Coal shook his head and looked at Justan. “Well, its time I spoke with Willum. When Tad the Cunning hears about the dagger, he’ll have just what he needs to take Dann Doudy down.”
Chapter Eighteen
Willum hid in the darkened alcove, his back pressed against the stone wall as the guard walked past. He caught a quick glimpse of the guard’s face and winced. Willum knew him from archery class his first year and felt stupid hiding from a fellow student. He wasn’t doing anything wrong after all.
He peeked out of the alcove and waited until the guard turned the corner, then walked down the corridor as quietly as he could, remembering everything he could about his stealth training. It hadn’t been his best subject.
He stopped in front of the door and looked down the corridor again before giving a quiet knock. The seconds ticked by and Willum began to worry that another guard would come. He knocked again, a little harder this time.
He heard a latch being moved and the door opened inward. Tad the Cunning stood there blinking at the torchlight streaming in from the corridor, hair mussed, one arm behind his back scratching. He wore a chainmail shirt over a cloth tunic, but no pants.
When Tad saw who it was, he frowned and yanked Willum into the room, then closed the door and latched it behind him. Willum stood in the dark and waited while Tad tapped something against the wall. Light burned to life from within a glowing orb that Tad placed in a sconce on the wall. He moved his other hand out from behind his back and Willum saw that he hadn’t been scratching after all, but holding his wicked axe.
“What are you doing here, Willum?” Tad asked. “Didn’t I say to be careful?”
“I was as stealthy as possible. No one saw me,” he said.
Tad gave him a dull look.
Willum sighed. The academy was so crowded it was impossible to truly go unseen anymore. “At least no one saw me after I went behind the council building.”
“Well then what was so important that you broke protocol?” Tad asked.
“It’s about Representative Doudy, sir. My father has uncovered evidence that proves he and Ewzad Vriil are involved in dark magic.”
“Hmm, have a seat.” Tad yawned and gestured to a chair beside a small table in the corner of the room. He grabbed a pitcher from a small desk near the door and sat it on the table, then walked over to a cabinet to get some goblets.
Willum sat and took a look around. He had been in Tad’s quarters before, but he was still shocked by how sparsely furnished the place was. There was just the bed and desk, a small table, a cabinet, and a few wardrobes. And it was quite tidy. If not for the pants and boots strewn on the floor by the bed, he would have thought the quarters unoccupied.
“Do you always answer the door like that, sir?” Willum asked.
“I’ve got my smallclothes on.” Tad said lifting his shirt. Willum pointed at his other hand which still held his axe. “Oh, that.” He laid it gingerly on the bed and picked his pants up off the floor. Tad yawned again. “Bad dreams lately, Willum. Strange dreams.”
“It hardly seems like I dream anymore,” Willum said, stifling a yawn of his own. “I am up late talking to father every night and then I am off at whatever hour to meet with you. I think I’m too tired to dream.”
Tad belted his pants on and plopped down in the chair across from Willum. He started tugging on his boots. “Not me. It seems the more I think and the more I worry, the more convoluted my dreams get.”
“What do you dream about?
“Oh, death, destruction, the kinds of things you shouldn’t tell your students you dream about,” Tad chuckled. “But that’s what you get for barging in my room at unholy hours when I’m not on my guard.”
“Is it because of the siege?” Willum asked. “Your dreams I mean.”
Tad’s eyes moved to the bed where the runes on his axe gleamed a dull red in the light of the orb. “No, it’s that axe of mine. It’s a mischievous, mean thing and I have played with it far too little lately.”
“What does it do?” Willum said. He had been wondering about it ever since he saw Tad use the axe for the first time.
Tad took his eyes off the axe and sighed, shaking his head. He lifted the pitcher and poured water into the two goblets, then slid one over to Willum. “Let’s talk about why you’re here, Willum. Tell me about this evidence your father found.”
“Actually, it was Sir Edge that found it.” Willum told Tad everything his father had told him regarding the dagger. Tad listened intently, rubbing his jaw, and Willum could almost see the plan forming in his mind. When he finished, Tad stood.
“This is definitely helpful,” he said with a pleased grin.
“So what is your plan then? What are you thinking?” Willum asked.
“Well, the dagger isn’t definitive proof against your uncle. The same men who saw it at his castle are the same men claiming to be witness to his atrocities and the queen is not likely to back them up. We need more.” He raised a finger. “But what this dagger does give us is significant leverage against our dear friend Representative Doudy. If he is in this as deep as we think, I may be able to convince him to deliver us the evidence we need to overthrow our Lord Protector.”
Willum smiled, “You mean like proof that Ewzad Vriil framed my parents for my grandfather’s murder?”
“That is the kind of proof we’re looking for,” Tad agreed.
“So what do we do?” Willum asked.
“Oh, there are so many factors to consider. So many ways this could go.” He paused and rubbed his chin some more. “First of all, you are going back to your bunk and get some sleep. You have watch in the morning, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir.” Willum frowned.
“Well I have some preparations to make and then I shall go have a chat with Dann Doudy.” Tad said. He walked to his bed and strapped his axe sheathe to his hip, then slipped the waraxe away. “While he is trapped here with us in the academy, there is no where for him to run. I rather think I can get him talking soon enough.”
Tad walked to the small desk and pulled out some sheets of parchment. He grabbed a quill and started writing furiously.
“Are you sure there is nothing I can do to help?” Willum asked hesitantly. When Tad didn’t immediately respond, he shook his head and grit his teeth in determination. “Sir, I . . . I spent my childhood dreaming of ways to clear my parents’ name. I want to be a part of this.”
Tad paused his writing and looked at him for a moment. “Of course you do.” He took another piece of parchment and wrote a detailed note. He slid it into an envelope. Then he dropped something small and metallic inside with it, sealed it with wax and handed it to Willum. “I am reassigning you. Take this letter to your new commander in the morning.”
Willum’s heart sank. “But sir, I like my assignment.”
“You just said you wanted to be part of this, didn’t you?” Tad said. “This will take you off the wall for awhile, but believe me, you won’t miss any action.”
Willum took the envelope. It was just addressed with the letter ‘D’. “So who is my new commanding officer?”
Tad smiled. “Only the fiercest commander here.”
Willum frowned. “But-.”
“Just report to the assignment desk in the morning. I’ll have it all set up in the meantime.”
“Okay, sir,” he said and reached for the door.
“And Willum?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Please try to be as stealthy on the way out as you were on the way in. If all goes to plan, we won’t have to keep our meetings secret any longer, but if Representative Doudy proves difficult to break . . .”
“Yes, sir.”
Willum snuck down the corridors and out of the rear door of the Council Hall without incident, both excited and nervous about Tad’s plans. As the door shut behind him, the dull roar of the enemy camp jolted him back to reality. Here he was worried about intrigues while thirty thousand enemies surrounded them all.
&nbs
p; “Willum!”
A large rough hand shook him by the shoulder and Willum turned in his bunk to see Swen’s stony face staring back at him. He blinked the sleep from his eyes. The morning sun had risen outside. He hoped he wasn’t going to be late reporting to his new assignment. “What time is it, Swen?”
“Get up,” Swen said and his eyes looked genuinely disturbed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“It’s . . . bad.”
That woke him up. Willum jumped down and saw that he had been the only one in the room asleep. All the other bunks were empty, which was rare since some of them had night shift on the wall. A chill went up his back. “Has it started? Are they attacking?”
Swen gave a slight shake to his head, but that somehow didn’t make Willum feel any better. The large man’s eyes welled up. “It’s . . . Tad the Cunning is dead.”
Willum stared back at him in shock. A wave of numbness crawled up his body. If it had been anyone but Swen talking, he would have thought it a cruel joke. “How . . ?”
“I don’t know. It was in the council building in one of the back meeting rooms. They found Tad the Cunning and Demon Jenn, both of them dead.”
Willum sat on the lower bunk and ran his hand through his hair. Even his scalp felt numb. Surely it wasn’t true. “But I-I just saw him last night.”
“He asked me to make him some arrows,” Swen said, looking down. “Long ones. I didn’t have the chance to give them to him.”
“No-no,” Willum said. He stood and started throwing on his clothes. “I spoke to him last night. Just a few hours ago.” He buckled on his scythes and dagger, then pulled on his boots. “He had a plan, Swen. Somehow . . .”
Swen looked puzzled as Willum backed away then ran out of the door. He left the dorms and headed into the crowded walkways. All the noise roared in his ears, but he caught snatches of conversation, “. . . All that blood . . . infiltrated, I tell ya . . . some kind of monster . . . this is it, the attack is coming, you watch!”
He closed his ears to the talk. No, Tad had a plan. This was a feint, a dodge. Tad was famous for them. So something must have gone wrong when he confronted Doudy and he had been forced to fake his death or something. Tad had helped certain nobles fake their deaths before. He had said so in class. The academy could be asked to perform any number of favors for a client, he had said.
But why hadn’t Tad told him of the possibility? Willum realized that he was walking, but he had no idea where he was going. He stepped off of the walkway and pressed himself up against the side of a class building so that people could pass by. What should he do? Tad had told him to speak to no one. He couldn’t even talk to Coal until nightfall.
He thought of the letter Tad had given him. That’s right, he was supposed to report to the assignment desk. His hand went to his jacket pocket and he felt the crinkle of the paper within. But what if that was before? Was that still the plan? Had Tad even made the arrangements? If not he was going to be in trouble for not being on his post at the wall.
Willum pushed away from the building and stepped back into the crowded walkway. He pressed forward until he came to the Council Building, then started down the narrow path to the rear entrance. If he could get into Tad’s room, maybe there was something, a note left behind that could tell him Tad’s plan.
He walked around the back of the building and swore to himself. There was a guard posted outside the door.
“Hey, Zhed,” Willum said and tried to edge by.
“Wait! Wait, Willum,” Zhed said. “I can’t let you in. Nobody but council members are supposed to come in this door right now.”
“Why? I go in this way all the time,” Willum said.
“Not after what happened last night.”
“What are you talking about?” Willum said.
“Y-you didn’t hear?” Zhed looked around, then motioned Willum closer. “Tad the Cunning’s dead.”
“No,” Willum said, raising one hand to his temple.
“Yeah, him and Demon Jenn both. They found ‘em this morning. Torn to pieces! They still don’t know what happened. Hugh the Shadow has all his men looking into it.”
“Torn to pieces?” He didn’t have to feign shock anymore. His belief that Tad had faked his death was shaken a bit. But wait. If Hugh the Shadow was investigating, maybe he was helping Tad somehow.
“Yeah, like some kind of troll or something went crazy in there. The thing is, the monster left no tracks. It’s like it just disappeared.”
“This is horrible. I just talked to Tad the Cunning yesterday. I-I’ve got to go talk to them. Are they in there investigating now?” Willum asked
“Uh, yeah. I think so, but-.” Zhed said.
“Thanks, Zhed. You’ve been a great help,” Willum said and pushed his way inside. As the door fell shut behind him, he realized he had made an error. He had just told Zhed that he had spoken to Tad. Now word would get around. What if they decided to question him? He pounded his fist against his leg. Still, all he could do was move forward.
Willum slid down the corridor quietly, hoping that no one would barge around the corner. He could hear voices coming from one of the corridors, but couldn’t tell which one. He came to the intersection and peered down to the left where Tad’s room was located. The door was open and it sounded like voices were coming from within.
Willum leaned against the wall. What now? He should probably turn back the way he came and come back later. But he heard the latch on the door to the rear entrance. Someone was coming in behind him.
He hurriedly ducked around the corner and headed towards Tad’s room. The voices were getting louder and one of Hugh’s men could come out the door at any moment.
Halfway there, he ducked into the alcove he had hidden in the night before. It was a small area, just big enough to perhaps squeeze two people into. He wasn’t quite sure what the alcove was supposed to be used for, but he was glad it was there. It gave him just enough shadow to hide in as footsteps came up the corridor.
The person that had entered behind him walked into view. It was Dann Doudy. He had gained some reputation after his fight with the whip beast and had made the most of it. He had lost some weight and changed his style. His clothes looked less foppish and more swarthy now, still expensive, but made for free movement. He also walked with more confidence, his hand resting on his sword hilt.
Doudy paused just outside the alcove where Willum hid and listened to the conversation going on in Tad’s room. Willum’s fingers itched and he wished more than anything that he could unsheathe his scythes and attack the man then and there. But he forced himself to stay perfectly still. Tad had a plan. He had to wait. Doudy lifted his foot as if deciding to move on, but paused instead and turned to look right at Willum.
“Well, hello there,” the man said and then stepped into the alcove with him. Doudy slid in close until their chests were almost touching. His face tightened into a glare, his nose darkening. “Willum, son of Coal.”
Willum’s heart pounded. He was six inches taller than Doudy, but somehow the man didn’t look so unimpressive up close. In the shadow, Doudy’s eyes were so full of menace that it seemed as if the man towered over him. Willum squeezed against the wall as tightly as he could, wanting nothing more than to run, but he was trapped. A voice inside him shouted to fight or at least push past the man, but he couldn’t move.
“What are you doing here, hmm? Coming to look through Tad’s things like a stinking thief, I bet.”
“Tad is my teacher,” Willum said.
“Was your teacher,” Doudy said with a sneer. Somehow the whites of his eyes melted away as if they had gone completely black. “He died this morning.” The man put his hand on the wall by Willum’s head. His breath smelled like rot. “How about you? Where were you this morning?”
“Get away from me,” Willum said, some of his strength returning. “Or I’ll-.”
“You’ll what?” Doudy said, pressing up against him. His nose touched Willum�
��s chin. It was cold and mushy. “You’ll fight me? Huh? You academy boys are all the same. I catch you here, hiding in a place you’re not supposed to be and you think, ‘I can take that guy’?”
Willum couldn’t speak. His mouth felt as if it were glued shut. Somehow he forced words past his teeth. “I c-could.”
“Oh, you think so?” The man pulled his head back a bit and smiled up at him and Willum swore for a moment that the man’s teeth were sharp as knives. Doudy grabbed Willum’s wrist and stepped back out of the alcove. As the torchlight hit his face, it looked normal once more, though his nose was still a throbbing purple. “Come on, then. Let’s go somewhere where you can show me your skills.”
The War of Stardeon (The Bowl of Souls) Page 27