He started. “I—”
“When the master asks you a question, you answer it!” Haru snapped at him.
“Now, now, a little patience, Haru.” Helgar frowned at his head servant.
“I quite like it,” Baylan said with a forced smile.
“Much better than roasting in the earth box I would imagine.” Helgar laughed, his hand flexing on Baylan’s arm.
Lillian felt her pores opening, nascent sweat stinging her neck. Her guts churned, and scorching bile rose up her throat.
“Oh, he seemed to like it in there,” Haru chuckled. “He was napping away when we found him.” He swept his gaze to Lillian, giving her a knowing glare.
Helgar gave Baylan’s arm a hard squeeze, making him wince in pain. “No, I think I like you better in here. A nice creature to be paraded around for entertaining my guests. A mobile library of sorts.”
“You know,” Haru grinned. “Brenna might be interested in seeing Baylan’s scars from his last punishment. He has healed remarkably well for a humie.”
Brenna raised her hand, shaking her head. “No, no. That’s fine. I wouldn’t want to spoil anyone’s appetite for dessert.”
Haru shuffled over to Baylan. “He is quite the specimen, quite the specimen indeed.” Haru gestured for Baylan to put the decanter down, which he did.
Helgar released Baylan’s arm. “Brenna, when you and Baylan spoke, did you get to bed him? Did you get to see him bared?” Helgar asked, blowing smoke out of the corner of his mouth.
Brenna’s cheeks flushed. “No, just conversation. I… tend to prefer the softer side of the species.”
“Oh!” Helgar laughed. “You like women then?”
Brenna gave a sheepish nod. “There is no need for that.”
Lillian felt her lips forming a hard line of rage at Helgar’s insolence. Her eyes, though, were glued to Haru as he started to peel up Baylan’s shirt. Her body stiffened as every muscle flexed under her dress.
Helgar clapped, twisting in his chair to regard Baylan. “No, I think Haru is right. You might find this fascinating, his healing ability is truly remarkable. It’s almost as if, despite the Equalizer around his throat, some of the Phoenix still seems to slip out to provide him aid. Go on Baylan, show Brenna your scars. She wants to see them.”
Baylan’s eyebrows drew together, mouth slipping open, arms hanging loosely by his side as Haru tore off his apron and tossed it into a corner. He started jerking the tails of his buttoned shirt out of his trousers, then turned him around until his back faced the table.
Lillian watched with wide-eyed horror, then forced her gaze to her plate lest she did something she might regret. Brenna gave her a slight nod, a reminder to control herself. She caressed the swirling Dragon in her mind, pleading to be unleashed, to cleanse the room in flames. She could almost smell its sulfurous scent, hear its roaring in her head.
“Brenna, you’re from the North, right, given your pale complexion?”
“Mhm,” Brenna said with a quick nod.
Helgar grinned. “You have a clear appreciation for anatomy. You too, Masa. You’ll enjoy this, believe me when I show you. This humie is tough. He can endure a surprising amount of pain. Far tougher than the ones we’ve managed to wrangle in the South here, you’ll see. His scars might’ve killed most humies, but not this one, not at all. Once most men, women too, take one or two lashes, they writhe like forsaken animals. But not this one, impressive pain tolerance indeed. Look here!” Helgar pointed at Baylan’s back as Haru jerked his shirt up to his shoulders, exposing his skin. There were about ten crisscrossing lash scars, each raised and traveling down from shoulder to hip.
Haru’s grin widened. “Look there, it’s like one of your artworks.”
“Indeed it is, Haru!” Helgar clapped. “It’s sort of… beautiful, isn’t it?”
Hiko watched with disgust. “Perhaps we could further examine him after dinner?”
“A fine idea, Hiko. I concede that this is perhaps not quite what we need to finish off our meals.” Helgar tugged Baylan’s shirt down, the tails rumpled.
Lillian fell away from the Dragon lurking in her mind, as if pushing an unwanted thought aside. And with that, she let a long breath escape her nostrils.
Baylan’s face had gone scarlet. He worked to tuck his shirt back in, mouth holding an apologetic smile. Haru lowered his eyebrows, and the sides of his mouth twitched as he stared at Lillian.
She broke his gaze and set her attention on the wall. He knows. The bastard knows. Or does he? She mastered her wriggling expression, smoothing out her face.
“Get in there and clean yourself up.” Haru pointed to the staging room.
Baylan nodded, pushing through the door.
The embarrassment. The shame of it. To be brought about, put on display like some wayward animal. An affront to civility. Baylan fumed, marching over to a corner of the staging room. He unbuttoned his trousers and started angrily tucking in his shirt.
Haru fell in after him, hobbling on his polished cane ornamented with platinum rings. Servants milled about. One sliced a chocolate cake dusted with powdered sugar. Another worked a whisk in a wide bowl to whip cream. Another poured brandy into short glasses.
Baylan finished adjusting his clothing as Haru approached him, his gaze as hard as Milvorian alloy. “You told me you didn’t know Masa,” Haru said, slowly cocking his head to turn his ear toward him. Servants froze for an instant, then resumed working when Haru set his glare upon them.
Baylan’s throat went as dry as the Tigerian wastes. “Haru.” Baylan shook his head. “I don’t know her,” he said, his voice a rasp.
Haru walked closer, using the serving table as support. “You’re lying. And not a very good one, I must say. I’ve spent many years sussing out lies. Helgar pays me well for it. I know a liar when I see and hear one, and you… are a liar.” He was no more than a foot away from him now.
“I don’t.” Baylan breathed.
“Then why is your lip trembling? Why are your eyes vibrating?” Haru asked.
“Your paranoia frightens me,” he admitted, the shame of it sending another surge of blood up his neck and along his cheeks.
“And why am I frightening?” Haru leaned in close, his beard bushing against Baylan’s face.
“Because you are.” Because you decide my fate, my time in the earth box, the number of lashes I receive, the time I spend sleeping, eating, and shitting. I am less free than a dog.
“Haru! Where is that damned servant?” Helgar shouted, his voice carrying through the closed dining room door.
Haru scowled at Baylan, shoving him into a chair. “Don’t move a muscle. I’ll be back for you.” Every servant watched as they spoke, stealing furtive glances at the unfolding spectacle. Haru pushed through the door, entering the dining room.
Brenna flashed her bright smile at Helgar. “You said earlier that, for the right price, you would be willing to sell Baylan as well. I think I would like it very much if there were a scholar to entertain me on my travels.”
Helgar tapped the remains of his pipe into an ashtray, then started to repack it. “Yes, that’s right. For the right price, not another low offer.” Helgar lit his pipe and blew out a cloud of dark smoke.
“Then allow us to make an offer,” Brenna said, her index fingers raised on each hand.
“Wonderful! Let’s hear your offer.” Helgar raised his chin in expectation.
Brenna started. “Well, I—”
Haru pushed through the door, shouting orders over his shoulder and cutting off conversation. “I apologize, master. Had an issue to take care of.”
“Haru!” Helgar yelled. “You just interrupted our guests. Brenna was just prepared to make an offer to purchase Baylan.”
“I-I’m sorry, Brenna.” Haru shifted an uncertain gaze between her and Helgar.
Lillian regarded him with an arched eyebrow. Something is wrong. Very wrong.
“My ears don’t work too well,” Haru said with a sorry smi
le, while Helgar nodded in agreement. The smile fell from Haru’s face in an instant. “Master, may I have a private word with you?”
Helgar balked, leaning back in his seat. “You mean you want me to leave my dinner guests?”
Haru nodded, leaning in close. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
Helgar crossed his arms. “What is so important that it can’t be said here?”
Haru licked his cracked lips, flicking his eyes to the door leading to the staging room. “It’s about the after-dinner drinks. I think it’s a matter that should be discussed in private.”
Brenna and Lillian shared worried glances.
Helgar scoffed. “What sort of drama could possibly be caused by brandy?”
“You’re right, absolutely right, master. I’ll go on and handle it.” He dropped his voice to a whisper, but Lillian’s ears were unusually keen. “Meet me in your study,” he whispered. Helgar’s eyebrows drew suspiciously down. He slowly turned his head to peer at the women, the expression dashed away a second later, replaced with a cordial smile.
Haru mumbled, shuffling through the door into the staging room. “It’s just frustrating when I have to deal with every little issue that crops up with these damned servants.”
“Very well, Haru. Give me a moment, and I’ll aid you through this… troubling issue,” Helgar said in a mocking tone. Helgar slid his chair back, arms spread in resignation. “As you can see, sometimes the head servant needs to ask the true head of the manor for help on occasion.”
Brenna gave a few deep nods bordering on a bow. Lillian’s hands lay on the table, balling into fists as her shoulders hunched in poorly contained tension.
“Pardon me, I shall return in a moment,” said Helgar, standing and handing his glass to a servant.
Brenna and Lillian adjusted in their seats, both blowing out nervy breaths.
Hiko lifted his napkin from his lap and started patting at his mouth, dabbing away oil stains from his whiskers. “Brenna, would you be so kind as to tell us a story about an interesting bounty?”
“A bounty?” She snickered. “Well, I’d love to.”
Ten
A Deal
Helgar entered his study, drawing a pair of pocket doors to a close behind him. A writing desk held a lone burning candle, a stack of books, and a neat pile of documents containing the details of his recent business transactions. Around the room were floor to ceiling bookshelves, stuffed with tomes whose spines were filigreed in glistening gold.
In the center of the room sat Haru in his loveseat, legs crossed and fingers steepled. The old humie thought he owned the place, and Helgar supposed he sort of did. He hated him, and he loved him. More than that, he needed the old man.
He leveled his gaze at Haru, sauntering toward him. “And what is this pressing issue?” he asked in Tigerian.
Haru scoffed, then set his attention on a rectangular table before him. He poured whiskey into one of the four glasses, raised it, and gave it a swirl. A candelabra was set beside the glasses with six candles, all half-burned. Haru responded in Tigerian. “Those two guests of yours, they’re planning something.” He sipped. “That is good whiskey, mhm.”
“Get on with it,” Helgar said with an impatient gesture.
Haru raised the index finger of his free hand, glass held in the other. “You are a fool, Helgar. They are not here to buy a brawler. They want something else entirely.”
Helgar chuckled, resting his hand upon the back of a plush chair set across from Haru on the other side of the table. Beside them, a fire roared in a hearth, the mantle trimmed with exquisitely detailed oak. “I think you’ve spent far too much time in the fields, Haru. It’s broken your brain.” He lowered himself into the chair, shaking his head.
“I know a liar when I see one, and they’re working a trick. I know it, I see it. These humies are not here to purchase a brawler,” he said with a rare tone of sincerity.
Helgar leaned back in his chair, bushy eyebrows furrowed. The fact that Haru was a humie was entirely lost on the man. It never ceased to amuse Helgar. It was unusual for Haru to speak with such conviction. It might be prudent to follow this trail.
Haru took another sip of whiskey, expression grim. “They are here for your scholar.”
Helgar balked. He couldn’t truly mean that. “You mean Baylan? The same one that just came from the earth box?”
“Yes, that one.” Haru nodded and let out a sigh of frustration, then reached out to give a globe to his right a hard spin. Helgar watched as the twelve realms swirled around, globe creaking on its rod. “That Masa and Baylan, they know each other. There is some history there, can see it in how they look at each other. I know humie love when I see it.”
Helgar gnawed on his upper lip. “That doesn’t make sense. Brenna just offered to purchase Nezur,” he said, flicking his fingers, and hopefully with it, Haru’s suspicions. The old bastard was always so damned paranoid.
“Mhm. And how many marks has she given you for him?”
Helgar spread his arms. “Well, nothing yet, but—”
“Then they haven’t bought anything,” Haru said over him.
A spark of realization flared in Helgar’s belly. Perhaps the old humie was right.
“And they were just about to purchase who they truly wanted. The rest was a ruse, a way to earn your trust. I… stopped her,” Haru said. He drank while Helgar started to ruminate.
It’s possible. But would they? Could they? Bounty hunters were the most despicable, craven creatures in all the realms, capable of almost anything. She’d murdered countless Tigerians. Why not try to fool a Tigerian slaver?
“Excellent work, Haru,” Haru said with a dark laugh, mimicking his leader. “Oh, you’re welcome, Helgar, I live to serve.” Haru tipped the last of his whiskey down his throat.
Helgar leaned forward, resting on his elbows and steepling his fingers. “What makes you think this?” Helgar shook his head. “Why would they do that? The scholar is almost worthless, can’t hardly fight if his life depended on it.”
Haru groaned. “Is it not clear that the humie Masa is doing it because she is in love with Baylan? Use your mind, Helgar. They might very well be lovetied, at the very least partners. Why Brenna cares about what Masa wants… is unclear to me.”
“Then… then why go through all this difficulty to acquire a brawler? Why not simply offer to purchase Baylan?” Helgar asked, screwing up his face.
“Think.” Haru tapped his own head. “If they just sent a letter to Hiko, requesting an appointment to buy Baylan for a few hundred marks, you would have dismissed them as a waste of your time. But for a brawler… they knew that business deal would get them the time they would need at Oakmourn to find Baylan. It was just a way to get inside.”
Helgar slowly nodded, wringing his hands. “A big deal that made me very friendly. Too friendly.” I am the greatest of fools. “Almost outmaneuvered by a bounty hunter. Would you have guessed it?” He chuckled, leaning back in his chair, and crossing his legs. Fiery rage boiled in his chest, laugh deepening. “The amount of wasted time, wasted food, wasted resources… all for nothing. Those fucking whores!” He leaped to his feet, fury filling his veins with the urge for violence.
Something was wrong.
Helgar and Haru were gone for far too long. Lillian stared at the closed doors from where Helgar had departed, willing the doorknob to turn and signal his return. A few minutes ago, Sofor had been hailed by a servant and had yet to come back, leaving them with Hiko. What were they doing? Lillian set her jaw, the muscles sore from flexing so hard. Shit, shit.
The door to the staging room opened, and Helgar entered, a cordial smile placed on his face. A long breath escaped through her pursed lips.
“We missed your company, Helgar!” Brenna said with a big laugh and the ghost of a wave.
Helgar let out a deep laugh that felt sinister to Lillian’s ears. He shook his head. “Oh, I’ve missed yours too, I sure have.”
Brenna narrowed her e
yes and licked her lips, giving Lillian an uncertain glance.
Hiko chortled. “I was starting to wonder if you and old Haru forgot about us.”
“Oh, no. I could never forget my guests,” Helgar said softly, setting a rusted toolbox on the table.
Lillian slid her brandy toward the center of the table. Helgar doesn’t strike me as the crafting sort.
Brenna’s visage went dark as Helgar strode around behind them. She dropped her hand to her lap, fingers inching toward a belt of throwing daggers around her thigh.
“Sorry about the delay. Haru and I worked through the issue. The old man was right, they were significant… and required my aid.” Helgar clasped his hands together and continued walking around the table, stopping at Hiko, and placing a hand on his shoulder. “My loyal accountant, would you please go and find Haru in my study? He found a sales transaction that urgently requires your review.”
Hiko raised his head and regarded Helgar with a frown. “Now?”
Helgar placed both hands on Hiko’s shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. “As I said, it’s an urgent matter that must be settled before Haru takes me from my guests again.”
Hiko shrugged, then nodded at the two women. “Very well, Helgar. I’ll see to it. I suppose we’ll have to resume our discussion on geology when I return.”
“I look forward to it.” Lillian nodded as Hiko rose, watching him as he exited the dining room.
Helgar buttoned every button on his suit jacket as he finished his circuit around the table.
Brenna snickered, though it wasn’t her ordinary snicker. This was tinged with worry. She threw her arm over Sofor’s empty chair back. “There is always something urgent in business, isn’t there?”
“Mhm. Yes, indeed there is,” Helgar said, carefully lifting the lid on his toolbox.
“We were discussing an offer for your scholar, weren’t we?” Brenna asked with an arched eyebrow.
Helgar pointed at her, sharp nails gleaming in the candlelight. “That is correct, we were discussing your offer,” he said flatly.
Forsaken Hunters_Book Zero of The Age of Dawn_A Prequel Page 15