by Tom Lloyd
Narin took one final look at the bright glow of flames through the fog and nodded. ‘Let’s hope so. Gods, I should be running that way.’
‘You’re not welcome there, the Lawbringers made sure you aren’t part of any investigation now, remember?’ Enchei nodded towards the bridge. ‘And look what happens in your absence.’
‘Now you’re getting ridiculous,’ Narin said, almost laughing at the suggestion. ‘Your paranoia’s taken over.’
‘Mebbe,’ he conceded. ‘All of a sudden I ain’t feeling so paranoid, though. I know they’re still out to get me, but mebbe their heart ain’t so in it as I thought.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
Enchei glanced at his daughter and shrugged. ‘For once, just once, mebbe things ain’t all about me.’
CHAPTER 29
It was well into the night by the time Enchei finally relaxed. A crawling sensation had followed him through the foggy streets as he and his daughters had dragged a handcart of insensate Wyverns. There was a rare anger deep inside his bones, something awakened in the fight with Kine’s massive cousin. He could have killed the man silently and quickly, he knew that, but it wasn’t just the questions he’d asked the man that had prevented that.
He’d wanted to hurt him, Enchei realised with a start, hurt the man badly. Old scabs had been picked over by the sight of his daughters – these two beautiful strangers in whose faces he saw painful echoes. The man he’d once been, the wife he’d loved and left – even the grandparents who had survived to see his girls born – there were ghosts of all of them hanging in the air. Faint wisps beyond the edges of sight and imagined scents on the breeze.
‘I don’t know about you two,’ he said once they were well clear of Dragon District, ‘but I could use a drink.’
Maiss grunted in response, Enay said nothing, so he took that as some form of sulky assent and turned east towards the Fett Canal.
‘Come on, I know a quiet place.’
He led them almost to the canal itself before ascending a canopied stairway running up the side of a building that overlooked the canal. The frontage was adorned with red lanterns, gloomy and foreboding in the still white fog. The eatery was shuttered for the night despite the shining lanterns and soft strains of music filtering down from the room above.
Enchei thumped on the door and a few moments later it was jerked open by an oversized Dragon woman with enough earrings and necklaces for a dozen people. She wore a rich blue coat half-open at the front to display a quite remarkable amount of cleavage, seemingly restrained only by the broad scarf tied high around her waist. She looked them up and down for a moment, reserving a hard look for the girls before speaking.
‘Enchei, it’s been a while.’ Her voice was rich and deep, the accent of a woman brought up in the city but around true Dragon voices most of that time.
‘Utrenne,’ he replied warmly, ‘you’re keeping well?’
‘No complaints. Who’re these two?’
‘A pair who’ve looked me up from the old country, looking for a local contact.’
‘They better be,’ she said dubiously, her words drawing an exasperated hiss from Enchei.
‘Oh piss off, Utrenne – I ever brought that sort o’ girl here? ’Specially ones young enough to be my daughters.’
She grunted and stepped back, having to flatten herself against the wall to make enough space for them all. ‘Aye, you’re right. Just had a few folk recently who didn’t know the rules. Came close to a knife in the gut last Ascendancy.’
Enchei smiled. ‘I’m sure he regretted his mistake soon enough.’
It wasn’t that Utrenne was fat, for all that she indulged her considerable appetite often and frequently, but she was unusually tall and broad of limb. He’d seen men make unfortunate assumptions about her several times, seeing just a fat woman with a blue merchant caste collar.
‘It was his whore with the knife!’ Utrenne snorted. ‘The Gods alone only know why, but she came ta regret events sure.’
She ushered the three inside and closed the door behind them. Enchei pushed a curtain aside to reveal a set of smoky rooms and led his daughters inside, past benches and round tables piled with the remnants of meals and towards the sound of music. The mournful strains of a zither accompanied a young man’s voice, the music slow and wistful, while the smell of spiced meat mingled with tobacco smoke in the air. They passed through the main room, where a chestnut-skinned youth was surrounded by an enraptured audience, into the smaller rooms beyond where hanging drapes created booths around the various tables, the light of lanterns set on each table producing a lantern effect.
They soon found a corner where they could have a degree of privacy, the babble from the main room enough to confound idle listeners. Once Enchei had caught the eye of a local woman and gestured for drinks he finally allowed himself to stop and relax, to look his daughters up and down with a refreshed eye. They endured it silently, shedding their cloaks in the warmth of the bar. Maiss watched him suspiciously while Enay kept an eye on those around them, assessing everyone within sight before she allowed herself to settle back into her wicker-backed chair.
‘Thank you,’ Enchei said at last, for want of another way to start the conversation. ‘For earlier. It wasn’t your fight, I know.’
‘You expected us to sit back and watch?’ Maiss tugged her dark hair back and deftly twirled it around before she fixed it with a long pair of pins.
‘Doesn’t mean I’m not appreciative, all the same.’
‘Your thanks is noted,’ Enay said acidly as a woman brought them a tall swan-necked bottle and three tumblers.
Enchei poured them each a drink and the girls took their glasses dubiously. Enay held hers up to the light and inspected the contents, a clear liquid with silvery swirls running through it. ‘Moon’s water?’
Enchei nodded as he fished a slim leather cigar case from an inside pocket. ‘Had it before?’
‘Never been this far west before,’ Maiss said in reply.
‘Well it’s an acquired taste, but it goes well with a smoke and quiet music so it’s the drink of choice here.’
Enay reached over the table and plucked the cigar from Enchei’s fingers just as he pulled it from the case. ‘Best we get the full experience then.’
Enchei raised an eyebrow but the young woman ignored him and opened the lantern to light it from the flame. Eventually he did the same, Maiss declining the offer of one, and raised his glass to them in toast.
‘Your mother,’ he whispered.
Maiss drank, but Enay’s eyes flashed with anger. ‘You left. You don’t get to make that toast.’
‘You know I had to leave,’ he said calmly, ‘and you know it was the only way. Didn’t stop me loving her. Didn’t stop me missing all of you. This is the first time I’ve been able to toast any of you aloud – first time in almost twenty years. Please, give me that at least.’
Her lips went tight, but eventually Enay relented and raised the glass herself. She took a long drink, frowning slightly at the chill taste as most did when they drank moon’s water for the first time. It had a subtle, elusive flavour that seemed to turn cool on the tongue, quite opposite to the warmth of something like whisky.
‘You sold the estate?’
Maiss nodded. ‘Not really a neighbourhood we could spend our years in, was it? Too many sharp ears and sharp eyes, but Uncle helped us get a fair price.’
‘We have a house in Oredenast, overlooking the Sourwater, and a small gaming house out on the water itself.’
Enchei pictured the place, a busy city in the lands of House Clearlake. It was an important trading hub, but best known for the series of lakes built in ancient times. It gave much of the city a relaxed, open air quite unlike the cramped, sometimes frenetic, streets of the Imperial City, and attracted artists and gamblers alike to its many pleasures. A good place to get lost in but also a good place to have a home, if you had the money to afford it.
‘Gaming house?�
��
‘Named in your honour,’ Enay said through a cloud of cigar smoke.
‘Oh Gods,’ Enchei said with trepidation. ‘Do I even want to know?’
‘The Cards of the Broken.’
‘You’re fucking joking,’ he snarled, leaning forward. ‘Are you bloody mad?’
To his astonishment, the young woman’s face dissolved into laughter and even Maiss smiled at his reaction.
‘Of course she’s joking,’ Maiss reassured him. ‘We’re not idiots, Father!’
Enchei hesitated. ‘Right, ah yes. How did you even know about that, anyway?’
‘Uncle told us,’ she said with a slow blink of her deep blue eyes. ‘He said we deserved to know a little about you and what you’d done.’
‘For one o’ the Five he talks too bloody much, on top of the fact he dragged you two into this mess here.’
‘He only told us a little, no real details, and better us to back you up than official Astaren, no? We’ve done unofficial work for him before, makes his patronage feel less like charity’
Enchei grunted and took a long drink, wondering how much of his career he would like anyone to know, not least his last remaining family. ‘Did he make it sound good?’
‘He made you out a hero,’ Maiss said as Enay nodded, still smiling. The sight jolted him like a spark leaping from the fire.
‘Stars in heaven,’ he gasped, chest momentarily tight, ‘those smiles … Gods I’ve missed that. You’ve both grown up beautiful, but those are still the smiles of the little girls I remember.’
Maiss lowered her eyes, the glint of tears forming, while Enay scooped up her glass and drained it, looking away.
‘Let’s not get into the past,’ Maiss whispered. ‘Not here, not now. The present’s hard enough, can’t the past wait a few days?’
‘However long you want,’ Enchei said, reaching out to squeeze first her hand, then Enay’s. The green-eyed woman tensed under his touch, but didn’t yank her hand away.
‘Seeing you two again has been a gift I never let myself truly hope for. It would’ve hurt too much if I’d kept that hope in me over the years. Seeing those smiles, I can’t tell you what it means, but I’ll be glad of whatever more time I get with you.’
Enay nodded. ‘In that case, let’s start with another drink.’
‘It’s done?’
Narin nodded as he stamped his feet, trying to force some warmth back into his toes. It hadn’t been a long walk back to the house, but he’d taken an oblique route to pass through Enchei’s cluster of spirit traps – Irato trailing along behind as normal.
‘We weren’t the only ones having a busy night either,’ he said, peeling off layers in the warm kitchen before he sat at the table with Kesh and Kine. He rubbed his fingers as hard as he could, but they remained cold to the touch and his grizzling daughter didn’t seem to appreciate his affection.
Kesh frowned at him. ‘Who?’
‘House Dragon.’ He poured himself a cup of cloudy green tea and hungrily sucked the warm liquid down. ‘Our hellhound mercenaries too. You didn’t hear it?’
The pair shook their heads, Kine nodding down at Dov. ‘This one’s been howling for an hour or more. She’s only just settled.’
‘Guess you can’t see the bridge from any windows here, either,’ Narin said. ‘Some sort of ambush, I assume – explosions on the Tier Bridge right where the mercenary safe-house was supposed to be. Enchei reckons the Dragons tried to take it and the mercenaries were waiting for them.’
‘You don’t know?’
He shook his head. ‘All guesswork, but … you know. Hah, Enchei’s particular form of arrogance must be rubbing off on me. Whenever something as bad as that happens, it’s hard to doubt it has nothing to do with the shit we’re in. It ain’t bad luck or coincidence when everyone’s out to get you.’
‘Why didn’t you go investigate?’
‘I’m suspended from duty,’ Narin said with a forced smile, made rather manic by fatigue. He gestured to his hip. ‘Look, no sword. Can’t be trusted with something as dangerous as that these days.’ He sighed. ‘Demoted and suspended, so the last thing I should be doing is showing up at a scene when I know Rhe’ll be along soon.’
‘Does this mean it’s almost over?’ Kine asked, her voice more sceptical than hopeful. ‘For all of us?’
‘Who knows? Your cousin’s dead, your brother too. The rest of the Wyverns won’t want to find us again, not after the way we left them. That’s as much as I know at the moment.’
Kine’s mouth fell open and Narin cursed himself for delivering the news so carelessly.
‘I’m sorry, that was …’ He tailed off as Kine shook her head and looked away.
She had never spoken of her brother except in passing and he knew they were not close, but still. He was family and she had effectively marked him out for death. Knowing it might happen, knowing he wanted to kill her and everything else about it, didn’t stop Kine being a gentle soul. To be so involved in a man’s death was a shock and Narin knew he should have realised that ahead of time.
The noblewoman bent over their daughter, kissing Dov once on the forehead before whispering a prayer for the dead. ‘Lady Sailor carry them to rest, Lord Lawbringer protect them.’
Narin blinked at the mention of Lawbringer a moment before realising the Ascendants she invoked were both of the Dragon hegemony. Elsewhere the heritage would not matter, but he suspected proud Wyvern warriors would want to be attended by their own, even in death.
‘Don’t tell me Enchei failed to give an opinion for once,’ Kesh said once Kine had finished.
‘He’s suspicious,’ Narin agreed. ‘Of everyone and everything. It’s too soon to say what’s true, but I don’t think we need to be watching out for Wyverns any longer.’
‘Then I must face my own punishment,’ Kine said gravely. ‘I will go to Prince Sorote in the morning and wait upon his command.’
‘Go yourself?’ Narin asked, startled. ‘Why? I can go to him, ask when he wants you to present yourself. There’s no need to trek over there with Dov and simply wait.’
‘My husband will not wait to see me marked with the lash and my caste tattoo struck out,’ Kine said, ‘and I will give him no excuse to break his agreement. It will serve as an act of contrition on my part, to await their leisure. They do not know where we are, getting a message to us via the Palace of Law could easily mean a day’s delay in me appearing before him.’
‘So you’re just going to—’
He didn’t go any further as Kesh broke in. ‘Shut up, Narin, she’s right.’
‘What the hell do you know about it?’
Kesh raised an eyebrow at him. ‘I’ve seen enough to know a few things about men and their bloody pride. If Lord Vanden’s forced to wait a day, he could easily take offence and renegotiate the deal. So let’s make it fifty lashes, or he takes Dov to be raised as a labourer on some Wyvern farm. Whatever angry little thought crosses his mind, do you think your Imperial friend will bother to put up much of a fight?’
Narin found himself frozen on the all-too-easily imagined possibilities. The longer he knew Prince Sorote, the less he trusted the Imperial to show any shred of humanity except when it served a purpose. For a moment he made no response, but at last he nodded and lowered his head.
‘In the morning then. Your remaining family’ll be waking up with headaches so bad they won’t be watching the streets for you. Getting to the Imperial Palace should be simple enough at least.’
He studied Kine for a long moment, the unusual sight of grim determination on her face giving him pause. Already she was adapting to life outside the strictures of Dragon and Wyvern society – she would never have allowed herself to look at a man in so challenging a way before. Kine would have trained for adulthood just as carefully as Siresse Myken, every gesture and word as perfectly timed as any warrior’s, to negotiate the male-dominated nation around her. Her beauty and charm requiring the same deft use, the same balance and subtle
ty a duellist needed to succeed. You did not face a proud Wyvern warrior down, you manoeuvred around him with eyes averted as though he was a dog ready to snap.
Or maybe this is just how she deals with low castes like me, Narin joked privately.
‘Time for some sleep, then,’ Kesh announced, pushing up from the table just as Irato thumped on the door to be let in. ‘There’s a long day ahead.’
CHAPTER 30
Senior Kobelt Geret Hoke woke and blinked up at the incantations that adorned the ceiling above. He slowly rose and lifted his hands, staring at the aged, bronze skin for a while before smiling. There was a tattoo on the palm of each hand, twisted symbols worn only by shamans of House Gold.
‘Good,’ he said in a soft voice. ‘This will serve.’
He rose and dressed, the movements awkward at first as though he were unfamiliar with the body he wore. As he pulled on his heavy robe there came a knock at the door.
‘Father, are you awake?’
‘Father? Ah yes,’ Geret muttered under his breath, searching his memory before a tight smile appeared on his lips. He reached to open the door. ‘Ulesh. Yes, here I am.’
There was a younger man on the other side, looking anxious. Also House Gold, his long blond hair hung loose over his tattooed cheeks. ‘Something’s happened.’
‘What?’
‘The wardings, several shattered in the night.’
‘Do you know how?’
The man shook his head. ‘The acolytes swear no one has been up there – I checked the central shrine, it’s intact. It was no demon, but something passed this way in the night.’
‘Is anyone hurt?’
‘No, but—’
‘If it’s just a few wardings, I suggest you don’t worry.’
That seemed to startle the younger man. ‘Not worry? Are … what’s wrong, Father? You look strange?’
‘Strange?’
‘There’s something different about you this morning,’ the man insisted. ‘What is it?’