‘That reminds me – you always seem to find enough coin – how is that?’
‘Temple coffers, Braven Tooth.’
‘You stole from the D’rek Temple here?’
‘Here? That’s good. Yes, here, and all the others I visited, too. Got it all squirrelled away, where no-one but me can get to it. Problem is, I feel guilty every time I pinch from it. I never take much – no point in inviting a mugging, after all. But that’s just the excuse I use. Like I said, it’s guilt.’
‘So, if you get yourself killed tonight…’
Banaschar grinned and flung up his hands. ‘Phoof! All of it. Gone. For ever.’
‘Nice trick, that.’
‘You want I should leave it to you?’
‘Hood no! What would I do with chests of coin?’
‘Chests? Dear Master Sergeant, more like roomfuls. In any case, I’ll see you tomorrow… or not. And if not, then, well met, Braven Tooth.’
‘Forget that. Tomorrow, like you said.’
Nodding, Banaschar backed away, then began threading his way towards the front door.
Alone at the table now, Braven Tooth slowly raised his tankard for a drink, his eyes almost closed – and to anyone more than a pace or two away they would have seemed closed indeed – and so the figure who hastily rose, slipping like an adder into Banaschar’s wake, noticed nothing of the Master Sergeant’s fixed attention, the small eyes tracking for a moment, before Braven Tooth finished the ale in three quick swallows. Then the huge, hairy man climbed gustily to his feet, weaving slightly, one hand reaching to the table for balance.
He staggered over to Mudslinger and Gentur, both of whom looked up in guilt and fear – as if they’d been discussing bad things. Braven Tooth leaned between them. ‘Listen, you fools,’ he said under his breath.
‘We’re just waiting for Foreigner,’ Mudslinger said, eyes wide. ‘That’s all. We never—’
‘Quiet. See that snake at the steps up front – quickly!’
‘Just… gone,’ Gentur observed, squinting. ‘Snake, you said. I’d say more like a—’
‘And you’d be right. And the target is none other than Banaschar. Now, are you two up for surprising a Claw tonight? Do this and I’ll think nice thoughts about the both of you.’
The two men were already on their feet.
Gentur spat onto his hands and rubbed them together, ‘I used to dream of nights like this,’ he said. ‘Let’s go, Mudder. Before we lose ’im.’
‘Heading towards the waterfront,’ Braven Tooth said. ‘Northering t’the Stairs, right?’
He watched the two soldiers hurry to the back door. Out they went, looking far too eager.
Mudslinger, he knew, was a lot tougher than he looked. Besides, he didn’t think that Claw would be thinking about anyone on his own trail. And with the crowds… well, they shouldn’t have too much trouble. Soldiers love killing assassins…
Someone threw a handful of knuckle dice at the back of the low-ceilinged room.
And Braven Tooth suddenly shivered.
I must be getting soft.
There were plenty of well-armed figures among the crowd gathering along the harbourfront, although, for the moment, those weapons remained beneath heavy cloaks, as these selected agents moved into designated positions. Faint nods passing between them, a few whispered words here and there.
The City Watch stood in a ragged line, pikes shifting nervously as the bolder thugs edged forward with taunts and threats.
There were Wickans in those ships out there.
And we want them.
Traitors, one and all, and dealing with traitors was a punishment that belonged to the people. Wasn’t the Empress herself up there at Mock’s Hold? Here to witness imperial wrath – she’s done it before, right, back when she commanded the Claw.
Never mind you’re waiting for an officer, you fools, the signals are lit and we ain’t stupid – they’re telling those bastards to come in. Tie up. Disembark. Look at ’em, the cowards! They know the time’s come to answer their betrayal!
Believe us, we’re gonna fill this bay with Wickan heads – won’t that be a pretty sight come morning?
Gods below! What’s that?
A chorus of voices shouted that, or something similar, and hands lifted, fingers pointing, eyes tracking a blazing ball of fire that slanted down across half the sky to the west, trailing a blue-grey plume of smoke like the track of an eel on black sand. Growing in size with alarming swiftness.
Then… gone… and a moment later, a savage crack rolled in from beyond the bay, where rose a tumbling cloud of steam.
Close! A third of a league, you think?
Less.
Not much impact, though.
Must’ve been small. Smaller than it looked.
Went right overhead—
It’s an omen! An omen!
A Wickan head! Did you see it? It was a Wickan head! Sent down by the gods!
Momentarily distracted by the plunging fireball that seemed to land just beyond the bay, the Claw Saygen Maral pushed himself forward once more. The assassin was pleased with the heaving press he moved through, a press settling down once again, although at a higher pitch of anticipation than before.
Up ahead, the crowd had slowed the ex-priest’s pace, which was good, since already nothing was going as planned. The target should have been settled in for the night at Coop’s, and the Hand was likely closing in on the alley behind the inn, there to await his contacting them with the necessary details.
Pointing the Skull, they used to call it. Identifying the target right there, right then, in person. A proper reward for following the fool around for sometimes weeks on end – seeing the actual assassination. Be that as it may, as things were turning out he would be bloodying his own hands with this target tonight, now that the decision had been made to kill the drunkard.
A convenient conjoining of Saygen Maral’s divided loyalties. Trained from childhood in the Imperial Claw – ever since he had been taken from his dead mother’s side, aged fourteen, at the Cull of the Wax Witches in the Mouse Quarter all those years ago – his disaffection with the Empress had taken a long time to emerge, and even then, if not for the Jhistal Master it would never have found focus, or indeed purpose. Of course, discovering precisely how his mother had died had helped considerably.
The empire was rotten through and through, and he knew he wasn’t the only Claw to realize this; just as he wasn’t the only one who now followed the commands of the Jhistal Master – most of the Hand on its way down from Mock’s Hold belonged to the phantom Black Glove that was the name of Mallick Rel’s spectral organization. In truth, there was no way of telling just how many of the Imperial Claw had been turned – each agent was aware of but three others, forming a discrete cell – in itself a classic Claw structure.
In any case, Clawmaster Pearl had confirmed the order to kill Banaschar. Comforting, that.
He remained ten paces behind the ex-priest, acutely aware of the seething violence in this mob – encouraged by the idiotic cries of ‘An omen!’ and ‘A Wickan head!’ – but he carried on his person certain items, invested with sorcery, that encouraged a lack of attention from everyone he pushed past, that dampened their ire momentarily no matter how rude and painful his jabbing elbows.
They were close to the docks now, and agents of the Jhistal Master were in the milling crowd, working them ever nastier and more belligerent with well-timed shouts and exhortations. No more than fifty City Watch soldiers faced a mass now numbering in the high hundreds, an under-strength presence that had been carefully coordinated by selective incompetence among the officers at the nearby barracks.
He noted a retinue of more heavily armed and armoured soldiers escorting a ranking officer towards the centre dock, before which now loomed the Adjunct’s flagship. The captain, Saygen Maral knew, was delivering a most auspicious set of imperial commands. And those, in turn, would lead inexorably to a night of slaughter such as this city had never before experienced.
Not even the Cull in the Mouse would compare.
The assassin smiled.
Welcome home, Adjunct.
His breath caught suddenly as a prickling sensation awoke on his left shoulder beneath his clothes. A small sliver of metal threaded under his skin had awakened, informing him that he was being followed by someone with murderous intent. Clumsy. A killer should ever mask such thoughts. After all, Mockra is the most common natural talent, needing no formal training – that whispering unease, the hair rising on the back of the neck – far too many people possess such things.
Nonetheless, even a clumsy killer could know the Lady’s’ Pull on occasion, just as Saygen Maral, for all his skills and preparation, could stumble – fatally – to the Lord’s Push.
Ahead, now fifteen paces away, Banaschar was working free of the crowd, and Saygen sensed the man’s warren – Mockra, yes, achieving what my own invested items have done. Uninterest, sudden fugue, confusion – the sharper the mind, after all, the more vulnerable it proves to such passive assaults. To be a killer, of course, one needed to fend off such sorcery. Simple awareness of the trap sufficed, and so Saygen Maral was not concerned. His intent was most singular.
Of course he would have to eliminate his own hunters first.
Banaschar was heading for the Stairs. There was little risk in Saygen effecting a slight delay. He saw an alley mouth off to the left, where the crowd was thin. The assassin angled himself towards it, and, as he stepped past the last figure, quickly turned left and slipped into the alley.
Gloom, rubbish under foot, a tortured, winding route before him. He continued on five more steps, found an alcove and edged into it.
‘He’s getting ready to take the drunk,’ Gentur hissed. ‘He’ll circle round—’
‘Then let’s get after ’im,’ Mudslinger whispered, pushing his friend on.
They entered the alley, padded forward.
The shadows swallowing the niche were too deep, too opaque to be natural, and both soldiers went right past without a second thought.
A faint sound, whistling past Mudslinger’s left shoulder, and Gentur grunted, flinging up his hands as he staggered forward, then collapsed. Whirling, Mudslinger ducked low, but not low enough, as a second tiny quarrel struck him on his chest, directly over his heart, and, still spinning round with his own momentum, the soldier’s feet skidded out beneath him. He fell hard, the back of his head crunching on the greasy cobbles.
Saygen Maral studied the two motionless bodies for a moment longer, then he reloaded the corkscrew crossbows strapped to his wrists. First shot, base of the skull. Second shot, heart – that was a lucky one, since I was aiming for low in the gut. Guess he didn’t want all that pain. Too bad. Anyway… What were they thinking of doing! Mugging me? No matter, it’s done. Adjusting his sleeves, hiding the weapons once more, he set off after Banaschar.
A sixth of a bell later, the Claw realized that he had lost the man. In rising panic, he began backtracking, down alleys and streets, as a cool breeze lifted withered leaves that spun random paths across cobbles.
Making clicking sounds, like the skittering of dice.
The huge wheels of twisted rope suspended on the side of the stone jetty compressed as the Froth Wolf shouldered its bulk against them, then the craft slid away again, momentarily, until the lines, made fast to the dock’s huge bollards, drew taut. The gangplank rattled and thumped into place even as the garrison captain and his guards approached along the jetty’s length. Pointedly ignoring the troop of Red Blades standing at attention opposite the plank with their one-armed, one-eyed commander.
Something had just struck the sea beyond the anchored fleet, and the thunderous sound of its impact still echoed, even as darkness swept back into the wake of the bright, blazing fireball. The smell of steam was heavy in the air.
It had seemed to Keneb that there was a peculiar lack of reaction to this event, from the Adjunct and T’amber, at any rate. There had been plenty of shouts, warding gestures then animated talk among the sailors, but that was to be expected.
Let’s face it, Keneb admitted, the timing was less than auspicious. It was no wonder that thousand-strong mob awaiting them were shouting about omens.
The Fist’s attention was drawn once more to the approaching contingent.
‘They mean to come aboard, Adjunct,’ Keneb said as she prepared to disembark.
Tavore frowned, then nodded and stepped back. T’amber positioned herself to the Adjunct’s left.
Boots thumped on the plank, and the captain halted one step from the ship’s deck. He looked round, as if deciding what to do next.
Moving forward, Keneb said, ‘Good evening, Captain, I am Fist Keneb, Eighth Legion, Fourteenth Army.’
A moment’s hesitation, then a salute. ‘Fist Keneb. I have orders for the Adjunct Tavore Paran. May I come on deck?’
‘Of course,’ Keneb said.
Mostly unintelligible shouts and curses reached them from the crowds massing behind a line of soldiers on the waterfront, many of them taunts directed at the Red Blades. At these sounds, the captain winced slightly, then he moved forward until he faced the Adjunct. ‘The Empress awaits you,’ he said, ‘in Mock’s Hold. In your absence, command of the Fourteenth Army temporarily falls to me, with respect to disembarking and standing down.’
‘I see,’ Tavore said.
The captain shifted uneasily, as if he had been expecting some kind of protest, as if her lack of reaction to his words was the very last thing he anticipated. ‘It appears that the transports are anchoring in the bay, Adjunct.’
‘Yes, it does appear so, Captain.’
‘That will need to be countermanded immediately.’
‘Captain, what is your name?’
‘Adjunct? My apologies. It is Rynag. Captain Rynag of the Untan Imperial Guard.’
‘Ah, then you have accompanied the Empress to the island. Your normal posting is as an officer in the Palace Guard.’
Rynag cleared his throat. ‘Correct, Adjunct, although as a matter of course my responsibilities have expand—’
‘T’amber,’ the Adjunct cut in. ‘Please collect Kalam Mekhar. He is, I believe, once more at the stern.’ She studied the captain for a moment longer, then asked him, ‘The Empress commands that I meet her alone?’
‘Uh, she was not specific—’
‘Very well—’
‘Excuse me, Adjunct. Not specific, as I said, with one exception.’
‘Oh?’
‘Yes. The High Mage Adaephon Delat is to remain on board until such time as directed otherwise.’
Tavore frowned for a moment, then said, ‘Very well.’
‘I believe I was speaking about countermanding the order to drop anchor—’
‘I leave that to you, Captain Rynag,’ the Adjunct said as T’amber reappeared, Kalam trailing a step behind. ‘We will make use of your escort, as well as that of Fist Baralta’s Red Blades, to ensure our passage through that mob.’ With that, and a gesture to T’amber and the assassin to follow, she disembarked.
Bemused, the captain watched them cross over to the jetty. A few curt commands to the Imperial Guards assembled there and a careless gesture to Tene Baralta and his soldiers to fall in, and the two groups moved out in uneasy company to flank Tavore and her two companions. Then the party set off.
Rynag swung back to Keneb. ‘Fist?’
‘Yes?’
‘Well…’
‘Things aren’t going as planned, Captain?’ Keneb stepped close and slapped a hand on the man’s shoulder. ‘Consider this, it could be worse. Correct that. It is much worse.’
‘No longer,’ the man snapped, finally angry. ‘I am now in command of the Fourteenth Army, Fist Keneb, and these are my orders. Signal flag to Admiral Nok. The escorts are to withdraw and set sail without delay for Unta. Signal flag to the foreign fleet, they are to anchor outside the bay, this side of the shoals on the headland north of Mock’s Hold. A pilot ship will guide them. Finally, signal flag to
the transports – we will establish a number system; and thereafter in sets of fifteen they will weigh anchor and draw in to the designated moorings. The disembarking will begin as soon as possible, Fist. Furthermore, the soldiers are to be unarmed, their kits secured for transportation.’
Keneb scratched his stubbly jaw.
‘Why are you just standing there, Fist Keneb?’
‘I am trying to decide, Captain, where to begin.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘All right, never mind. First of all, whether you are in command of the Fourteenth Army or not, you do not outrank Admiral Nok. Signal him all you want. He will do precisely as he pleases.’
‘I am instructed by the Empress—’
‘He will need to see those orders, Captain. In person. The Admiral is very precise with such protocol. I assume you have said orders?’
‘Of course I have! Very well, signal him aboard!’
‘Alas, he will not comply.’
‘What?’
‘Now, as for the Perish – the foreign fleet, Captain Rynag – the only command they acknowledge, under the circumstances, is their own. By all means, make your request, but be certain that it is a request. Lest they take offence, and Captain, you truly do not want them to take offence.’
‘You are leaving me no choice but to relieve you of command, Fist.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘I have given you my orders, yet still you stand here—’
‘Well that is precisely the problem, Captain. Not one of your orders can be carried out, for the imperative overriding them cannot be challenged, not by you, not even by the Empress herself.’
‘What are you talking about?’
Keneb said, ‘Follow me, please, Captain.’
They walked to the stern. In the bay beyond, the huge transports loomed a short distance away like gigantic, slumbering beasts.
‘Granted,’ Keneb said, ‘darkness obscures, and for this reason it is understandable that you do not as yet comprehend. But, allow me to direct your gaze, Captain, to the topmost signal flag on those near ships, a flag identical to those on Nok’s dromons. In a moment, when that cloud passes by the moon, with Oponn’s blessing there will be enough light with which to see. There is an edict, Captain, pertaining to survival itself. You seem to forget, both the Fourteenth Army and the imperial fleet have come from Seven Cities.’
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