“Well, we’ve got a large firepit out front, and any day now we’ll have a group of big, strong men who can haul it all out,” Moreen said with a wicked laugh. “I’m sure we can find some way of persuading them to cooperate.”
“No dinner ‘til it’s gone,” Alicia said, shaking her finger at an invisible person before her. “They’ll have it done by the end of the night.”
“Get the other girls in and change it to ‘no bed play,’ and it’ll be done in an hour.”
They both laughed heartily until Moreen pulled down the cloth covering her face and threw the rag in her hand to the ground.
“I don’t think there’s much more we can do here until they get back,” Moreen said, waving her hand at the dirty pile of broken furniture. Then she added with a wink, “Or at least that we’re willing to do. What say you we go see what Cook’s got on the fire for lunch?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Alicia said with a relieved smile. She turned toward the door and swayed as a ripple of exhaustion swept over her. Alicia put one hand on the doorframe to steady herself and forced a wan smile as Moreen looked at her in concern.
“Just hungrier and more overworked than I thought,” she said lightly.
Alicia untied her apron and left it dangling over the leg of an overturned table, then followed Moreen out the door and down the stairs to the common room. On the way, they passed a handful of young men and women, human and denarae both. Some worked as housekeepers and cooks, others were carpenters, smiths, and other skilled workers who were helping to restore the enormous structure.
Built and formerly owned by a wealthy merchant, Alec Hortiman, the building was the largest inn and tavern ever built by the hands of men, be they human or demi-human. The inn had sixty rooms in all for guests, plus a dozen more to house a regular housekeeping and kitchen staff. The common room was large enough to accommodate two hundred people comfortably, and nearly twice that number if they were cozy enough. Before the war, the Iron Axe Inn was one of the most prosperous establishments west of the Muad-tan River, and easily the most successful in the city of Nocka.
Unfortunately, its success proved its downfall during the Barrier War. Demons infiltrated the city by tunneling under the walls and breaking into the basements that lay beneath nearly every house and building. The carnage and mayhem they unleashed on the city staggered the imagination, and even after the war was over, soldiers who had so recently been cheering their victory went home to find their families slaughtered in their beds.
The sheer number of people cowering within the walls of the Iron Axe no doubt proved an irresistible lure for the demons’ blood lust. The first men to enter the inn – scavengers, looking to loot the valuables of the slain – turned pale with horror and ran screaming into the streets. For nearly a month, the building lay untouched and vacant except for the mutilated corpses within. Hortiman himself was later found inside his inn, the eponymous axe still in his hands from a valiant but futile attempt to defend his establishment.
As rumors began to spread about the building, which was now thought to be haunted by the spirits of the dead, word finally reached the ears of the officers in Shadow Company. Garnet and a handful of strong-stomached denarae scoured the building for signs of a lingering demonic presence, and when they pronounced it clear, Shadow Company took over the building.
Danner’s father, Hoil, purchased the building from the city officials for a fraction of its estimated value. The devastated condition of the structure itself and the gruesome contents made it easy to obtain a reasonable price, which was still far more than most men could afford. Hoil was something of a notorious thief, however, and while the price put more than a dent into his personal finances, he waved off offers to help defray the costs. When Danner asked him, he said it was his first step on making good a promise, and left it at that cryptic response.
For the better part of two months, a flood of human, denarae, and gnomish craftsmen had been in and out of the building, first cleaning the remains of its former occupants, then starting their work to repair the building itself. Danner’s old gnomish friend Faldergash personally redesigned the kitchen stove and common room fireplace and even installed small heating units in every room that could be adjusted for the comfort of each individual resident. As the rooms were cleansed of the bloody horrors within, Flasch led his fellow paladins in prayers to cleanse the rooms of the foul taint left by the demons.
Now half the rooms had been more or less restored to full use, and the rest just needed some touching up and refurbishing. Most of the people killed had been in the public rooms, so only a handful of the bedrooms had been bloodied. The worst carnage, by far, had been in the common room.
It still made Alicia’s stomach a little queasy thinking about what had happened here, and that they were using a building with such a grim history, but she had to concede the Iron Axe was perfect for all of their needs.
The sheer size of the inn was its first and most obvious advantage, but it was also built up against the outer wall of Nocka and was within a mile of the eastern gates. On the other side of the city wall, Shadow Company had set up the facilities they used to recruit, train, and house their soldiers. With the help of some creative gnomish engineering, there was even a concealed passageway from the inn to one of the camp structures, so personnel and supplies could make their way between the two sites without anyone being the wiser.
At the moment, the inn was still operating under its original name as the Iron Axe. No one had yet thought of anything more appropriate. Collectively, however, the inn and the denarae camp were known to Shadow Company and their friends by one combined name:
Home.
- 2 -
Alicia cleaned up and was just sitting down with her lunch when word was passed that Shadow Company had returned Home. The general ranks of the company lived in the training facility beyond Nocka, but the officers all had rooms within the inn. Sure enough, only a few minutes later a dozen human and denarae men came strolling in through the door that led to the basement and the secret passageway. Alicia’s eyes immediately sought out Danner, and when he emerged she released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.
“You get used to it,” Moreen murmured from beside her, “but that will never really go away.”
Alicia flashed a grateful smile at the older woman, then hurried over to embrace Danner.
“Mmmmm,” he said in a soft, tired voice as he hugged her to his chest, “I’ve missed you.”
A subtle tone in his voice warned Alicia that something was wrong; something had happened on this mission, specifically involving Danner. She was used to his occasional lapses of melancholy ever since Trebor’s death – this was something more, something recent.
“What’s wrong?” she asked softly.
“Later,” he replied, not unkindly. “Right now, I could use a bite of Home-cooked food.”
“Cook just made a batch of thick stew, and there’s fresh bread just baked, too,” Alicia announced loudly enough for the others to hear her.
Flasch was nearest to her, and he gave Alicia a florid bow and an impish smile.
“Thank you, good lady of the house,” he said grandly. “Nothing quite eases the aches and pains of the trail like good food and beautiful company.”
“Hey, ease off my girl and go find your own,” Danner said with a companionable smile that was only slightly strained by his apparent weariness. Flasch winked at Alicia and gave her another bow before he walked off.
The others gave little sign they had heard Alicia’s announcement, but they all made for the nearest tables and the steaming food already being placed for them by the kitchen staff. Alicia’s brother, Marc, was too absorbed by the woman in his arms to think about food. Alicia smiled at the sight.
When they first met, Alicia was a bit wary of Janice, since she knew almost nothing about the woman with whom her brother had apparently been infatuated for years. They quickly became friends, however, and Alicia had spent
many hours detailing the most embarrassing moments of Marc’s life she could think of from their childhood. Janice was quick-witted and very sweet, not to mention beautiful, but she also had a very strong will and a sense of herself Alicia sometimes envied. All in all, she heartily approved of her brother’s attachment to the woman.
Alicia’s smile faded when she saw where Flasch had settled. All but hanging off one of his arms was Deeta, whom Alicia considered little better than a trollop. She freely admitted that a fair share of her resentment towards Deeta stemmed from the other woman’s undisguised interest in Danner when they’d first met. Since learning that Danner and Alicia were together, Deeta had shown no interest at all and seemed totally consumed by Flasch, but still, Alicia couldn’t help but feel wary whenever the voluptuous woman was around.
Brican had settled down with his wife, a denarae woman just starting to swell with pregnancy. Caeesha was radiant naturally, but her pregnancy seemed only to add to her glow, and the sense of contentment that surrounded her made Alicia’s heart ache. Brican had proudly announced to them all a few weeks ago that Caeesha was pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl. He claimed he could already sense some of their thoughts from inside her womb, even though other denarae repeatedly told him that it would be several more weeks before they would begin to form coherent thoughts. Even then, they would be undecipherable for several weeks until the unborn children began to pick up thought and language patterns from their mother and the people around them, assuming they had any kything talents of their own. That was a likely bet, of course, given their father’s strong abilities.
Guilian Marta was, predictably enough, off by himself at a table quietly mulling over the food that had been brought to him. Alicia kept meaning to ask if anyone knew why he was so withdrawn, but the question always slipped her mind before she could ask. One of the denarae serving women leaned close to speak to him, but he waved her off wordlessly.
Michael was the only other officer sitting without some sort of female attention. Alicia sighed as she saw him looking so lonely. It was a poorly kept secret that Michael had fallen for one of the dancers at Aunt Delia’s, the gentleman’s club where Marc and Flasch had both met their girlfriends. She hadn’t been seen since the end of the Barrier War, and no one could even say for sure if she had survived.
Garnet was, as always, surrounded by a cloud of waitresses and housekeeping women, and Alicia was surprised to see that this time not all of them were human. Two young denarae women were also hanging around the Shadow Company commander, making eyes at him even though he seemed totally oblivious to all the attention. Alicia, Moreen, and Janice were determined to set Garnet up with a woman to suit him – just as soon as they found one who passed their inspection, of course. And since none of the women currently flocking around Garnet fit that bill, they were quickly scattered and scolded back to their respective work by a towel-wielding Moreen, who shooed them all off and then sat next to Garnet and made pleasant conversation. Her presence effectively curtailed the flirting of the other women, who were all a little in awe of the striking older woman.
Moreen’s history was, by now, a well-known story that had been passed around the women of Shadow Company a dozen times over. How she had fallen for the paladin Birch de’Valderat, Danner’s uncle, and sat patiently by while he pursued the calling of his life in the Prism. Women still sighed when they thought of her sitting alone in her inn, waiting patiently for a full decade for Birch to return from his compulsive journey into Hell.[10]
“Come on, Alicia,” Danner said, guiding her toward a pair of vacant seats separate from the others, but not obviously so. It was as if he didn’t want to seem to be avoiding them, but neither did he really want to sit with any of his friends.
A waitress set a bowl down in front of Danner and gave Alicia a fresh bowl of her own, her previous bowl of stew long since cold and forgotten on another table. A small loaf of hot bread was set on the table between them with a cup of creamy butter next to it. Alicia waited until Danner had taken his first few mouthfuls of stew before she tried to speak to him.
“So are you going to tell me what happened?” she asked in a low voice.
Danner sighed. “I used my angelic heritage during the fight against the demons after Garnet told me not to, and now he thinks I was defying his orders.”
“Were you?”
“No,” Danner said sharply, then scowled at his own abrupt reaction. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to snap.” He smiled and put a hand over hers. “I mean, I wasn’t really defying him. He told me not to use it unless absolutely necessary, and at the time, I felt it was necessary. I was outnumbered and outflanked by a trio of blood-charged[11] demons, and I didn’t see any other paladins nearby who could help me.”
“What about one of the denarae?” Alicia asked. “Even if they couldn’t destroy one, someone could have come to help you.”
Danner hesitated, then he sighed again and rested his forehead on his free hand.
“I probably could have,” he admitted reluctantly, “I just didn’t think of it at the time.”
“No one really thinks well in the heat of battle,” Alicia offered, trying to be supportive.
“I suppose I could use that excuse if I wanted, but I should know better… I should be better than that,” Danner said, and Alicia could hear the frustration in his voice. “I’ve never lost my common-sense in battle, not unless I’m already asolved and under the influence of my angelic side, at any rate. I just… I just feel like I let him down; like I let them all down.”
Danner hesitated, then added softly, “I think they’re worried I’m becoming addicted to the power it gives me. No, I know they are.”
If Alicia didn’t already know Danner was right, she might have wondered if he was becoming overly paranoid and suspicious of his friends. But she had been there, two months ago at the end of the war, when they had all discussed the strange changes in Danner’s power and its addictive nature, and she had heard the topic come up since then, usually when Danner wasn’t around. While Alicia might privately share their suspicions, she knew that, more than anything, Danner needed someone to be on his side without question. That, at least, Alicia could do for him.
Of course, that layer of protective concern also prevented her from speaking to Danner about some things that desperately needed to be said. Danner needed to know… needed to hear it from her, but how could she add this burden to him in the midst of all this? Instead, Alicia resigned herself to remain silent a little while longer until things had settled down enough to approach Danner directly.
Danner’s sigh brought Alicia’s concentration back from her private concerns.
“I’m sorry, Alicia,” he said. “Here it’s my first few minutes back and all I can do is complain about my problems. How have things been around here since we left, love?”
Alicia forced a smile to her face and proceeded to tell Danner all about the renovations at the inn and the new people who had joined them in the past few weeks. Gradually her smile became genuine as her own worries faded into the background of her thoughts.
- 3 -
Garnet maintained an expressionless face as he ate. Moreen had long-since left, called away to help with one of a dozen minor emergencies that cropped up on a daily basis. This time it was one of the maids, who was apparently about to give birth to her first child. Fortunately, none of the young women around the inn had yet noticed Garnet’s solitude, or else some of them might have made an excuse to come sit with him again.
Not that Garnet minded the attention of women, and some of them were very attractive, but none of the women around him now even managed to hold his attention for a moment. They were too… well, girly for his liking. Garnet had grown up with his mother, a house full of brothers, and a younger sister whom he had barely been able to tolerate because of her girlish and – to his mind, at least – silly habits. Like his sister, the women here just seemed too immature for him, or that’s the way he saw them. Alicia, Janice, C
aeesha, and especially Moreen were definitely an improvement over the others, but even if he found a woman exactly like one of them, he knew she wouldn’t be right for him.
As for Deeta, Garnet couldn’t understand what Flasch saw in her. Well, he could – she was beautiful, after all – but as far as a potential life mate, Garnet cringed whenever he so much as thought of the soft-bodied woman.
“I hate to intrude on such a fascinating turn of your thoughts, Garnet,” Brican kythed suddenly in his head, “but I thought you’d like to know the results of my deep kythe with Danner.”
Garnet shifted his thoughts away from women gratefully and even declined to offer a retort to Brican’s brash comment.
“Go for it,” Garnet replied mentally. “What did you find?”
“Not much, I’m afraid,” Brican admitted. “Danner’s resistance to kything has grown along with his strength and power, and too much of his mind is closed off for me to get a decent kythe without tipping him off. I can tell you this much, though: Danner was telling the truth about the situation he was in. Three of the stronger demons had him surrounded, and even he might have been hard-pressed to overcome them, fortified as they were by fresh sacrifices.”
Garnet felt relief wash over him. That doubt, at least, had been laid to rest. It still left the question as to whether Danner actually needed to use his immortal heritage, but at least Garnet knew for sure that his friend hadn’t been lying to him. It was the first time Garnet had ever really doubted one of his friends, and the thought of it left a sour taste in his mouth.
“Don’t get too relieved just yet,” Brican cautioned him. “I debated whether or not to bring this up until I was sure, but I think I’d better.”
“What?”
“Danner’s memories are especially cloudy and blocked off during the time of the battle after he’d asolved his wings,” the denarae officer reported. “From what I glimpsed, I think he did go a little berserk, but I honestly can’t say for sure.” Brican hesitated. “I definitely caught sight of two of the paladins who died, as if Danner had seen them fairly close up, or paid extra attention to them for some reason. They’re much clearer than anything else I could see during that time. I’m sorry, Garnet, I wish I could tell you more, or that I had better news, but for now, I don’t know if we can rule out Danner as having killed those paladins in some sort of frenzy.”
Satan's Gambit (The Barrier War Book 3) Page 5