more pleasant. It was the middle of the afternoon and hunger was setting in, so we stopped off at a pastry stall and purchased food to eat on the way. As the rich flavours filled my mouth, it made me realize just how much I’d missed the local cuisine, though it had never cost this much. The vendor muttered only that the city was overcrowded, and that there wasn’t enough food in Detrata.

  The house we were seeking was right on the border of Vellyum, situated on a surprisingly pleasant street. A good family with an honest trade might wish to live somewhere like this. There were low-level structures with shops facing the street, much like in Tradum and Polyum, though not as refined. The roads needed a little more repair, the walls were plastered with more graffiti than was possible to read, and there was the overpowering stench of urine – but it was a good street, with a man nearby wearing the sash of the local Civil Cohorts keeping the peace.

  Beyond the store selling cloth, we headed through into the narrow alleyway and down the side of the building, the gap only a little wider than my shoulders. We continued along until we found the red door we’d been directed to.

  ‘This is it.’ I moved to try the door, but paused, considering my options.

  ‘Knock it or kick it?’ Leana asked.

  ‘Kick it. He wouldn’t open it unless it’s to someone he knows or is expecting. If we knock, he might slip out of another entrance.’

  I took a look around the alleyway to check no one was about. This wasn’t exactly the way we did things in the Sun Chamber. Leana had been a bad influence on me. But there was little here except the high walls and stone pavements, only a washing line stretched at the far end between the two buildings.

  Back by the door, we both took a couple of steps, then struck the lock-side of the door together, and it shuddered back. One more determined kick from Leana and it smashed open completely. I rushed inside to confront our suspect while Leana stayed back to see if he would make an exit from a window.

  Inside the long, thin corridor was empty but decorated with cheap frescoes and mosaics. Wondering whether our bird had already flown, I moved quickly into the next room, which was a kitchen, before running up the stairs into darkness on the floor above and entering another room. It was filled with a cloying and all too familiar stench. I reached across to open the wooden shutters.

  There, sprawled on its side with bent knees, a corpse became illuminated by the hazy afternoon light.

  The Stench of Death

  When Leana arrived she put her hand to her nose. ‘Spirits save us, are there no more windows to let in the breeze?’

  ‘None that I can see.’

  The pervasive stench indicated that the man had been dead for some time. His blood had pooled and dried on the floor. Dressed in casual garb, which seemed loose-fitting on his slender frame, his skin was lightly bronzed and his hair was dark-blond: he fitted the description that Clydia had given us.

  ‘Leana,’ I said, ‘I need you to find your way back to the Skull and Jasmine house. Though we’ve travelled a long way around the city, I don’t think it’s too far from here. We need Clydia to come here and identify the body. Tell her she can bring a couple of the other actors if she needs them.’

  Leana nodded and left the room, and a moment later I spotted her sprinting through the street.

  With the sounds of the busy community outside, I set about assessing what had happened.

  There was no blood to be found on the walls and in fact not even around the edges of this room – which implied there had not been a struggle. There were no signs of a fight, no broken jars or pottery, all of which were still standing by chairs or on tabletops. There was an uneaten loaf of bread, a bowl of olives and two apples on the table, laid out for a solitary dinner with one wooden cup of water, and two silver peculla coins next to it.

  One of the other rooms was his sleeping area, a dark bare chamber with a couple of unlit lanterns and, aside from a small bag of clothes, there was nothing for me to go on. Everything was incredibly neat and tidy, the picture of an everyday man living alone.

  The state of the room where the corpse lay suggested two things: either the man had taken his own life, or he was killed by a professional. Yet, it couldn’t have been suicide. Not only was there no blade nearby, but if this was Drullus, he had paid a lot of money to hide away here in order to keep his life, not to give it up. But if it had been a murder, then the victim must have known his killer to have let him in. Either that, or we were dealing with a highly skilled operator, who could move about the streets with quiet grace and stealth, and could gain entry to this building without force. In many respects, it was not unlike the case of Lacanta’s murder. I double-checked the rest of the house, especially the windows, but there were no signs of anything being amiss.

  I reached down and turned the body over, noting that the stiffness of death had long since set in. There was just one clean but very deep cut along his throat. Had the blow been a rapid slash from in front, or a careful slice from behind? The knees were bent, too, which indicated he had been kneeling down before his killer as his throat was opened – as if he had submitted himself for execution. Drullus may have known there was no point in running away: this would have been a pitiful death for the poor actor.

  There was a dark thread no more than the length of a finger, which had been caught in his nails as if he’d been clutching at his attacker, pleading for mercy. A piece of thread this common could tell me very little, but simply added to the broader picture of what may have taken place.

  There were no signs of a head wound, not even any bruising to the flesh. So he hadn’t been beaten or attacked, pointing again to a professional hit rather than a break-in or robbery gone wrong. His tunic was drenched in blood, but I didn’t yet want to strip the clothing to examine the rest of his torso, not until Clydia had formally identified him and confirmed my suspicions.

  Leana returned with Clydia and two of the other actors; young attractive men, one with a slender frame, one with broad shoulders, both with cropped black hair – they looked similar enough to be brothers. One wore a grey tunic, a dark cloak and sandals, the other had dressed in tones of dark green. Clydia, in her long blue cape, was dressed for the rain.

  Crouching down, I peeled back a blanket I had found to cover the body, revealing his face, trying to hide the worst of the injuries from them. Clydia
immediately let out a wail. She turned into the shoulder of the slender actor and sobbed and heaved repeatedly while he stroked her hair with one hand and stared aghast at the scene.

  The one with the broader shoulders stepped forward and crouched down next to me. ‘That’s him all right,’ he breathed and shook his head. ‘Poor, poor Drullus.’

  Poor Drullus indeed. So here before us all was the most promising lead in the case of Lacanta’s murder, and he was dead in his own safe house.

  ‘I’m going to ask some routine questions and I’d be grateful if you can answer truthfully.’

  The actor nodded.

  ‘When did you really last see Drullus?’ I asked.

  ‘I honestly didn’t see him after the performance at Optryx – and we left before the ceremonies started to reach a climax. We tend to come and go out of our house, so don’t really pay much attention to each other’s movements unless there’s a production looming. But I’m pretty sure it was right after that evening’s performances, when we went our own way.’

  ‘Do you have any idea who might have done this, perhaps an enemy of the group?’

  ‘There were people we all upset, and often. Actors aren’t exactly loved in Tryum. We’re treated like whores a lot of the time.’

  ‘But could anyone you know have come in here and slit his throat? I ask this, because I’m inclined to believe Drullus knew his killer and let him in.’ I explained the few signs of a disturbance and that the broken door was our doing.

  ‘I honestly don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t even know what this place is – your lady –’ he indicated Leana ‘– told me he was hiding out. I’ve no idea why. He made no mention of it before. He just went out, but we didn’t think it important because he could be gone for a couple of days at a time.’

  The other man, his arms still around Clydia, nodded to con-firm this point.