That’s where Jona was, and he was doing everything he could to blur. He didn’t want to be anywhere, or be anyone. The black pit in his gut was so strong that it felt like everything inside of him had shriveled up into a poison so toxic that his very breath could kill a man.
He wondered if he drank enough, if he could fall asleep, and have a proper nightmare. He’d never been able to drink himself unconscious and tonight was the night to really try for it.
Then, he wondered if he could kill someone, just to kill them.
Then—right then—a narrow-faced lad that was a little too clear-eyed to fit in this particular location slipped into the empty space of Jona’s black mood.
Jona turned and looked that narrow fellow in the face.
The fellow held up a green feather.
Jona scowled. He snatched the feather. “Good,” he said. “Very good.”
He tried to stand up straight. The narrow-faced lad noticed that Jona wasn’t steady on his feet. The lad wrapped an arm around Jona to help him stand.
“Need help, king’s man?”
“I need you not to touch me.”
The narrow-faced lad smiled, politely. He stepped back from Jona enough to bow his head and shoulders a little. Then, the lad was gone. “I hear this one’s special just for you,” said the boy. “I hear some rich lady paid a fortune.”
Jona slipped the feather into his pocket and stumbled into the street. The Night King had work for this killer tonight.
Jona went to the toy shop, with a smile on his face that would make a corpse shiver.
***
“What did they do?” said Jona. He didn’t have a smile on his face anymore, and he had sobered up fast when the fear jumped into his blood. He thought about what lady might pay a fortune for this.
“I don’t care what they did,” said the toymaker. “I only care what you’ll do to them. I care what you did the other day. I saw your report. Pathetic. You have a lot to earn back for our good graces. Now you do what you do for us, loyal and no more stupid questions. We’ve got them sighted in the room. That Senta is enough to spook a fellow ain’t got the hard guts like you do. You’ve dropped Sentas like nothing. Demon blood spooks Sentas, too. The big fellow shouldn’t be too tough. He’s cheese-for-brains. The Senta is a hard scrapper, though, been setting fires and casting ice, and fast with it. Probably need to drop her first, and quick. The big fellow, you’re supposed to cut off all his fingers one at a time. Then, cut off his feet. Then toss him into a river and let the sharks finish him off. Bring the Senta body back here, though. You’re supposed to strangle her, and not spill any of her blood. Just bring her back here, whole.”
Jona’s hands shook. “What did they do?” he said.
The toymaker shrugged. “I have no bloody clue, nor do I ever want one.”
“Who else knows about the mark?” said Jona.
“Night King says drop someone, we do it.”
Jona looked around the room. The toymaker sat at a table. It was only a table. There were no signs of strings or traps or hidden surprises.
“The Night King is telling me to drop someone,” he said. “That’s exactly what she’s doing.”
The toymaker reached under his shirt.
Jona was faster. Jona was stronger. Jona was a king’s man all day and a killer in his sleepless nights and he lived for bats and teeth. The toymaker only had a small knife and the poison on the tip was not enough to take down a demon child whose very blood was the same kind of poison.
Afterwards, Jona poured all the alcohol and kerosene he could find in this shop all over the corpse. He struck a match. He stayed long enough to make sure the fire caught the wooden furniture and boxes.
Jona slipped out the back and ran.
***
The signpost had a picture of a woman standing next to her severed head. Disorganized, infectious music tumbled from the windows. Bouncers tossed drunken men into the streets, where the men could fight each other away from the mugs and tables.
Women who had only just begun to work for the night told filthy jokes arm in arm with filthy men, all of them laughing and laughing and drinking on their side of the tavern.
The bartender was a stocky midget with the top of his thumbs severed. He walked barefoot across the bar to serve drinks. The mugs were as dirty as the bar.
Jona snapped his fingers at the midget walking up and down the bar. The midget had only half his thumbs. The single joint wasn’t enough to grab anything too hard, but he was nimble enough.
The midget shouted over the crowd. “What you drinking, king’s man?”
Jona grabbed the midget by the leg and picked him up like a flailing fish. Jona carried the midget outside so fast, the drunks couldn’t raise up a shout in protest that their bartender was gone. Bouncers looked up and down at the uniform. Jona, with his free hand, pulled out his bell in his lapel pocket. “I won’t be long,” said Jona. “I only need one thing from him, and then he’s back with you free and clear.”
The midget hadn’t said a word. He kicked and struggled, but he struck air, and Jona was too strong to let go.
Jona pulled his bell out in full and held it up like he was about to strike the midget with it. “You run, and I ring the bells on your little tavern, and all your customers and bouncers wake up in the tank, and all your liquor’ll be confiscated by the king and anything you don’t want found out is your neck. I’m only after one thing, and then you’ll never see me again.”
“I got no business with the king’s dogs!” said the midget, cowering on the ground. His tone of voice was not as brave as his words.
“I want a helmet,” said Jona, “just like the one you gave a fellow name of Salvatore Fidelio.”
“Don’t know about that.”
“Yeah?” Jona struck the midget over the head with the bell. It made a limp ringing sound, but the midget’s head muffled the ring enough, for now. “Listen, you tossing maggot. I’ll roll you into the river if you lie to me like that again. I know Salvatore Fidelio got his helmet from you. A particular kind of helmet that was, and a fellow could really go places with it on his head. All I want is the helmet. You give me that, and I’m gone like a ghost and nothing but the bruise to remember me by.”
The midget scowled. He pointed at the back door. “I had one, but I don’t have one anymore. I sold the only one to Salvatore, and he never came back.”
“Where’d you get it?”
A bouncer came around the corner. He wasn’t the biggest fellow in the Pens, but he was big enough. He had his hands up. “Hey, king’s man!” he shouted. “All you want is the helmet, and then you leave my man alone?”
“Right.”
The bouncer pulled one out from his cloak. “So, let my boy go.”
Jona put the bell back in his pocket. He held out his hands. “Toss it to me.”
The helmet shone like a mirror when the streetlight caught it, flying. Jona snatched it one-handed. He didn’t pause to bow. He popped it on his head, and left fast. He dropped into the same old sewer grate that Salvatore had shown him, straight to the Island, and Lady Sabachthani.
The huge guardians of demon bone and metal let him pass just as they let Aggie pass. He walked in the front door, and watched for dogs in the darkness. He kept to shadows and climbed an arbor to the roof.
He waited in the dark, staring at the horizon.
Every night was a long night. Every single one was longer than the last. This one was the longest, yet.
The rain came, and he got wet in the rain. It was a terrible rain, that made everything so slick. He clung to the slats and pressed himself into them and waited for daybreak. There was no sunrise with all the clouds. When the sun came, it pushed through clouds, and the fields around the estate were all covered in mud.
***
She had, in her hands, a single dog silent and still as a statue, though alive. She sat in a chair upon a balcony, away from the workers of the yard. She could look down and observe if she wanted to do so, but s
he did not. She sat far from the edge, holding a parasol up against the hot night air and threat of rain. The season of parties had passed, and all had been here, at her house. The rains returned to wash the streets clean and the grasses that had been danced to mud disintegrated in the damp into a swamp. Mosquitos and flies swarmed among the workers. None rose up to the high balcony, where lemony grasses and bits of rotting bone lined the edge. Jona knew the bones were from dogs. He recognized the skulls and paws. He had seen dead dogs enough before to know their bones.
“You can come down from the roof if you like,” she said. “I won’t kill you, yet. Killing me won’t save that whore’s maid. It won’t save your mother, either.”
Jona and Lady Sabachthani locked eyes. He climbed down to the balcony carefully, half-expecting to be stabbed on the way down.
“You’ve found the shipment of the demon weed from my lands. What matter is it to me? You will not be arresting me, or stopping me. You knew that already, though. Is your curiosity satisfied? What do you want? Tell me why you who are nothing but the scum of my boots when I walk in the Pens, why I should not kill you and your mother and everyone you love?”
“I’ve been thinking about things. You’re the Night King,” he said. “You want to be the day king, right? You want to be both.”
“I want to marry the king of the daylight. Imam’s stars and Erin’s moon are nothing to the sun that burns them all away. I am the sun, rising from the cool night. I am the fire of the hills burning the daylight clean. Together the king of the city and I will bring a peace to this city. Every criminal answers to the king, and every king’s man answers to the king. Every citizen pays taxes to the king, whether their income was legal or not. This is my vision of the future, Lord Joni. There will always be crime. When criminals answer to the king that terrifies them, their sins will be contained. They will be placed away from the good people of the street who choose not to see it much.”
“Does your father know?”
“He taught me everything I know.”
“Ever been up to the red valley? The place he opened up to Elishta where souls are trapped?”
“No. I don’t leave the city. I have too much to do to take a holiday.”
“Well, I’ve never been, but Calipari’s seen it. He says it’s awful.”
“It is. It is a terrible thing, and hopefully we will never need to do such a terrible summoning again.”
“Elishta is your sun. That’s your sun rising up, burning everything. Polluting dogs with it. Eating everything up, soul first.”
“Dogs have no souls. You’ve been making trouble, Lord Joni. Do I anger you so much? Have I hurt you so very much?”
“I don’t know what to say,” said Lord Joni. He looked up. He looked right at her. “I just wanted to know where it came from. You know nothing will come of it. I can write all the reports in the world, push people and break ’em and nothing will touch you. It’s just… We know it’s there, every day. Where does it come from? What is it? That’s all it was.”
“Jona, there is a woman dancing beside your old friend, Salvatore, late into the night. You know where she lives, do you not? I want you to bring her to me gracefully. Do not disturb her husband. Do not disturb Salvatore about it. Just bring her here.”
“Why?”
“Because it will answer your question.”
“I don’t want to help you, anymore. It’s time for you to start helping me.”
“It would be very easy to destroy you,” she said. “You should know why you are still alive. It’s time for you to see what your real choices are.”
“Salvatore is a monster.”
“So are you. Bring me Mishaela, Lord Joni. Do it now.”
“I am a monster. She’s already floating in the bay. She’s dead. I killed her and dropped her in the water. You were going to use her like you did Aggie, only worse.”
She petted the dog gently. “You’re lying,” she said.
“I’ll kill her before I bring her to you.”
“Well, that leaves us in an awkward position. I don’t have room for disobedient monsters.”
Jona had enough of her games and intrigue. He had had enough. Here was the Night King, alone and unarmed. Here she was, and she had made him do such terrible things. He had his hands around her throat before he could think. He picked her up. She stared at him, coldly. She stood with his grip. He lifted her up to the edge of the balcony. The men from below shouted and waved their arms. Some of them were already running up. He realized he could kill her so easily. She was staring at him with a fury that would not end. She was so angry. She was trembling like a bird or a leaf. Her skin went pale, and her eyes were so angry.
Then, he saw her eyes surrender. He saw the fear come into her face. He saw it, and this was the first time he had ever seen her. It was the first time he had ever seen her for who she was, what she was. He saw her life before him, and the shape of it, like something from a dreamcast. He knew her. He looked in her face and saw her. He felt something killers aren’t supposed to feel. He let her go.
She sat down. She rubbed her neck where it was already bruising. The men from the yard were there, shouting, but she waved them away. She said she was fine. She coughed. Everything was fine.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” said Jona. “If I was going to kill her I’d have done it.”
She coughed and threw the dog on the ground, kicked it. She sat down so angrily, and looked up. The dog was mute, without a tongue to bark, and it gurgled a whimper at the balcony door.
“What do you want, Jona? What could you possibly want? I gave you everything! I gave you everything and you threw it in my face!”
He shrugged. “You never really asked me what I wanted,” he said. “And when I told you, you didn’t like the answer.”
“Where is your whore’s maid, anyway? Who even cares what they did to my men?”
“She’s leaving town. She would if you let her. Her and her brother just want to leave town. They’re never coming back, not when you got so much demon weed pouring out of the dogs’ backs.”
“No.”
“I’m not leaving. I’m staying. My mother’s here. My life is here. I want to help her, though. I want to help her leave. I want her to be safe. You know, I bet nobody ever asked you what you wanted and meant it. I bet your whole life nobody ever looked you in the face honest-like, and said something to you they really meant, and asked what you really wanted.”
“Lord Joni, you ask too much. For what you’ve done to me you’ll be dead before you ever see your mother’s face again.”
“I just saw you for what you are, exactly as you are. I saw you dying. I saw you facing death. I know everything about you. I’m asking you now, what it is you want. Don’t be ashamed to be yourself. I’m worse. I was born worse. I never sleep. I never dream. I never face the demon in me. I don’t regret. It’s like I can’t.”
“Would you be the king of the day, to rule the streets and the stars and moon over this city? Will you let them crown you and let me rule here, as I see fit?”
Jona shrugged. “Why do you want to rule, anyhow? What’s the point of power?”
“Power means I can… I don’t know, Lord Joni. I guess it doesn’t matter. I don’t even know if I really want it. But, someone has to have it, and I don’t want anyone else to have dominion over me. I hate the idea of someone ruling me.”
“I hate that, too.”
“With you beside me, we would build a city like no other, and push our power out into the world. The day and the night together, imagine it? Two worlds living together in harmony, hidden from each other always, but together.”
“Elishta, too. You want demon children here?”
“I do,” she said. “There’s a power in your bloodline. It’s a power I want for my own children, as long as I can protect them. I want children with power, Jona. Your long nights are so powerful.”
“Mishaela goes free. She’s not touched.”
&n
bsp; “Salvatore must live, too.”
“And Rachel?”
“Everyone lives that can be spared, Jona. She will be free to go. I’ll hire her and her brother for a caravan. There is room in the world for a little poison. It is a fire that rises up from the depths, and burns the sky clean.”
“What’s next for us, then?”
“You will need to be an officer before we can wed, and you’ll need a little glory in your pocket before the king dies so the union makes sense to my rivals. Things will be arranged. Wait for my message, and obey it when it comes.”
“All right” he said.
“Kiss me, Jona. Kiss me and be my beloved.”
They were alone on the balcony. The men of the yard had left by her command. Jona hesitated, and she looked up at him, expectantly.
He bent over and kissed her. He did it so fast that it was awkward. The white sheen of her make-up marked him. He felt the powder on his lips and it disgusted him but he held his feelings back from his face enough that she didn’t seem to notice.
“I’m going,” he said.
“You’d better. My father will send someone to kill you if you don’t after your little display.”
“Okay,” he said.
She probably wasn’t lying.
“Go now. My people will be in touch.”
“Everyone lives,” he said.
“Everyone,” she said. She nodded. “I have only ever wanted to kill the sinners that deserved to die, Jona. Criminals would hang if they were caught, and float if they were not. I am not so evil. Everyone lives that can be spared.”
“Okay,” he said.
He left the way he came. Maids backed away from him in fear. The Seneschal hid from him, behind a locked door. Jona wanted to hit someone, and he could have hit the Seneschal. He could have hit anyone. No one came close. He was in the street outside the grounds before he knew what to do with the odd feeling inside of him.
He was on the ferry back to the mainland before he knew.
Then, he was home, alone in the dark, staring at the ceiling, and waiting for daylight.
We Leave Together Page 15