“That is true,” Amaranthe said.
“Since that’s the case, you should thinktwice and consider all possible outcomes before embarking on a planthat could get you, or someone else, captured.”
“It’s not as if that’s alwaysforeseeable.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Are you sure? Youhave a tendency to wander into the enemy camp to chat with the headvillain.”
“I don’t…” She stopped, since his eyebrowswere threatening to crawl up to the top of his scalp and leap forthe sky. Yes, she had done exactly that with Hollowcrest, thewizard Arbitan, and the shamans from Mangdoria. And now she hadsent Sicarius off to spy on what might be the head villain.
“You do,” Books said, “and I understand why.You get a lot of information from talking to people, and you’resmarter than average, so you probably believe you can get yourselfout of any trouble you get into. When I was a professor, I foundthat bright people sometimes make the worst students. They don’twant to simply do the assignment; they want to add creative flairand sophistication, and they make things so complicated that theyfail to finish on time.”
“What did you say to thosechallenged-by-their-own-creative-flair students?” Amaranthe asked.“How did you teach them more…prudence?” She smiled, thinking hewould appreciate that she used his word.
His face grew long though, and he shook hishead. “I couldn’t teach them that. Only experience could. There area lot of platitudes that suggest age makes us wise, but the truthis it’s losing that teaches best. Making mistakes. Failing.Some people are wise enough to learn from the mistakes of others,but most need to experience failure first hand. You may need tolose something important before the lessons of life sink in.” Hegrimaced, perhaps thinking of his son and his own past.
“I liked it better when you were justgrunting,” Amaranthe said.
“I’m sorry, but you asked-”
She lifted a hand. “I know. I did. Thank you.I’ll think about your words. And I hope they’re not prophetic. I’mnot ready to lose anything, especially not one of you.”
“Well,” Books said lightly, “if youhad to lose someone, Sicarius would be the leastmissed.”
Amaranthe stared at him, stricken.
“Er.” This time he raised an apologetic hand.“Sorry. It was a joke. A poor joke.”
“He’s the only reason I’m alive, Books. Hesaves my life again and again, and I repay him by sending him offto be abducted or killed by whatever nefarious magic-hurlingzealots are swiping athletes from the Imperial Games. Whodoes that to people they-” Amaranthe stopped herself fromfinishing the sentence, certain Books would be horrified by aproclamation that she loved Sicarius. She cleared her throat andswitched subjects. “I’m hoping he’s only detained, but I feel it’dbe best to go forward on the assumption he’s in trouble. If that isthe case, I’d like to prudently extract him from it.” Shedug out the note they had swiped from the miner’s pocket. “We losenothing by working toward that goal, since I’m guessing, if heis missing, he’s where the rest of the athletes are.”
While Books studied the note, she wondered ather own words. Rest of the athletes? It was applicable, ifnot official. Sicarius might not have ever competed in a publicvenue, but she had little doubt, even older than most of the field,he would be at the top if he did enter. Maybe this had nothing todo with the Imperial Games at all. Could it be someone was roundingup the most physically gifted men and women around and using thisevent to shop for likely candidates? Sicarius’s reputation couldplace him at the top of such a list even if the people doing theshopping had not seen him perform.
If her theory were true, to what ends wouldsomeone want these people? To create some sort of mercenary army?An elite force? She curled her lip at the idea. That was herown fantasy for the Emperor’s Edge. Aside from perhaps thewrestlers, the other athletes who had been taken were notnecessarily warriors. Being able to run fast or maneuver throughthe Clank Race did not mean one had studied fencing or unarmedcombat.
“Any thoughts?” she asked Books.
“Horrible penmanship.”
“You better give me more than that if you’regoing to save me from doing something imprudent.” She smiled.
“Oh? You have an idea?”
“I was just ruminating on the common linkbetween the names I know. Superior athleticism.”
“Why don’t you let me go to the stadium withBasilard today? I’ll see if I can get a copy of the list ofentrants and match these two unknown names. If it turns out they,like Sicarius, are not athletes that might give us more to goon.”
“Agreed,” Amaranthe said. “If we can figureout exactly why these people were taken, we might be able to get abead on who might want to take them. Akstyr’s going aroundto the apothecaries in the city to see if any of them has that rootin stock and if they remember anyone buying it recently. If youfinish early, you and Basilard can join up with him. He may needhelp researching and finding all the apothecaries.”
“Huh, and I thought it was going to be alight work day,” Books said, but he smiled, and she suspected hewas happy for the chance to do research.
“I’ll take Maldynado and go back to theminer’s flat to see if the family is back or if anyone hasinformation on where those men meet. Maybe if we work this fromboth ends we can find the kidnappers’ lair somewhere in themiddle.”
“Assuming we are dealing with kidnappers andnot someone who merely wants to kill irritatingly gifted people,”Books said.
She stared at him. “This would be a case whena grunt or a nod would have been more appreciated.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
CHAPTER 8
Under the light of day, the brick buildingwhere Raydevk and his wife lived seemed poorer. Every few minutes,a train chugged through, shaking the ground. Surly men hunkered indoorways, drinking from ceramic applejack mugs stamped with theThree Legged Dog logo, a homely mark for the satrapy’s cheapestdistillery. Some said the outfit used the bruised worm-filledapples left in the orchard grass after the other distilleries hadtheir pick.
“Charming neighborhood,” Maldynado drawledafter a gaunt old man stepped out of an alley, buttoning his pants.Amaranthe hoped all he had been doing in there was peeing.
As she and Maldynado approached the building,they stayed near the wall, so the wife, Pella, would not see themcoming if she glanced out the window.
“This is the kind of place Sicarius takes youfor evenings out, eh?” Maldynado added.
“Actually, I took him here,” Amaranthesaid. “And got him kidnapped. I’m not a very good date.”
They reached the front door, and Maldynadoheld it open for her.
“Fortunately, Deret likes an adventure,” hesaid.
“Is there some reason you’re intent onmatching us up?” she asked as they headed up the stairs.
“He’s a good man, mostly, and you’re a goodwoman, mostly. And he’s in a position to help us reach our goals,so that doesn’t hurt. Maybe he’s not in love with you yet, but I’llwager you could talk just about any man over to your side, giventime. I mean, emperor’s warts, you’ve got Sicarius workingfor you.”
Her lips twisted into a dry smirk. “Gettingpeople to go along with my schemes and getting men to fall in lovewith me aren’t the same.”
“Sure, they are,” Maldynado said as theystepped out onto the third floor. “You just make the former yourpriority. If you tried as hard to woo a man into bed as you did towoo me into joining your mission, you’d never sleep alone.”
Amaranthe speculated on the idea of puttingeffort into “wooing” Sicarius, but shook the notion from her head.She had more important things to focus on. She hoped Pella hadreturned home, so she could question her.
Two doors away from the flat, Amaranthehalted and stretched her arm across the hallway to stop Maldynadoas well. An uneasy feeling raised the hairs on the back of herneck.
The door to the family’s flat stood open.Gouges marred the wood of the jamb near the lock, and splinterslittered the floor bene
ath.
“Think Sicarius is in there?” Maldynadowhispered.
A thump sounded inside, like a drawerclosing.
“You think Sicarius would leaveevidence of entering or make noises once inside?” she whisperedback as she slipped her short sword from its scabbard.
“Er, no.”
She would like to think it was he, thatperhaps he’d spent the night tracking the miner, lost him, and comeback to question the wife, but Amaranthe doubted it. She easedforward, sword in hand, stepping lightly on the hall’s threadbarerunner.
A faint rasp of steel sounded as Maldynadodrew his rapier and followed her.
Before she could peep around the doorjamb,footsteps came from within. Heavy footsteps. A scruffy young manstrode out, carrying a canvas tote stuffed so full the contentsthreatened to burst through the material. When he saw Amaranthe andMaldynado, he threw the tote at them and bolted down the hallway inthe opposite direction.
Amaranthe turned her shoulder, but Maldynadolunged and caught the bag before it hit her.
“Get him,” she said. “Bring him back.”
Amazingly, he dropped the bag and sprinteddown the hall without stopping to make comments about how hard sheworked him for so little pay.
Another thump came from inside. Amaranthepeeked past the door, did not see anyone, and eased into the room,her back pressed against the wall. Several of the purposelyarranged clutter-piles-turned-into-walls had been tipped over. Foodcans, cooking utensils, and clothing scattered the floor. All thecabinet doors were open on the credenza where Raydevk had storedhis applejack. One dangled from a single hinge. No bottles ofalcohol sat inside the cabinets now.
Footsteps came from the corner of the roomnear the window, but one of the partitions hid the area. A curtainhanging from a rod marked the “doorway.” Amaranthe eased closer andpeered around it.
A man knelt before a dresser, shovelingclothing and knickknacks into an apple crate on the floor. His backfaced Amaranthe. The hilt of a dagger poked up from his belt, butshe did not see any greater weapons on him. No thoughtfulconsideration went into the items chosen for the crate, and shesuspected they had stumbled across a mere burglary.
She crept forward and pressed the point ofher sword against the back of the man’s neck. “Aren’t thievessupposed to ply their trade at night?”
The man froze for a heartbeat, then doveforward into a roll. He twisted and came to his feet, facingAmaranthe. His hand went to the dagger, only to find it missing.Bewilderment widened his eyes.
Amaranthe held up the blade and raised hereyebrows. “Mind if we skip further attempts at complicating my day?If you tell me how you found out this place was vacant, I imagine Ican look the other way over this robbery.”
“Velks!” the man shouted.
“I see, you wish to complicate my day.”
“Velks!” he cried again.
A grunt sounded in the living area. The mangave Amaranthe a you’re-in-trouble-now look, to which she shook herhead sadly. This fellow, barely older than a boy, judging by thethinness of the goatee he aspired to grow, did not seem toobright.
When his comrade, Velks presumably, came tostand beside Amaranthe, his arms were twisted behind his back,courtesy of Maldynado who loomed behind him. Velks appeared littleolder than the first young man, and they shared a squareness offace. Brothers?
“Got him, boss,” Maldynado said.
“Tie them up, please,” Amaranthe said.
“Gently or roughly?”
“Neither!” Velks blurted with a heroicattempt to twist free.
Maldynado yawned, unperturbed by the slenderman’s efforts.
“Yes, neither.” The younger man eyedAmaranthe’s sword, but with Maldynado blocking the exit, he did notattempt anything physical.
“That depends,” Amaranthe said. “Are youworking for someone I shouldn’t annoy, or are youindependent…entrepreneurs?”
The old enforcer in her hated the idea ofturning her back on a crime because the criminals were working fora gang leader or another influential underworld figure, but she hadspent the last few months trying to establish connections with afew of those types, and she would look the other way if it meantkeeping contacts happy. If they were independent thieves, she sawnothing wrong with trussing them up and sending a tip to EnforcerHeadquarters so they could be collected.
“We’re working for Sicarius,” Velks said.
For half a second, Amaranthe thought he mightbe telling the truth, that Sicarius had sent them back to hunt forclues or some such, but she caught herself. That was wishfulthinking, a hope that Sicarius was about and on the mission. Evenif this man’s eyes had not darted up and to the left when hespoke-according to Sicarius, that was a tell for many folks whenthey were lying-the story was implausible. Before he met her,Sicarius had always worked alone. He would not use errand boys.
“Yes, that’s right,” the younger brothersaid. “We know him real well, and he’ll assassinate you if youbother us.”
“Assassinate you for certain,” Velks said.“He owes us a favor on account of us taking him out for drinks lastnight.”
“You lads aren’t very good at this,”Maldynado said. “So, boss, gentle or rough for the tying?”
“Actually…” Amaranthe eyed the clothingstrewn about the floor. “I believe they’d like to clean up theirmess first. Take their weapons and help them find a broom.”
“Clean?” The thieves exchanged incredulouslooks.
“Yes,” Amaranthe said. “It’s a type of work.Like stabbing people with knives, but with less bloodinvolved.”
Maldynado shrugged and patted down the firstman for weapons. “As long as I’m not the one waylaying the dustballs, I don’t care.”
While he monitored them, Amaranthe searchedthe room. One of the thieves tried to flee for the door whenMaldynado thrust a feather duster into his hands. Maldynado poundedan unapologetic fist into the man’s nose, convincing him to sufferthe task without further escape attempts. He wiped at a trickle ofblood with his sleeve and glowered at Amaranthe.
“I thought you said cleaning didn’t involveblood,” he growled.
“I said it involved less blood than stabbingpeople, not no blood,” she said without looking up from the deskdrawers she was rifling through.
Fifteen minutes of searching did not revealanything interesting. She checked the tote the first thief had beencarrying out when she interrupted them, but it contained onlyvaluables, modest ones commensurate with the income level of aminer.
Amaranthe drummed her fingers against herthigh and considered the thieves again. “Did you gentlemen takeanything out of here before we found you?”
“No.”
Maldynado grabbed Velks by the collar andhoisted him up to his tiptoes. “Are you positive?”
“Positive!”
“Were you looking for anything when you brokein?” Amaranthe asked.
“No, just stuff to fence. We live downstairs,saw the family leave last night.”
She watched his eyes, but nothing in his faceimplied he was lying. The other one nodded, and he, too, appearedsincere.
“What lovely neighbors this place has,”Maldynado said. “Go out for the night, and they’re in your flat,pawning your silverware before lunchtime the next day.”
“Have you noticed any men coming and going,visiting this flat?” Amaranthe asked.
“You mean the other miners?” Velks asked.
“Yes. How long has that been going on?”
The brother lifted his feather duster. “Whyshould we answer all these questions? What’s in it for us?”
“I could restrain myself from punching youagain,” Maldynado said.
“Now, now, no need to be brutish,” Amaranthetold him while considering the thieves thoughtfully. “If the flatis cleaned up and everything is put back, I don’t think there’s aneed to tell the enforcers you were here. If you answer myquestions.”
“You were going to tell the enforcers?” Velksasked. “You’re thieves, too, ar
en’t you?”
“No, we’re investigators.”
Both brothers’ brows furrowed. She imaginedthem trying to figure out if “investigators” were people who werelegally on the premises or not. She decided not to clarify.
“About these miners,” she said, “how longhave they been visiting?”
“Seen some of them before,” Velks said, “butthey only started coming all the time last week.”
“Did they stay here when they met, or didthey start here and go someplace else?”
Velks shrugged. “How should I know? We didn’tsit up here with our ears pressed to the door.”
The brother snapped his fingers. “But thatone time, when we were sitting on the steps, hoping to get a lookup girls’ dresses when they went up, we did hear them saysomething, remember?”
“Don’t tell people about that,” Velkshissed.
“About what they said?”
“About the dresses, you idiot.”
Maldynado leaned a hand against the wall andshook his head. “Not too bright, are they?” he mouthed toAmaranthe.
“You never tried that tactic?” she asked.
“I never had to resort to such desperatemeasures. Women couldn’t wait to lift their dresses when I wasaround.”
Amaranthe kept from rolling her eyes-shehad encouraged him by asking after all-and turned back tothe thieves. “What’d you hear them say?”
“They were going with Raydevk to meet a girlat a fountain,” Velks said.
Oh, yes, that was a priceless gem ofinformation. Still, if the men had all been going together, maybeit had been more than a tryst. “What fountain?” she asked.
Velks glanced at his brother who onlyshrugged. “They didn’t say.”
Amaranthe asked a few more questions, hopingshe might tease more out of the would-be burglars’ heads, but theyproved feeble resources at best. While they finished cleaning, shesearched every last nook of the flat, even going so far as to thumpat floorboards in case any covered a hollow storage niche.
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