The Shadowmage Trilogy (Twilight of Kerberos: The Shadowmage Books)

by Matthew Sprange

  “But you are loyal to her?”

  “I owe her for things that have happened in the past. Then again, she owes me as well, whether she would admit that publicly or not.”

  “You consider her a friend?”

  “I have in the past, certainly. Now... Well, I may be one of the few that actually knows where he stands with her – most of the time, at least – and I am happy to accept that.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Is this why you called me here? To learn about Adrianna?”

  “I asked to see both of you. My interest in her, beyond being a Shadowmage and a fascinating woman in her own right, is rooted in Adrianna occupying one of the senior positions in the city, and having gained that position through nothing more than her own efforts and skills. However, I do have something quite different to discuss with you.

  “I have several interests in the Anclas Territories, and I believe you have some experience there yourself.”

  “I worked as a mercenary for a number of years,” Lucius said. “Mainly in the north of the Territories. Ugly place after the war.”

  “Ugly indeed, but also full of opportunity. It is that opportunity that drives me to conflict with other noble families of Pontaine. Resources from crop farms to tin mines often lay abandoned or, better, unprotected after a war. Remember, no one truly rules the Territories, so if a chalk quarry here or a wood rich with timber there is found, who truly owns it?”

  “The people of the Territories?”

  The baron barked a laugh in response. “Whoever comes along first with enough soldiers to take it and then hold on to it. It is all there, if you can but find it. And serfs, of course. A disenfranchised population like those of the Territories is ripe for use, be it on farms outside their homes or on a man’s own property back in Pontaine.”

  “Sounds a little like slavery.”

  “I did not ask you here to debate semantics. Nor argue the ways of the world.”

  “Then, my Lord Baron, may I press you to tell me why I was summoned?”

  “I do not intend to be left behind, Lucius. There are many among my peers, nobles of equal or similar rank and title, who already have extensive interests in the Territories. I gained a great deal from seizing Turnitia, of course, but that is only the first step on a much longer road.”

  “We have discovered an artefact, Lucius. In the Anclas Territories. All indications are that it is a very powerful one, something that was forged in the days of the elves, when their empire was at its very height.”

  “And you want it.”

  “Of course. Something like that in my possession would mark me as a cut above all my peers. And once the secrets of the elves are unlocked from it, well, let’s just say I have certain ambitions in my own country.”

  With a sudden shock, Lucius realised what he had been missing throughout the meeting, and he mentally kicked himself for not seeing it earlier.

  “You’ve already sent your wizard to bring it back,” Lucius said. “And he has failed.”

  “He has encountered some difficulties. It seems to me that while Master Tellmore has proved exceptional, not only in his capacity as my arcane advisor but also, let us not forget, as the one who discovered the existence and resting place of the artefact, he may not have the... instinct required here. He is very learned, and there is little he knows absolutely nothing about. But we are dealing with the magics of empires long since turned to dust, Lucius.”

  “If you are wanting me to take a trip to the Territories, I must decline, my Lord Baron. I have many duties here, in Turnitia and, besides, I have already travelled that way before. Can’t say I enjoyed it.”

  “Ah, of course, of course,” the baron said quietly. “Well, it was just an idea. I had hoped that Adrianna might have been fuelled by a desire to prove a learned wizard wrong, but I know that is not your motivation.”

  “I think that you maybe underestimate Adrianna,” Lucius said.

  “But you have responsibilities here, naturally. I’m guessing that in what is quite literally a den of thieves, there is no one you can truly trust to run things while you are out of the city. Must be quite restricting. I had hoped the thrill of adventure might be motivation enough for you, Lucius, but I was forgetting myself. A guildmaster retired from active thieving has too many concerns and demands for his attention for a trivial favour for a Pontaine lord.”

  “Now wait a minute. I never said anything about being retired.”

  “No of course not,” the baron said, a little too hurriedly. He moved forward to lean across his desk. “This task requires a unique combination of skills, Lucius. We have had many men try to retrieve this artefact, but even the most powerful wizard I could recruit cannot get past the first line of defences. What is needed is a deep understanding of magic – not just what can be read in a book, but felt, by instinct – allied to a highly developed sense of personal safety and stealth. To my mind, there is only one sort of person who matches that description...’

  “Someone who is both thief and wizard,” Lucius finished for him. “A Shadowmage.”

  Sighing, Lucius rubbed his chin thoughtfully as his mind raced. His guild always needed attention, of course. Put a group of thieves together in the same city and their bickering alone would keep you busy. But, this was a quiet time for the guild, with no major operations planned for a while. And the baron was right, in a way. It had been far too long since he had engaged in anything more complex than petty larceny. Here was a chance to put the full repertoire of his skills to use, to achieve something that no one had accomplished before. In spite of himself, Lucius found himself warming to the idea and, in the back of his mind, was already working out who to appoint as lieutenant of the guild while he was absent. Then he caught sight of the glint in the baron’s eye.

  You unbelievable bastard, Lucius thought.

  This was, of course, exactly what the baron wanted him to be thinking. For all his skill and experience, Lucius still found himself being played. It was then the baron landed his final blow.

  “I have been giving a lot of thought to the concessions you asked for in our last meeting,” he said.

  “Oh, I see,” Lucius said with an ounce of scorn creeping into his voice. “I perform this task for you or you withdraw your support for my guild.”

  “Dear me, Lucius, no, what a thing to say. We have already agreed those terms, and I am not a man to go back on his word. Certainly not. No, no, I was thinking that if you were to do me this favour, then it is only right and proper that I perform a similar service for you. After all, we are both ultimately men of business.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “It also helps me to have a thieves’ guild that is both strong and grateful, of course, but we are all driven by self-interest. Specifically, I was thinking of encouraging the taverns and wine traders to take over the Five Markets by night. You know, liven the place up a bit after the day, as it gets deathly quiet when the sun goes down. I would need you to promise me that the pickpockets will stay away from the place initially – can’t have partygoers suddenly losing their purses, after all – but I would be happy to permit, no, encourage your delightful ladies of the night to ply their trade there.”

  That would open up a whole new market, so to speak, Lucius thought. “That could be doable.”

  “And of course, with this heightened tension between the Pontaine nobility, things could easily get nasty, very quickly. We have our own way of handling these things in Pontaine, of course, but perhaps it would be of interest if I said I would guarantee all such work within thirty miles of the city to be automatically turned over to your own guild’s assassins?”

  “It would be of interest, yes...”

  “Finally, your guild is beginning to boom but it has still seen better days. I will pass on two parts in every hundred we take from the merchants of this city in tax, straight over to your guild. In exchange for a few more names I want to add to your, umm, theft exemption list.”

&n
bsp; Two per cent of the merchant taxes, though Lucius. That was an awful lot of money. He began to wonder just how rich a Pontaine lord could become, if de Sousse was throwing his gold about in such a fashion for a mere trinket.

  He looked up at the baron and gave a rueful smile.

  “Okay, you can stop playing with me, Lord Baron. On behalf of my guild, I gratefully accept your offers.”

  “And my artefact?”

  Lucius narrowed his eyes as he considered the baron. “If this artefact is so powerful and, thus, so valuable, how can you trust me not to run off with it?”

  The baron smiled wolfishly. “Two reasons, my dear Lucius. First, I would hunt you down. I would dedicate a great deal of money and resources to do so. Oh, you might evade my efforts for a few years, perhaps forever, but you would never be able to rest easy wherever you fled to.”

  “In that, I believe you.”

  “More importantly, I think you are a professional. I don’t believe you have any great wish for the kind of power an artefact like this can bring. I do think you would be interested in the reputation, the prestige inherent in recovering an item like this, and doing so in the service of, in all modesty, a rising lord of Pontaine. That, I think, is worth a great deal more to you than anything else I am offering.”

  Lucius sighed. “I think, Lord Baron, that you are probably right. Tell me what you know of his artefact, and it will be yours as quickly as I can move.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  AFTER HAVING SPENT much of the afternoon within the Citadel, with its stagnant corridors, rank soldiery and floating aromas of food and wine, the Five Markets actually hit Lucius with a breath of fresh air. The vendors, standing with their wares under a host of multi-coloured tents and awnings, were at full tilt in their selling, this period of the day being the busiest for many.

  “Did you enjoy your meeting with the baron?” Adrianna said, her voice a whisper in his ear.

  Lucius turned to face her, but was momentarily surprised to find no one standing next to him. He looked about the market in suspicion, and finally located the Shadowmage, sporting her familiar black tunic, her long black hair tied up behind her head. She was lithely pushing her way through the crowd within the market, still a sling-stone’s throw away from him.

  Insisting on talking to her normally and without magical assistance, Lucius stood waiting as she walked toward him, his arms crossed in expectation.

  “It went well enough,” he said when she was finally within earshot. “Though we both noticed your absence.”

  “I made my peace with de Sousse in our last meeting,” Adrianna said in reply. “I have no wish to endure more of his false flattery, nor engage in a debate as to why he still lacks a Shadowmage bodyguard.”

  “You are going to refuse to provide him with one?”

  Adrianna shrugged. “It is not a priority, you might say. But I foresee a time when not sending one of us to babysit him will be more trouble than actually doing it. When that happens, he will find himself served well enough.”

  “I have business at the guildhouse,” Lucius said, then he hesitated. “Will you walk with me?”

  “Yes, I believe we should talk,” she said, and then surprised him by taking his arm.

  They quickly left the Five Markets, with Lucius forced to make small talk about the activities of his guild as Adrianna remained conspicuously silent. It was not until they left the bustle of the markets and Ring Street, and had crossed the main thoroughfare of Meridian Street that she cut him short and began to speak her mind.

  “So, tell me, what was our dear baron wanting from you?”

  He briefly considered avoiding the question or engaging in some misdirection, but quickly remembered just who it was he was speaking to.

  “His pet wizard has let him down in some mission to the Territories,” Lucius said.

  “Ha! I told you that wizard was not fit to sweep the ground behind you!”

  “So it seems. I am to go instead.”

  “You agreed to it?”

  Lucius smiled, as much to himself as anything. “The baron... made a good point.”

  “Concessions to your guild?”

  “Among other things.”

  Adrianna looked at him curiously for a moment, then snorted. “Oh, Lucius, don’t tell me he appealed to your professionalism as a thief.”

  He glanced back at her in return, his expression serious.

  “Please don’t think I didn’t know how he was trying to play me. I am not stupid. Well, not that stupid.”

  “So... What is the task?”

  They turned into Rogue’s Way, the quiet street lined with street houses, one of which served as the headquarters for the thieves’ guild.

  “Apparently his wizard has discovered some ancient artefact in the Territories. Did the research, found an old outpost and has dug it up. It seems the man has failed only in actually getting his hands on the object, something to do with old magics.”

  “And you think you have the skills to succeed where he failed?”

  “You know, Adrianna, I think I do. I may not have his book-learning and I may not have your power, but I think this is one instance where my instincts as a thief may trump you both.”

  Adrianna smiled at that. “You might well be right, Lucius. Still...’

  He closed his eyes. Here it comes, he thought.

  “I’ll come with you. My own guild business is slow right now, and I can more or less trust the others to get on with their appointed tasks.”

  “I thought you did not trust anyone. Why would you want to come anyway? The Anclas Territories are about the most Godforsaken place I know. Everyone there is poor and desperate, and conditions are hard.”

  “Well, I am not going as a tourist. But as you know, I have a healthy interest in all things magical where the Old Races are concerned. Like any skilled practitioner. This could be a fascinating trip.”

  “I have promised the artefact to the baron.”

  “It is not the artefact that I am after, Lucius. It is the location. An ancient outpost, recently uncovered to reveal the secrets of the Old Races, how they thought, lived, and studied? Revealing their art, medicines and philosophies?” She laughed. “By all that is sacred, man, who wouldn’t want to go?”

  Her words made sense. Indeed, she was saying nothing he had not thought himself during his meeting with the baron, but a quiet alarm was sounding in his head. Lucius knew that where magic was concerned Adrianna could not be trusted.

  Then again, he did not get the feeling she was offering him a choice. What would happen if he did try to refuse?

  “I was intending to leave tomorrow morning,” he finally said.

  “Excellent. Get two horses with supplies. I have some errands myself to attend to,” she said, before looking back down the street from where they had come. “Until tomorrow then, Lucius.”

  Lucius watched her walk away, a sick feeling of foreboding begin to cloud his initial excitement. With a heart somewhat heavier than it had been just a short while ago, he headed back towards the guildhouse.

  THE MOOD IN the council chamber of the thieves’ guild was one of muted excitement. Lucius could well understand it; the boss was going to be going away for a month or so. Now all the senior thieves present at this council had a chance to run their operations the way they saw fit, without interference from him.

  Lucius raised a palm and slapped it on the long table to get their attention. Wendric, the lieutenant of the guild and Lucius’ second-in-command, raised a palm to emphasise the call to order.

  “Just so you understand,” he said. “There will be no new franchises created while I am away. You get a good idea, keep it to yourself until I get back. You see a not-to-be-missed opportunity, let it slip past – I promise you, there will be plenty of franchises and wealth for everyone in the near future, and I don’t want anyone upsetting the cart with their mad schemes. Is that clear?”

  Around the table, the senior thieves nodded and muttered t
heir assent, a somewhat motley collection of men and women who had grown up within the guild and demonstrated the aptitude and trustworthiness to run their own operations. It was a simple system where money trickled up from the ranks, through the senior thieves to the guild itself, where it often became a torrent of gold. It worked, and so long as the money flowed, everyone was happy. Those who chose to buck the system and cream off profits for themselves tended not to stay too long within the guild. The worst offenders could expect a visit from the guild’s own assassins.

  “Savis, don’t look to expand the prostitution rings just yet,” Lucius continued. “I’ll have some good news for you there soon but, for now, just make sure your girls stay safe and stay clean.”

  Savis, a light-haired woman starting to push past middle-age, nodded. As the latest leader of the prostitution franchise, she would not want to make any waves.

  “Pickpockets, stick to your restricted hours and locations within the Five Markets. Protection, carry on your good work – we have had some complaints from the craftsmen on Meridian Street about a gang hitting their shops and stealing valuables. Probably just some independents, in which case you know what to do, but make sure someone is always nearby. You protect their businesses, and you will find the craftsmen only too glad to pay you their weekly dues. They’ll consider it a bargain.” Again, mutters and nods.

  “The assassins will continue to work their existing contracts, but don’t accept new jobs until I return.” Lucius received shrugs from the few assassins who had attended the meeting. An enforced period of relaxation was nothing to those men and women as their work, though highly paid, tended to be irregular, even in Turnitia.

  “Finally, I want all senior thieves, whether they run their own franchises or not, to stay in touch with the beggars,” Lucius said, indicating Grennar seated next to him. “We pay them good money to be our eyes and ears in the city, so I expect you to use them.”

  Grennar nodded and cleared her throat. “If I may... some of your younger pickpockets have started to stray around Ring Street, probably thinking everyone just keeps an eye on the Five Markets themselves,” she said. “That is interfering with our business. I want it to stop.”